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CALIFORNIA 

A  Guide  to  the  Golden  State 


CALIFORNIA 

A  GUIDE  TO  THE  GOLDEN  STATE 


Compiled  and  Written  by  the  Federal  Writers'  Project 

of  the  Works  Progress  Administration 

for  the  State  of  California 


AMERICAN  GUIDE  SERIES 


Sponsored  by  Mabel  R.  Gillis,  California  State  Librarian 
HASTINGS   HOUSE  •  Publishers  •  NEW  YORK 

MCMXXXIX 


FIRST  PUBLISHED  IN  MAY   1939 


WORKS  PROGRESS  ADMINISTRATION 

F.  C.  HARRINGTON,  Administrator 

FLORENCE  S.  KERR,  Assistant  Administrator 

HENRY  G.  ALSBERG,  Director  of  the  Federal  Writers'  Project 


COPYRIGHT    1939    BY    MABEL    R.   GILLIS,    CALIFORNIA    STATE    LIBRARIAN 
PRINTED   IN    U.    S.    A. 

All   rights  are  reserved,   including  the  rights  to  reproduce  this  book  or  parts 

thereof  in  any  form. 


XXX&KZ&Z&XZ^ 


Preface 


California  has  so  great  a  diversity  of  places  and  people  and  things 
that  the  problem  of  getting  it  between  the  covers  of  a  single  book 
seemed  almost  unsolvable.  The  final  preparation  of  this  guide  has 
involved  the  difficult  task  of  choosing  between  what  to  put  in  and 
what  to  leave  out.  The  staff  of  the  Federal  Writers'  Project  in  Cali- 
fornia knows  that  its  own  trials  in  gathering,  checking  and  rechecking, 
assembling,  and  selecting  the  thousands  of  items  that  go  into  the  making 
of  a  guide  book  have  been  shared  by  the  editors  of  the  forty-seven  other 
State  books  in  the  American  Guide  Series.  But  in  the  course  of  elimi- 
nating more  words  than  there  are  in  these  pages,  the  California  staff 
has  sometimes  wished  that  its  State  were  just  a  little  smaller,  so  that  it 
might  be  described  in  more  detail. 

And  yet  there  is  more  in  this  book  than  the  editors  thought  it 
could  possibly  include;  for,  although  the  distance  between  the  borders 
of  Oregon  and  Mexico  is  more  miles  than  they  like  to  think  about, 
they  have  covered  every  mile.  The  book,  moreover,  has  been  written 
to  be  read,  not  only  by  those  to  whom  California  is  still  an  unseen  and 
fabulous  land  of  sunshine  and  oranges,  but  also  by  those  who  will  look 
in  these  pages  for  something  new  and  little-known  about  the  everyday 
California  in  which  they  live  and  work.  For  readers  of  both  kinds, 
visitors  and  residents,  the  editors  have  tried  to  make  this  book  a  true 
mirror  of  the  State  and  its  people.  Romance  has  been  kept  in  its  place 
— Joaquin  Murrieta  does  not  jump  out  from  behind  every  tree  or 
boulder  in  California  to  hold  up  travelers,  and  yet  he  does  pop  up 
often  enough  that  the  observant  reader  will  have  little  trouble  finding 
him. 

The  editors  wish  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  the  work  of 
others  who  have  preceded  them  in  describing  California,  and  especially 
to  California,  an  Intimate  Guide  by  Aubrey  Drury,  Rider's  California; 
A  Guidebook  for  Travelers  by  Fremont  Rider,  and  Historic  Spots  in 
California  by  H.  E.  and  E.  G.  Rensch  and  Mildred  Brooke  Hoover. 

The  California  staff  gratefully  acknowledges  the  aid  of  Federal, 
State,  and  local  governmental  agencies,  and  of  commercial  and  civic 
associations  and  automobile  clubs.  Particular  appreciation  is  due  the 
staffs  of  the  Bancroft  and  State  Libraries,  for  their  cooperation. 


VI        PREFACE 

Among  the  many  individuals  to  whom  the  editors  wish  to  express 
their  gratitude  for  generous  aid  in  special  fields  are :  Herbert  E.  Bolton, 
Will  G.  Corlett,  Richard  Down,  Alfred  Frankenstein,  Louis  J.  Gill, 
Florence  Hagee,  Norman  E.  A.  Hinds,  Paul  Robinson  Hunter,  Rupert 
Hughes,  Olaf  Jenkins,  William  Templeton  Johnson,  Idwal  Jones, 
William  Knowles,  R.  B.  Koeber,  A.  L.  Kroeber,  Grace  L.  McCann 
Morely,  Richard  S.  Requa,  C.  J.  Ryland,  Carl  Sauer,  Windsor  Soule, 
W.  L.  Stephenson,  George  R.  Stewart,  Jr.,  Hilmuth  Ulmer,  T.  K. 
Whipple,  Lloyd  Yoder,  and  finally  the  sponsor,  Mabel  R.  Gillis,  State 
Librarian,  for  her  interest  and  gracious  advice. 

Field  supervision  from  the  Washington  office  of  the  Federal  Writers* 
Project  was  done  by  Clair  Laning,  Assistant  National  Director. 

JAMES  HOPPER,  State  Director  for  Northern  California 
LEON  DORAIS,  State  Director  for  Southern   California 


Editorial  Staff 


FOR  NORTHERN   CALIFORNIA: 

PAUL  C.  JOHNSON,  Assistant  State  Director 

WALTER  MC£LROY,  State  Editorial  Supervisor 

MARGARET  WILKINS,  State  Editorial  Supervisor 

MIRIAM  ALLEN  DfiFoRD  NAHUM  SABSAY 

S.  S.  GREENLEAF  AMY  SCHECHTER 

ROBIN  KINKEAD  DOROTHY  DONN  WAGNER 

CORA  VERNON  LEE  CARL  WILHELMSON 

KENNETH  REXROTH  THEODORE  BARON  (photographs) 

FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA: 

KENNETH  BOLLEY,  Editorial  Supervisor 

ROBERT  C.  BROWNELL,  Editorial  Supervisor 

HARRY  PARTCH  FRANCIS  WOODWORTH 

FOR  THE  FEDERAL  ART  PROJECT,  NORTHERN  CALIFORNIA: 

SONYA  SlTOMER  CHARLES  SuRENDORF 


Acknowledgments  are  also  due  to  the  many  other  persons  on  the 
Federal  Writers'  Project  who  faithfully  aided  in  the  gathering  and 
preparation  of  material  for  this  book. 


vii 


KK&G&Z^^ 


Contents 


PREFACE v 

EDITORIAL  STAFF vii 

GENERAL  INFORMATION xix 

CALENDAR  OF  EVENTS xxiii 

A  GUIDE  TO  RECREATION  xxv 


Part  I.  California:  From  Past  to  Present 

EL  DORADO  UP  TO  DATE 3 

NATURAL  SETTING  AND  CONSERVATION 8 

THE  FIRST  CALIFORNIANS 33 

CALIFORNIA'S  LAST  FOUR  CENTURIES 41 

RICHES  FROM  THE  SOIL 66 

INDUSTRY  AND  FINANCE 79 

FROM  CLIPPER  SHIP  TO  CLIPPER  PLANE 87 

WORKING  MEN 95 

PRESS  AND  RADIO 109 

THE  MOVIES 120 

EDUCATION 131 

THE  ARTS 139 

ARCHITECTURE 167 


Part  II.  Signposts   to    City  Scenes 

BERKELEY 179 

FRESNO 188 

HOLLYWOOD 192 

LONG  BEACH 201 

Los  ANGELES 206 

MONTEREY 230 

OAKLAND 237 

ix 


X     CONTENTS 

PASADENA 245 

SACRAMENTO 250 

SAN  DIEGO 258 

SAN  FRANCISCO 265 

SAN  JOSE 298 

SANTA  BARBARA 304 

STOCKTON 311 


Part  III.  Up  and  Down  the  State 

TOUR   1       Westport — San  Francisco — Monterey — Las  Cruces  [State  i]  317 

Section  a.    Westport  to  San  Francisco 318 

Section  b.    San  Francisco  to  Monterey     .....  328 

Section  c.    Monterey  to  Las  Cruces 340 

TOUR  2        (Brookings,  Ore.) — San  Francisco — Los  Angeles — (Tijuana, 

Mexico)    [US  101] 348 

Section  a.    Oregon  Line  to  San  Francisco      ....  348 

Section  b.    San  Francisco  to  San  Luis  Obispo       .       .       .  368 

Section  c.    San  Luis  Obispo  to  Los  Angeles.       .       .       .  391 

Section  d.    Los  Angeles  to  Mexican  Border  ....  398 

TOUR  2A  Junction  with  US  101— Lakeport — St.  Helena— Napa—Val- 

lejo — Junction  with  US  40  [State  20-29]    ....  409 

TOUR  2B    Junction  with  US  101 — Long  Beach — Doheny  Park  [US  101 

Alt.] 415 

TOUR  2C  Wilmington— Santa  Catalina  Island    (By  Boat)      .       .       .  423 

TOUR  3        (Ashland,      Ore.) — Sacramento — Los      Angeles — (Mexicali, 

Mexico)   [US  99  and  99W] 4^7 

Section  a.    Oregon  Line  to  Sacramento 4^7 

Section  b.    Sacramento  to  Bakersfield       .....  44° 

Section  c.    Bakersfield  to  Los  Angeles 45^ 

Section  d.    Pomona  to  Beaumont 455 

Section  e.    Indio  to  Mexican  Border 457 

TOUR  3A  (Klamath  Falls,  Ore.)— Weed  [US  97] 463 

TOUR  3B    Red  Bluff— Marysville— Roseville  [US  99E]      ....  464 

TOUR  3C   Greenfield— Maricopa— Ventura   [US   399] 4^9 

TOUR  4       Chilcoot— El  Dorado— Sonora— Mariposa   [State  49]     .       .  472 

Section  a.  Chilcoot  to  El  Dorado 475 

Section  b.    El  Dorado  to  Mariposa 


CONTENTS        XI 


TOUR  5       Junction    with    US    99  —  Lassen    Volcanic    National    Park  — 
Quincy  —  Truckee  [State  89]      ....... 

Section  a.    Junction  with  US  99  to  Morgan  Springs    .       .  5OI 

Section  b.    Junction  with  State  36  to  Truckee      .       .       .  506 

TOUR  6       (Lakeview,     Ore.)—  Alturas—  (Reno,     Nev.)—  Bishop—  San 

Bernardino—  San  Diego  [US  395]  ......  507 

Section  a.    Oregon  Line  to  Nevada  Line  .....  $08 

Section  b.    Nevada  Line  to  Bishop     ......  S1^ 

Section  c.    Bishop  to  Brown  ........  5J7 

Section  d.    Brown  to  Junction  with  US  66    .       .       .       .  521 

Section  e.    San  Bernardino  to  San  Diego        ....  $22 

TOUR  6A  Junction     with     US     395  —  Susanville  —  Chester  —  Red     Bluff 

[State  36]  ............  528 

TOUR  6B    Junction  with  US  395  —  Portola  —  Quincy  —  Oroville  —  Marys- 
ville  —  Knights  Landing  —  Woodland  —  Sacramento  [State 

24]      .............  533 

TOUR  6C   Junction  with  US  395  —  Warner  Hot  Springs  —  Julian  —  Junc- 

tion with  US  80  [State  79]       .......  539 

TOUR  7        (Tonopah,    Nev.)  —  Bishop  —  Brown  —  Mojave  —  Palmdale  — 

Los  Angeles  —  Long  Beach  [US  6]  ......  542 

Section  a.    Nevada  Line  to  Bishop     ..'....  543 

Section  b.    Brown  to  Long  Beach        ......  544 

TOUR  8       Alturas—  Redding—  Junction  with  US  101  [US  299]       .       .  54$ 

Section  a.    Alturas  to  Redding    .......  54$ 

Section  b.    Redding  to  Junction  with  US  101  552 

TOUR  8A  Canby  —  Lava  Beds  National  Monument  —  Bartle      .       .       .  558 

TOUR  9       (Reno,  Nev.)—  Sacramento—  San  Francisco  [US  40]       .       .  5^2 

Section  a.    Nevada  Line  to  Sacramento  .....  5^2 

Section  b.    Sacramento  to  San  Francisco   .....  57O 

TOUR  9A   Sacramento  —  Rio  Vista  —  Antioch  —  Concord  —  Oakland  [State 

24]        .............  580 

TOUR  10     (Carson  City,  Nev.)—  Sacramento  —  San  Francisco  [US  50]  587 

Section  a.    Nevada  Line  to  Sacramento   .....  587 

Section  b.    Stockton  to  San  Francisco        .....  595 

TOUR   11     (Las    Vegas,    Nev.)—  Baker—  Barstow—  Bakersfield—  Morro 

Bay  [US  91-466]     ..........  602 

Section  a.    Nevada  Line  to  Barstow   ......  602 

Section  b.    Barstow  to  Morro  Bay    ......  605 


Xll        CONTENTS 

TOUR   12     (Kingman,      Ariz.) — Needles  —  San      Bernardino  —  Santa 

Monica  [US  66] 608 

Section  a.    Arizona  Line  to  Barstow 609 

Section  b.    Barstow  to  San  Bernardino     .       .       .       .       .  6l2 

Section  c.    San  Bernardino  to  Santa  Monica.       .       .       .  6l8 

TOUR   13     (Quartzite,    Ariz.) — Blythe — Indio — Beaumont — Riverside — 

Los  Angeles  [US  60-70] 624 

Section  a.    Arizona  Line  to  Indio 625 

Section  b.    Indio  to  Los  Angeles 627 

TOUR  14     (Yuma,  Ariz.)— El  Centro— San  Diego  [US  80]      ...  635 

Section  a.    Arizona  Line  to  El  Centro 636 

Section  b.    El  Centro  to  San  Diego 640 

DEATH  VALLEY  NATIONAL  MONUMENT 645 

Park  Tour  i  Western  Entrance  at  Towne's  Pass  to 

Eastern  Entrance  in  Furnace  Creek  Wash.  [State  190]  649 

Park  Tour  2  Furnace  Creek  Junction  —  Badwater  — 

Saratoga  Springs  Junction.  [East  Highway]  .  .  .  653 

SEQUOIA  AND  GENERAL  GRANT  NATIONAL  PARKS  ....  655 

Sequoia  Park  Tour 66l 

General  Grant  Park  Tour      ........  665 

YOSEMITE  NATIONAL  PARK 667 

Tour  i  Arch  Rock  Entrance  Station  to  Old  Village  [All- 

Year  Highway,  El  Capitan  Rd.] 671 

Tour  2  South  Entrance  Gate — Mariposa  Big  Tree  Grove 

— Junction  with  Pohono  Bridge  Rd. 674 

Tour  3  Junction  with  Big  Oak  Flat  Rd. — Aspen  Valley 
Entrance  Station — Tuolumne  Meadows — Tioga  Pass — 

Junction  with  US  395  [State  120] 675 

Yosemite  Park  Trails 678 

GOLDEN  GATE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION  .  680 


Part  IV.  Appendices 

CHRONOLOGY 687 

A  SELECT  READING  LIST  OF  CALIFORNIA  BOOKS  .      .      .      .     .  694 

INDEX 699 


WKG&Q^WK^ 


Illustrations 


AGRICULTURE 

Vineyard,  Livermore  Valley 

Orange      Grove,      Los      Angeles 
County 

Date  Palms,  near  Indio 

Orchard  Scene  in  Napa  County 

Figs  in  the  Dry  Yard 
Horace  Bristol 

Harvesting    Tomatoes    in    Sacra- 
mento Valley 

Migratory      Workers      Weighing 
Peas 

EDUCATION 

University  of  California,  Berkeley 
Class  in  Gardening,  Los  Angeles 

Public  School 

High  School  Students,  Los  Angeles 
Doheny    Library,     University    of 
Southern    California,    Los    An- 
geles 

Aviation  Students,  Los  Angeles 
Lick  Observatory,  near  San  Jose 

CITIES  I. 

Airview,    San    Francisco-Oakland 

Bay  Bridge 
Golden  Gate  Bridge 
San  Francisco  Skyline 
In  the  Harbor,  San  Francisco 
Devastated   Area — San    Francisco 
Fire  and  Earthquake   (1906) 
Southern  Pacific  Historical  Col- 
lection 

California  Street  from  Nob  Hill 
(1900)    San  Francisco 
Southern  Pacific  Historical  Col- 
lection 

CITIES  II. 

City  Hall,  Los  Angeles 
Wilshire  Boulevard,  Los  Angeles 
Airview,  Long  Beach 
Watson  Airfotos 


Between  62  and  63 
Young  Cotton  Picker 
Mural  in  Post  Office,  Whitter 
Wine    Stored    for    Aging,    Napa 

County 

Bed  of  Ail-American  Canal 
Construction   Work    on    Imperial 

Dam 
Early     Spanish     Water     Wheel, 

near  Lone  Pine 
Drought    Refugees    from    Texas 

encamped  near  Exeter 

Between  124  and  125 
Mt.  Wilson  Observatory 
Henry    E.     Huntington    Library, 

Pasadena 
Arcades,  Stanford  University,  Palo 

Alto 
Easter  Sunrise  Service,  Hollywood 

Bowl 

Race  Track,  Santa  Anita 
Along  the  Beach,  Santa  Catalina 

Between  186  and  187 
Golden    Gate    International    Ex- 
position 

Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  Memorial,  San 
Francisco 

Sculpture  by  Beniamino  Bufano 
Photograph  by  Theodore  Baron 
Chinese  Quarter,  San  Francisco 
Airview,  the  Capitol,  Sacramento 
Sutler's  Fort,  Sacramento 
Residential  Section,  Fresno 
Old  Whaling  Station,  Monterey 


Between  280  and  281 
Old      Spanish      Lighthouse,      San 
Diego 

"Frashers" 
Court  House,  Santa  Barbara 


xiii 


XIV        ILLUSTRATIONS     AND     MAPS 


CITIES  II.— continued 
Cabrillo  Beach,  San  Pedro 
Rose  Bowl,  Pasadena 
Los  Angeles  Tennis  Club 
Tournament  of  Roses,  Pasadena 
Real  Estate  Office,  Los  Angeles 

Horace  Bristol 
Los  Angeles  Restaurant 

Horace  Bristol 

HISTORY 

Map    of    California,    Drawn    in 
1666 

Bancroft  Library 

A  View  of  Sutler's  Mill  and  Cul- 
loma  Valley 

Behrman  Collection 
Working  at  Sutter's  Mill  (1850), 
twenty-five     feet     from     where 
gold   was   discovered 
Behrman  Collection 
Russian  Church,  Fort  Ross  (1812) 
Hornitos 
San  Francisco  in  1849 

Bancroft  Library  U.  of  C. 


INDUSTRY,  COMMERCE  AND 

Mineral    Soda    Works,    Indepen- 
dence 

Warner  Bros.  Studios,  Burbank 

China  Clipper  Passing  San  Fran- 
cisco 
Clyde  Sunderland 

Planes   on  Assembly   Line,   Santa 
Monica 
Douglas  Aircraft  Company, Inc. 

Unloading  Steel  for  Bay  Bridges, 
San  Francisco 

ARCHITECTURE 

Public  Library,  Los  Angeles 

Bristol 

Palace   of   Fine  Arts,   San   Fran- 
cisco 

Theodore  Baron 
Carson  House,  Eureka 
Court  Hollyhock,  Barnsdall  Park, 

Los  Angeles 
Healthhouse,  Los  Angeles 

Luckhaus 

Interior,     Mission     San     Miguel 
Arcangel 


Angelus  Temple,  Los  Angeles 
Yacht     Race     in    Alamitos     Bay, 

Long  Beach 
Grauman's    Chinese    Theater, 

Hollywood 
Tortilla    Maker,    Olvera    Street, 

Los  Angeles 


Between  374  and  375 
Prairie      Schooner,      brought      to 
Yolo  County  by  John  Bemmerly 
from  Ohio  in  1849 
Mary  E.   and  Agnes   H.   Bem- 
merly,    and     the     Woodland 
C.  of  C. 
On  to  the  Gold  Fields 

Hodson 

Lynch  Law  (1856) 
Stage    Coach    and    Train,    Cisco 
(1869) 

Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
Pony    Express;    Highwaymen    in 
Pursuit 
Behrman  Collection 

TRANSPORTATION 

Between  468  and  469 
Modern  Studio  Set  during  Film- 
ing 

Caterpillar  Truck  with  Wheeler 
Grapes  into  Wine 
Inspecting  Peaches  at  Cannery 

Bristol 

Oil     Wells     Along     Huntington 
Beach 

Bristol 

Oil  Tanks 

Bristol 

Between  562  and  563 
Mission    San    Carlos    Borromeo, 

near  Carmel 
Mission  Santa  Barbara 
Los  Angeles  County  Hospital 

Bristol 

Tower     of    California     Building, 
Balboa  Park,  San  Diego 

C.  M.  Johnson 
450  Sutter,  San  Francisco 


ILLUSTRATIONS     AND     MAPS        XV 


THE  NATURAL  SETTING 

Yosemite     Falls,     Yosemite     Na- 
tional Park 
Mt.  Shasta 

Owens  Lake  from  Cerro  Gordo 
Sand  Dunes 

Bret    Weston 

Sierras    from   Owens   Valley 
Pedro  Point,  Gulf  of  Farralon 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  Cali- 
fornia 

Mt.      Whitney      from      Whitney 
Portal 


Between  624  and  625 
Donner  Lake,  from  Donner  Pass 
Dante's  View,  Death  Valley 
Indian    Pictograph    in    California 

Desert 

U.  S.  Army  Air  Corps 
Along   the    Merced    River   in   the 

Yosemite  Valley 
Deer,  Sequoia  National  Park 
Lumbering — A    Redwood    i8-feet 

in  Diameter 


««ttttc«CKtt««c3Ktt«<«3&s«ttc^^^ 


Map. 


STATE  MAP back  pocket 

TRANSPORTATION  MAP insert  on  State  map 

TOUR   MAP front  end  paper 

Los  ANGELES reverse  of  State  map 

DOWNTOWN  Los  ANGELES reverse  of  State  map 

SAN   FRANCISCO reverse  of  State  map 

PAGE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  (BERKELEY) 185 

OAKLAND 241 

SACRAMENTO 255 

SAN  DIEGO 262 

DOWNTOWN  SAN  FRANCISCO                            : 277 

DEATH  VALLEY  NATIONAL  MONUMENT 647 

SEQUOIA  NATIONAL  PARK 658-659 

YOSEMITE  NATIONAL  PARK 669 


XVll 


zmxissiw^^ 


General  Information 


Railroads:  Southern  Pacific  Lines  (SP),  Western  Pacific  R.R. 
(Feather  River  Route),  Northwestern  Pacific  R.R.,  Great  Northern 
Ry.,  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  (Santa  Fe),  Sacramento  North- 
ern Ry.,  Union  Pacific  R.R.  (overland  Route). 

Highways:  Network  of  State  highways  and  good  country  roads  cover 
the  State.  Highway  patrol  to  safeguard  traffic  and  enforce  regulations. 
Inspection  at  State  Lines. 

Bus  Lines:  Burlington  Lines,  Greyhound  Lines,  Santa  Fe  Trailways, 
Union  Pacific  Stages,  Inland  Stages,  and  Feather  River  Stages. 

Air  Lines:  American  Airlines,  Inc.,  Pan  American  Airways  Co., 
Transcontinental  &  Western  Air  Inc.  (TWA),  United  Air  Lines, 
Western  Air  Express.  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco  are  terminals 
for  transcontinental  lines,  San  Francisco  (Alameda  Field)  for  the  Pan 
American  Airways  service  to  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines. 

Waterways:  Scheduled  services  to  Alaska  and  Mexico,  from  San 
Francisco  to  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  from  San  Francisco  to 
Sacramento. 

Trails:  The  Pacific  Crest  Trail  traverses  the  main  divides  of  the 
highest  mountain  ranges  in  the  three  Pacific  states.  There  are  five 
sections  of  this  trail  in  California:  Lava  Crest  Trail,  330  miles;  Tahoe 
Yosemite  Trail,  260  miles;  John  Muir  Trail,  185  miles;  Sierra  Trail, 
1 60  miles;  and  Desert  Crest  Trail,  475  miles.  All  trails  are  open 
in  July  and  Aug.;  the  southern  trails  from  May  through  November. 
For  information  address  Clinton  C.  Clark,  President  of  the  Pacific 
Crest  Trail  System  Conference,  125  S.  Grand  Ave.,  Pasadena,  Calif. 

Traffic  Regulations:  Speed:  15  miles  per  hour  at  grade  crossings, 
road  intersections,  and  curves  where  the  driver's  view  is  obstructed; 
15  miles  per  hour  in  passing  schools  where  persons  are  entering  or 


XX  GENERAL     INFORMATION 

leaving;  20  miles  per  hour  in  business  districts;  25  miles  per  hour  in 
residential  districts;  45  miles  per  hour  under  all  other  conditions. 

Lights:  Spotlights  allowed.  Headlights  to  be  deflected  or  dimmed 
when  passing  other  cars  on  the  open  road. 

Licenses:  Nonresidents  must  have  operator's  license  from  their  home 
States  and  must  obtain  visitors'  permits  for  their  vehicles  within  5  days. 
Licenses  issued  to  adults,  no  fee;  to  minors  16  to  21  yrs.  of  age,  with 
parental  liability. 

Required:  Hand  signals  must  be  used.  All  accidents  must  be  re- 
ported to  some  civic  authority  (police  department  in  cities  and  towns). 
On  narrow  mountain  roads  the  upgrade  vehicle  has  the  right-of-way. 
Prohibited:  Coasting  in  neutral,  parking  on  highways,  passing  street- 
cars on  left  (in  cities  and  towns),  passing  on  curves  or  at  crests  of 
hills. 

Trailers:  All  highways  in  State  suitable  for  house  and  camp  trailers, 
except  steep  and  unimproved  mountain  roads.  State  and  National 
parks,  and  trailer  parks  in  some  towns,  have  special  facilities  for  trailers. 
Trailers  are  licensed  according  to  weight.  (For  city  ordinance  govern- 
ing trailers  see  Cities.) 

Border  Rules  (digest)  :  All  persons  returning  to  the  United  States 
from  Mexico  must  make  a  declaration  to  the  customs  officers  covering 
all  goods  and  merchandise  purchased  in  Mexico.  Articles  for  personal 
or  household  use,  up  to  the  value  of  $100,  are  exempt  from  import 
duty.  Exemption  is  allowed  each  person  not  more  often  than  every 
30  days.  Cigars,  cigarettes,  tobacco,  and  foodstuffs  may  be  included 
in  the  exemption,  but  the  quantities  are  limited.  American  citizens 
wishing  to  visit  any  place  farther  south  than  Ensenada,  or  in  the 
interior  of  Mexico,  must  obtain  a  tourist  card  (cost  $1.01  in  U.  S. 
currency)  from  the  nearest  Mexican  consul,  or  from  the  Mexican 
Immigration  Office  at  the  port  of  entry. 

Accommodations:  State  is  well  provided  with  hotels,  lodges,  motor 
courts,  housekeeping  cabins,  and  campgrounds,  both  public  and  private. 
Recreation  areas  have  large  resort  hotels,  swimming  pools,  golf  courses, 
tennis  courts,  and  well-equipped  campgrounds.  State  and  National 
park  campgrounds  are  equipped  with  necessary  conveniences. 

Regulations  in  Parks  and  Monuments:  U.  S.  Forest  Service  offices  in 
the  parks  or  in  cities  and  towns  furnish  maps  and  special  information. 


GENERAL     INFORMATION        XXI 

Campfires,  including  fires  in  wood  or  oil  stoves,  are  illegal  without  a 
permit,  which  will  be  issued  free  by  the  nearest  forest  officer.  All 
camping  parties  in  national  forests  must  be  equipped  with  a  shovel 
(over-all  length  at  least  26  in.,  head  weight  not  less  than  2  Ibs.). 
During  fire  season  (indicated  by  signposts)  smoking  is  prohibited  except 
in  camps,  at  places  of  habitation,  in  special  posted  areas,  and  above 
7,000  ft.  elevation.  Be  careful  to  extinguish  lighted  matches,  cigars, 
cigarettes,  and  pipe  heels.  Observe  carefully  all  posted  signs,  particu- 
larly the  "No  Smoking"  and  the  "Closed  Area"  signs.  Build  small 
fires.  Clear  an  area  of  not  less  than  10  feet  in  diameter  down  to 
mineral  soil,  extinguish  all  fires  with  plenty  of  water.  If  garbage 
pits  or  incinerators  are  not  provided,  burn  or  bury  all  refuse.  Do 
not  pollute  springs,  streams,  or  lakes  by  unsanitary  acts.  Observe  the 
fish  and  game  laws.  Drive  carefully  on  mountain  roads. 

Wild  Flower  Regulations:  No  wild  flowers  may  be  picked  at  any 
time. 

Hunting  and  Fishing:  Because  of  the  complexity  of  the  State  laws,  it 
is  advisable  to  write  for  the  Abstract  of  California  Sporting  Fish  and 
Game  Laws.  Detailed  information  may  be  secured  by  writing  the 
State  Division  of  Fish  and  Game. 

Climate  and  Equipment:  State  has  a  mild  climate  with  no  snow  in 
winter  except  at  high  altitudes.  Visitors  should  be  prepared  for  warm 
weather  in  summer,  but  carry  sweaters  or  light  coats  for  cool  evenings 
and  sudden  changes  in  temperature.  In  general  there  is  no  rain  during 
the  three  summer  months.  Special  equipment  for  winter  sports  and 
mountain  climbing  may  be  rented  in  resort  areas.  Hikers  and  riders  in 
high  mountain  regions  should  have  hats  with  brims  at  least  three  inches 
wide,  stout  leakproof  shoes  or  boots,  woolen  hose,  denim  jeans,  warm 
sweater  or  jacket,  and  raincoat  or  poncho  (preferably  on  U.  S.  Army 
pattern). 

Poisonous  Plants  and  Reptiles:  Poison-oak  grows  throughout  State 
except  in  higher  altitudes.  It  has  crinkly  edged,  shiny  leaves;  is  found 
at  the  edge  of  highways,  in  wooded  areas,  and  in  fields.  Rattlesnakes 
exist,  but  are  not  numerous,  being  found  in  rocky  regions  below  the 
3,000  ft.  level;  will  not  strike  unless  disturbed.  Black  widow  spiders 
are  rare. 


&S«S!SS!SX^^ 


Calendar  of  Events 

Note:  "nfd"  means  no  fixed  dale 


Jan. 


ist  wk 
4th  wk 

nfd 

Feb.  ist  wk 
3rd  wk 
nfd 


Pasadena 
Pasadena 
San  Francisco 
San  Diego 
Yosemite 

San  Francisco 

Big  Pines 
San  Bernardino 
San  Francisco 
and  Los  Angeles 


Tournament  of  Roses 
Rose  Bowl  Football  Game 
East- West  Football  Classic 
New  Year  Regatta 
Invitational  Figure-Skating 

Championships 
California  Dog  Show 

Annual  Snow  Pageant 
National  Orange  Show 

Chinese  New  Year 


Mar.  ist  wk 
ist  wk 
nfd 

nfd 


Apr.  ist  wk 
3rd  wk 
4th  wk 
nfd 

May  ist    wk 
2nd  wk 
3rd  Sunday 
nfd 
nfd 

June  ist    wk 

3rd  wk 
nfd 


Pasadena 
Pasadena 
place  chosen  each 

year 
place  chosen  each 

year 

Oakland 
Hemet 

San  Francisco 
Santa  Clara 

Mendocino  Coast 

Sonora 

Mt.  Tamalpais 

Angels  Camp 

Los  Angeles 

Auburn 

San  Juan  Bautista 
Long  Beach 


Kennel  Club  Show 
Spring  Flower  Show 
California  Ski  Championship 

Meet 
Pacific  Coast  Championship 

Polo  Games 

Spring  Garden  Show 
Ramona  Pageant 
Rowing  Regatta 
Mission  Play 

Rhododendron  Festival 
Mother  Lode  Rodeo 
Mountain  Theater  Play 
Jumping  Frog  Jubilee 
Festival  of  Allied  Arts 

Auburn  Fair  and  Gold  Rush 

Festival 

Mission  Pageant 
Water  Sports  Carnival 


XXIV      CALENDAR     OF     EVENTS 


July   4 

ist    wk 


July  4th    wk 
nfd 
nfd 

nfd 
nfd 

Aug.  ist  wk 
2nd  wk 
3rd  wk 
4th  wk 

nfd 


Sept.  ist  wk 
2nd  wk 
nfd 

nfd 


Oct.    ist    wk 

4th    wk 


Nov.  nfd 

Dec.   3rd   wk 
4th    wk 


Oakland 
Santa  Barbara 


Santa  Barbara 

Carmel 

Hollywood 

Hollywood 
Salinas 

Carmel 
Santa  Barbara 
Sutter  Creek 
Newport  Beach 

place  chosen  each 
year 

Sacramento 
San  Gabriel 
Los  Angeles 

Berkeley 


Bakersfield 
Mare  Island, 
Vallejo, 
San  Diego, 
San  Pedro, 
San  Francisco 

Berkeley  of 
Palo  Alto 


Los  Angeles 
Los  Angeles 


Motorboat  Regatta 
Semana  Nautica  (marine 
events) 

National  Horse  Show 

Bach  Festival 

Hollywood  Bowl  Symphony 

Season 

Pilgrimage  Play 
California  Rodeo 

Serra  Pageant 

Old  Spanish  Days 

Gold  Rush  Fete 

Race  Week  and  Yachting 

Championships 
California  Amateur  Golf 

Tournament 

State  Fair 

Mission  Festival 

Pacific  and  Southwest  Tennis 
Tournament 

Pacific  Coast  Tennis  Cham- 
pionship 

Frontier  Days 


Navy  Day 

University  of  California — 
Stanford  University  "Big 
Game" 

Great  Western  Livestock  and 

Poultry  Show 
Book  Fair 


&XK&&&<XK^^^^ 


A  Guide  to  Recreation 


PLACES  TO  GO 

Aquariums,  Marine  Museums,  and  Submarine  Gardens:  Submarine 
gardens,  marine  museum  and  aquarium  at  Avalon,  Santa  Catalina 
Island.  Aquarium  and  marine  museum,  Scripps  Institute  of  Oceanog- 
raphy at  La  Jolla.  Submarine  gardens,  Municipal  Museum,  Hopkins 
Marine  Biological  Laboratory  at  Pacific  Grove.  Stillwater  Cove  sub- 
marine gardens  at  Pebble  Beach.  Steinhart  Aquarium  in  Golden  Gate 
Park  at  San  Francisco,  Cabrillo  Beach  Marine  Museum  at  San  Pedro. 
Aquarium  at  Venice. 

Art  Collections:  Carmel  Art  Association  at  Carmel.  The  Artists' 
Barn  at  Fillmore.  Laguna  Beach  Art  Association  at  Laguna  Beach. 
Los  Angeles  County  Museum  of  History,  Science  and  Art,  Southwest 
Museum,  and  Los  Angeles  Art  Association  at  Los  Angeles.  Keith 
Memorial  Gallery  in  St.  Mary's  College  at  Moraga.  Oakland  Art 
Gallery  and  Mills  College  Art  Gallery  at  Oakland.  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts  and  Thomas  Welton  Stanford  Art  Gallery  in  Stanford 
University  at  Palo  Alto.  Pasadena  Art  Institute  at  Pasadena.  Mis- 
sion Inn  at  Riverside.  E.  B.  Crocker  Art  Gallery  at  Sacramento. 
Fine  Arts  Gallery  in  Balboa  Park  at  San  Diego.  San  Francisco  Mu- 
seum of  Art,  San  Francisco  Art  Association,  California  Palace  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  and  M.  H.  de  Young  Memorial  Museum  at  San 
Francisco.  Huntington  Library  and  Art  Gallery  at  San  Marino. 
Faulkner  Memorial  Art  Gallery  at  Santa  Barbara.  Museo  (museum) 
in  Mission  Santa  Ynez  at  Solvang.  Louis  Terah  Haggin  Memorial 
Galleries  in  Victory  Park  at  Stockton. 

Aviaries:  Santa  Catalina  Island  Aviaries  at  Avalon.  Roeding  Park 
at  Fresno.  Griffith  Park  Bird  Sanctuary  and  Cawston  Ostrich  Farm 
at  Los  Angeles.  Bird  Shelter  at  Lake  Merritt  in  Oakland.  Balboa 
Park  at  San  Diego.  Golden  Gate  Park  and  Fleishhacker  Playfield 
and  Zoo  at  San  Francisco. 

Museums:  Pony  Express  Museum  at  Arcadia.  Herbarium  and  Mu- 
seums of  Anthropology,  Geology,  Paleontology,  and  Vertebrate  Zool- 


XXVI        A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION 

ogy,  University  of  California  at  Berkeley.  Naval  Museum  at  Mare 
Island.  Los  Angeles  Museum  of  History,  Science,  and  Art,  and 
Southwest  Museum  at  Los  Angeles.  Municipal  Museum  and  Snow 
Museum  at  Oakland.  Municipal  Museum  at  Pacific  Grove.  Leland 
Stanford  Jr.  Memorial  Museum  and  Jordan  Hall  natural  history 
collections,  Stanford  University,  at  Palo  Alto.  Palace  of  Science, 
Museum  of  Anthropology,  and  Natural  History  Museum  in  Balboa 
Park  and  Junipero  Serra  Museum  at  San  Diego.  M.  H.  de  Young 
Memorial  Museum  and  California  Academy  of  Sciences  Museum  in 
Golden  Gate  Park  at  San  Francisco.  Museum  of  Natural  History 
at  Santa  Barbara.  Museum  in  Victory  Park  at  Stockton.  Collec- 
tions of  pioneer  relics  at  Columbia ;  Downieville ;  Fort  Humboldt, 
Eureka;  Independence;  Customs  House,  and  First  Theater,  Mon- 
terey; William  B.  Ide  Memorial  Museum,  Red  Bluff;  Mission  Inn, 
Riverside;  State  Capitol  and  Sutter's  Fort,  Sacramento;  Estudillo 
House,  San  Diego;  Shasta;  Mission  San  Francisco  Solano  and  Vallejo 
Home,  Sonoma;  and  Ventura.  Small  natural  history  collections  at 
Mae  Loomis  Memorial  Museum,  Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park; 
Government  Center  and  Mariposa  Grove,  Yosemite  National  Park. 
Mineralogical  collection  at  State  Division  of  Mines  museum,  Ferry 
Building,  San  Francisco. 

National  Parks  and  Monuments:  Death  Valley  National  Monu- 
ment, Devil  Postfile  National  Monument,  General  Grant  National 
Park,  Joshua  Tree  National  Monument,  Lassen  Volcanic  National 
Park,  Lava  Beds  National  Monument,  Muir  Woods  National  Mon- 
ument, Palm  Canyon  National  Monument,  Pinnacles  National  Monu- 
ment, Sequoia  National  Park,  Yosemite  National  Park. 

Observatories:  Lick  Observatory  on  Mount  Hamilton  near  San  Jose, 
Mount  Wilson  Observatory  near  Pasadena,  Chabot  Observatory  at 
Oakland,  California  Institute  of  Technology  Observatory  on  Palomar 
Mountain  (under  construction).  Planetarium  at  Griffith  Park,  Los 
Angeles. 

Zoological  Gardens:  Gay's  Lion  Farm  at  El  Monte.  Deer  en- 
closure, aviary,  and  duck  ponds  in  Roeding  Park  at  Fresno.  Cali- 
fornia Zoological  Society  Gardens,  Cawston  Ostrich  Farm,  and  alli- 
gator farm  near  Lincoln  Park,  and  Bird  Sanctuary  and  Zoo  in  Griffith 
Park  at  Los  Angeles.  Oakland  Zoo  in  Sequoia  Park  at  Oakland. 
William  Land  Park  Zoo  at  Sacramento.  Zoological  Society  of  San 
Diego  Gardens  in  Balboa  Park  at  San  Diego.  Aviary,  deer  park,  and 
bison  and  elk  paddocks  in  Golden  Gate  Park  and  Fleishhacker  Play- 
field  and  Zoo  at  San  Francisco. 


A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION        XXV11 

SPORTS 

Athletic  Stadiums:  California  Memorial  Stadium,  University  of 
California  at  Berkeley.  Marine  Stadium  at  Long  Beach.  Coliseum 
in  Exposition  Park  at  Los  Angeles.  Stanford  University  Stadium  at 
Palo  Alto.  Rose  Bowl  at  Pasadena.  Balboa  Park  stadium  at  San 
Diego.  Kezar  Stadium  in  Golden  Gate  Park  at  San  Francisco. 

Baseball:  Played  year  round  throughout  the  State.  Leading  pro- 
fessional circuit,  Pacific  Coast  League,  has  ball  parks  in  Los  Angeles, 
Oakland,  Sacramento,  San  Diego,  and  San  Francisco. 

Football:  Played  during  fall  and  winter  months  throughout  State 
by  teams  from  universities,  colleges,  high  schools,  and  independent 
clubs.  Chief  intercollegiate  games  are  New  Year's  Day  East-West 
games  at  Rose  Bowl  in  Pasadena  and  Kezar  Stadium  in  San  Francisco. 

Golf:  Played  year  round  throughout  State  at  more  than  200 
country  club  courses  and  many  municipal  links,  including  those  in 
Griffith  Park  at  Los  Angeles,  Lincoln  and  Harding  Memorial  Parks 
at  San  Francisco,  and  Balboa  Park  at  San  Diego. 

Horse  Racing:  Continuous  from  fall  until  spring,  with  season  di- 
vided among  various  tracks.  Pari-mutuel  betting  at  Bay  Meadows  and 
Tanforan,  south  of  San  Francisco ;  Santa  Anita,  near  Arcadia ;  Holly- 
wood Racetrack,  Inglewood ;  and  Del  Mar,  north  of  San  Diego.  Other 
tracks  at  Los  Angeles  County  Fair  Grounds  in  Pomona,  State  Fair 
Grounds  in  Sacramento,  and  various  county  fair  grounds,  operating 
during  fairs. 

Polo:  Played  chiefly  during  first  four  months  of  year  at  Coro- 
nado,  Burlingame,  Del  Monte,  Santa  Barbara,  San  Mateo,  and  Santa 
Monica. 

OUTDOOR  RECREATION 

Boating:  Favorite  yachting  centers  include  San  Francisco  Bay,  with 
yacht  harbors  at  Black  Point  and  San  Francisco  and  clubhouses  at 
Alameda,  Alviso,  Belvedere,  Richmond,  and  Sausalito;  Monterey  Bay; 
Stillwater  Cove  yacht  harbor  at  Pebble  Beach;  Santa  Barbara  yacht 
harbor  in  Santa  Barbara;  Terminal  Island  in  Los  Angeles  Harbor; 
Alamitos  Bay  at  Long  Beach;  Newport  Bay;  Coronado  and  San  Diego. 
Accommodations  for  pleasure  craft  of  other  kinds  at  these  and  other 
seaside  cities.  Sailing  in  launches  and  sloops  on  lower  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  and  other  rivers;  canoeing,  motor-boating,  rowing  on  Rus- 


XXV111        A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION 

sian  River  and  other  streams  and  lagoons.  Boating  of  all  kinds  on 
Big  Bear  Lake,  Clear  Lake,  Lake  Arrowhead,  and  Lake  Tahoe. 
Motorboat  races  on  Lake  Elsinore,  Lake  Merritt  in  Oakland,  Alamitos 
Bay,  Newport  Bay,  and  Salton  Sea. 

Camping:  Campgrounds,  trailer  camps,  cabins,  auto  courts,  "motels," 
and  "tent  cities"  at  mountain,  forest,  desert,  lake,  river,  and  seaside 
resorts'  throughout  State.  Summer  homesites  in  National  forests  for 
rent  from  U.  S.  Forest  Service  at  $5  per  year  up.  Camping  50^  per 
car  per  night  in  State  parks. 

Fishing:  Trout  fishing  throughout  the  Sierra  Nevada  in  Lake  Tahoe, 
glacial  lakes  and  their  tributaries,  and  headwaters  of  Kern  and  Kings 
Rivers;  in  the  north,  upper  Sacramento  River  and  its  tributaries, 
Klamath  River,  and  streams  of  the  Coast  Range ;  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia, streams  of  the  Sierra  Madre  and  San  Bernardino  Mountains. 
Native  varieties  include  rainbow  (known  as  steelhead  after  going  to 
sea),  cutthroat,  Dolly  Varden,  golden,  and  Tahoe;  imported  varieties, 
Loch  Leven,  Eastern  brook,  European  brown.  Lake  shallows  and 
riffles  stocked  with  millions  of  trout  fry  from  fish-hatcheries  yearly. 
Other  game  fish  imported  from  East  include:  black  bass,  found  in 
Clear  Lake,  northern  rivers,  and  lagoons  south  of  Los  Angeles ;  striped 
bass,  in  Suisun  and  San  Pablo  Bays ;  sunfish ;  and  yellow  perch.  Giant 
king  salmon  caught  in  Monterey  Bay  in  June,  July,  and  August  and 
in  San  Francisco  Bay  in  August;  quinnat  and  dog  salmon  caught  off 
northern  coast  and  during  spawning  season,  in  Klamath  River  and 
rivers  of  Coast  Range.  Best  ocean  fishing  in  Monterey  Bay,  where 
species  from  both  northern  and  southern  waters  are  found,  and  off 
southern  California  coast.  South  of  Point  Concepcion,  most  common 
ocean  fish  are  albacore,  barracuda,  black  sea  bass,  bonito,  leaping  tuna, 
sheepshead,  swordfish,  yellow-fin  tuna;  peculiar  to  southern  California 
waters  are  corbina,  croaker,  flatfish,  roncador  and  yellowfin.  Piers 
for  surf  fishing  at  Long  Beach,  Ocean  Park,  Redondo,  and  Santa  Mon- 
ica. Best  deep-sea  fishing  off  Portuguese  Bend,  Redondo,  and  Coro- 
nado,  Santa  Catalina,  San  Clemente,  and  Santa  Barbara  Islands.  Santa 
Catalina  Island  waters  especially  noted  for  sport  with  albacore,  broad- 
bill  swordfish,  dolphin,  giant  bass,  leaping  tuna,  marlin  swordfish, 
white  sea  bass,  and  yellowtail.  Shellfish,  especially  abalone,  clams,  and 
mussels,  are  dug  at  many  points  along  coast. 

Hiking:  Well-marked  trails  lead  through  national  parks  and  for- 
ests and  radiate  from  resorts  in  Sierra  Nevada,  Coast  Range,  and 
southern  California  ranges.  Horses,  pack  animals,  and  guides  avail- 
able at  mountain  resorts  throughout  State.  Camps  and  lodges  make 


A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION        XXIX 

wilder  mountainous  regions  accessible  to  skilled  mountaineers.  All 
trails  open  in  July  and  August ;  southern  trails  from  May  to  Novem- 
ber. Easy  trails  lead  into  Sierra  Madre  Mountains  from  Big  Pines, 
Camp  Baldy,  Crystal  Lake,  and  Mount  Wilson;  into  San  Bernardino 
Mountains  from  Big  Bear  Lake  and  Lake  Arrowhead;  San  Jacinto 
Mountains  from  Idyllwild  and  Kenn  Camp;  Santa  Ynez  Mountains 
from  Santa  Barbara;  Mount  Hamilton  Range  from  Alum  Rock  Park 
near  San  Jose ;  Santa  Cruz  Mountains  from  California  Redwoods  State 
Park ;  Berkeley  Hills  from  Berkeley ;  Mount  Diablo  Range  from  Dan- 
ville or  Walnut  Creek;  Mount  Tamalpais  region  from  Mill  Valley; 
Bear  Valley  forest  and  Tomales  Ridge  from  Inverness,  Olema,  or 
Point  Reyes;  Castle  Crags  State  Park  from  Castella;  and  into  red- 
wood groves  from  resorts  along  Redwood  Highway.  Short  trails  to 
points  of  interest  in  General  Grant,  Lassen  Volcanic,  Sequoia,  and 
Yosemite  National  Parks  are  well  marked.  Among  peaks  easily  climbed 
by  amateur  hikers  are  Mount  San  Antonio,  Mount  Wilson,  Mount 
Lowe,  Mount  Diablo,  Mount  Tamalpais,  and  Lassen  Peak.  Mount 
Shasta  is  climbed  from  late  June  until  early  October.  Trails  into 
Trinity-Salmon  Alps  lead  from  Cecilville  and  Trinity  Center,  into 
Marble  Mountain  primitive  area  from  camps  along  State  96.  For 
skilled  mountaineers,  trails  radiate  into  High  Sierra  from  Lake  Tahoe, 
Tuolumne  Meadows,  Yosemite  Valley,  General  Grant  and  Sequoia 
National  Parks,  Kings  River  Camp  in  Kings  River  Canyon,  Hunting- 
ton  Lake,  and  Bishop,  Lone  Pine,  and  Independence  in  Owens  Valley. 
Pacific  Crest  Trail,  traversing  main  divides  of  highest  ranges  in  Pacific 
Coast  States,  has  five  sections  in  California:  Lava  Crest  Trail,  330 
miles;  Tahoe  Yosemite  Trail,  260  miles;  John  Muir  Trail,  185  miles; 
Sierra  Trail,  160  miles;  and  Desert  Crest  Trail,  475  miles.  For 
information  address  Clinton  C.  Clark,  President  Pacific  Crest  Trail 
System  Conference,  125  S.  Grand  Ave.,  Pasadena,  California. 

Hunting:  Deer,  most  common  large  game  animal,  are  of  three  varie- 
ties: blacktail,  mule,  and  white-tail.  Found  in  Sierra  Nevada  north 
of  Lake  Tahoe,  in  northeast  above  Alturas,  and  in  coast  Range  from 
Oregon  to  Mexican  border.  Open  season  varies  according  to  region, 
beginning  August  I  in  Coast  Range  and  ending  October  15  in  Sierra 
Nevada.  Bears  hunted  with  aid  of  guides  and  trained  dogs  in  Sierra 
Nevada,  parts  of  Coast  Range,  and  San  Bernardino  Mountains. 
Cougars,  fair  game  at  any  season  (bounty  on  scalps),  hunted  with 
dogs  in  regions  where  deer  are  found.  Foxes  common,  especially  in 
Coast  Range;  gray  wolf  and  wildcat  (red  lynx)  sometimes  hunted. 
Smaller  game  animals  include  badgers,  cottontails  and  jackrabbits,  gray 
and  Douglas  squirrels,  porcupines,  raccoons,  and  woodchucks.  Most 
hunted  game  fowl  are  wild  ducks,  including  bluebill,  canvasback,  gad- 


XXX         A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION 

wall,  mallard,  ruddy,  spoonbill,  sprig  (pintail),  teal,  and  widgeon. 
Open  season  usually  October  15  to  January  31.  Chief  duck  hunting 
grounds  are  Suisun  marshes  to  north  and  Alviso  marshes  to  south  of 
San  Francisco  Bay;  "tule  lands"  along  Sacramento,  San  Joaquin,  and 
other  rivers  of  Central  Valley;  marshlands  back  of  beaches  at  Alamitos 
Bay,  Newport  Bay,  and  lagoons  in  southern  California;  and  scattered 
regions  in  Imperial  Valley,  around  Monterey  Bay,  and  in  Klamath 
River  country.  Characteristic  method  is  shooting  in  marshes  from 
"tule  splitter"  boats,  but  bay  blinds  and  baited  ponds  are  also  em- 
ployed. Wild  geese  and  brant  are  fair  game  in  duck  season.  Also 
hunted  in  autumn  and  winter  are  mountain  quail,  chiefly  in  higher 
Sierra  and  counties  north  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  and  valley  quail,  in 
lowlands  and  foothills.  Blue  grouse,  sage-fowl,  and  Wilson  snipe  are 
hunted  frequently;  also  avocet,  band-tailed  pigeon,  golden  and  upland 
plover,  ruffed  grouse,  sandhill  crane,  and  wild  dove. 

Motoringr:  Among  favorite  scenic  drives  for  automobilists  are  Red- 
wood Highway  through  redwood  groves  of  Humboldt  County  (see 
Tour  la),  Victory  Highway  over  Donner  Pass  and  down  Yuba 
Bottoms  (see  Tour  9a),  Feather  River  Highway  through  gorge  of 
Feather  River  (see  Tour  6B),  Skyline  Boulevard  along  crest  of  the 
Sierra  Moreno  south  of  San  Francisco  (see  Tour  Ib),  Seventeen- 
Mile  Drive  around  Monterey  Peninsula  (see  Tour  Ic),  Carmel- 
San  Simeon  Highway  along  coast  (see  Tour  Ic),  and  Rim-of-the- 
World  Drive  through  San  Bernardino  Mountains  (see  Tour  12b). 
Good  highways  scale  Sierra  Nevada,  Coast  Range,  and  southern  Cali- 
fornia Mountains.  Among  peaks  climbed  to  summit  by  highways  are 
Mount  Wilson,  from  Pasadena;  Mount  Hamilton,  from  San  Jose; 
Mount  Diablo,  from  Danville ;  Mount  Tamalpais,  from  Mill  Valley. 

Ocean  Bathing:  Sheltered  bathing  beaches  along  coast  from  Trinidad 
to  San  Diego  and  at  Avalon,  Santa  Catalina  Island.  Among  favored 
beaches  in  north  are  Neptune  Beach  at  Alameda,  Ocean  Beach  at  San 
Francisco,  and  the  beach  at  Santa  Cruz;  in  south,  beaches  at  Malibu, 
Santa  Monica,  Ocean  Park,  Venice,  Redondo  Beach,  San  Pedro,  Long 
Beach,  Seal  Beach,  Newport,  and  San  Diego.  Favorite  season  for 
bathing  extends  from  June  to  September,  but  hardy  swimmers  take  dips 
the  year  around.  Amusement  zones  at  Neptune  Beach,  Ocean  Beach, 
Santa  Cruz,  Ocean  Park,  Venice,  Redondo,  Long  Beach,  and  Seal 
Beach. 

Riding:  Scenic  equestrian  trails  in  foothill,  mountain,  and  desert 
regions  throughout  State,  especially  in  Griffith  Park,  Los  Angeles,  and 
Golden  Gate  Park,  San  Francisco;  Del  Monte  Forest;  and  foothills 


A     GUIDE     TO     RECREATION      XXXI 

back  of  Santa  Barbara,  Beverly  Hills,  and  Pasadena.  Horses  trained 
for  mountain  trails  available  at  most  resorts  in  Sierra  Nevada. 

Winter  Sports:  Favorite  spots  for  tobogganing,  snowshoeing,  ski- 
running,  sleighing,  and  ice-skating  include  national  parks;  Mount 
Shasta;  Quincy  and  Portola  in  Feather  River  Country;  Downieville, 
Grass  Valley  and  Nevada  City,  Placerville,  and  Longbarn  above 
Sonora  in  Mother  Lode  country;  Alta,  Cisco,  Emigrant  Gap,  Norden, 
Tahoe  City,  and  Truckee  in  central  Sierra;  Huntington  Lake  and 
Shaver  Lake  Heights  in  southern  Sierra;  Big  Pines,  Camp  Baldy, 
Mount  Wilson,  and  Wrightwood  in  Sierra  Madre  Mountains;  Big 
Bear  Lake  and  Lake  Arrowhead  in  San  Bernardino  Mountains;  and 
resorts  in  San  Jacinto  Mountains. 


««cc«««c««<cc««c<«««««c«««<«««^^ 

PART  I 
California:  From  Past  to  Present 

t&&^^^^ 


El  Dorado  Up  to  Date 


THE  FIRST  to  come  were  explorers  by  sea,  venturing  uneasily 
northward  along  the  shores  in  pygmy  galleons  on  the  lookout 
for  fabled  El  Dorado,  a  vaguely  imagined  treasure  trove  of 
gold  and  spices  somewhere  near  the  Indies.  Finding  no  riches,  they 
returned  disappointed.  But  the  legend  of  El  Dorado  lingered,  even 
when  men  driving  their  cattle  in  the  dusty  march  from  the  south 
searched  in  vain  for  hidden  wealth.  At  least  the  new  country  was  a 
land  of  rich  soil  and  gentle  climate,  and  the  newcomers  stayed  to  grow 
rich  from  the  herds  they  pastured,  the  fields  and  orchards  they  planted. 
Who  could  foresee  that  the  legend  would  prove  to  be  true  almost  as 
soon  as  the  province  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  next  comers  from 
the  East?  Once  more  the  old  fable  illumined  California,  more  reful- 
gent than  before,  as  gold-seekers  thronged  westward  by  land  and  sea, 
risking  hardship  in  the  hope  of  ease.  After  a  few  years  it  faded.  And 
yet  people  still  came,  tempted  by  the  picture  of  rich  acres,  unbelievably 
fertile.  California  became  that  legendary  land  of  perpetual  summer, 
of  orange  groves  in  sight  of  snowy  peaks,  of  oil  wells  spouting  wealth, 
of  real  estate  promising  fortunes,  of  cinema  stars  and  bathing  beauties. 
It  seemed  to  promise  a  new  start,  a  kinder  providence,  a  rebirth  of 
soul  and  body.  The  aura  faded  again,  slowly.  And  yet  people  came 
— in  rickety  automobiles  piled  high  with  all  their  belongings,  people 
asking  nothing  but  a  chance  to  work  in  a  country  where  the  weather 
might  be  gentle  enough  to  let  them  live. 

"All  the  passengers  .  .  .  thronged  with  shining  eyes  upon  the  plat- 
form," exulted  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  as  the  train  that  had  carried 


4        CALIFORNIA 

him  across  the  continent  headed  down  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.  "At  every  turn  we  could  look  further  into  the  land  of  our 
happy  future.  At  every  turn  the  cocks  were  tossing  their  clear  notes 
into  the  golden  air  and  crowing  for  the  new  day  and  the  new  country. 
For  this  indeed  was  our  destination — this  was  'the  good  country'  we 
have  been  going  to  so  long." 

It  required  little  literary  artifice  to  spin  legends  of  an  earthly 
Utopia  so  real  that  men  would  risk  toil,  hunger,  and  even  death  to 
seek  it  in  the  West.  The  diarists  of  the  early  expeditions,  the  newly 
settled  immigrants  who  wrote  back  home,  the  enthusiastic  globe- 
trotters who  recorded  their  travels — all  extolled  the  virtues  of  El 
Dorado,  and  after  them  a  growing  throng  of  professional  boosters — 
newspaper  lyricists,  real-estate  promoters,  chamber-of-commerce  press 
agents — swelled  the  chorus. 

"I  love  you,  California,  you're  the  greatest  State  of  all,"  begins 
the  semiofficial  State  song;  it  closes  with  the  solemn  declaration: 

"And  I  know  when  I  die  I  shall  breathe  my  last  sigh 
For  my  sunny  California." 

When  the  first  white  men  came  by  foot  into  California  in  1769, 
they  failed  to  recognize  the  Bay  of  Monterey,  so  overenthusiastically 
described  by  the  chronicler  of  Sebastian  Vizcaino's  expedition,  and 
passed  by.  Since  their  time,  similar  panegyrics  have  misled  others,  for 
California  is  both  more  and  less  than  its  eulogists  have  claimed  it  to 
be.  There  is  something  more  to  it  than  sunshine  and  vineyards  and 
orange  orchards,  bathing  beaches  and  redwood  trees  and  movie  studios 
— more  than  the  hurried  visitor  to  a  few  chosen  showplaces  may  glimpse. 
For  California,  in  more  than  one  sense,  is  all  things  to  all  men.  The 
ballyhooers  have  called  it  a  sun-kissed  garden  spot  cooled  by  gentle 
zephyrs  from  the  sea.  The  description  is  appropriate  enough  for  the 
sloping  valley  plains  along  the  coast.  They  might  also  call  it  a  sun- 
scorched  waste  of  boulder-scarred  mountains  and  desert  plains,  or  a 
rain-drenched  highland  of  timbered  gorges  and  snow-capped  granite 
peaks.  Or  they  might  describe  the  vast  spreading  plains  of  its  Central 
Valley,  or  the  smooth-worn  brown  slopes  of  its  undulating  oak-dotted 
foothills,  or  the  lava  crags  and  juniper  forests  of  its  volcanic  plateaus. 
Its  seashore  has  stretches  of  smoothly  curving  sandy  beach  and  of  saw- 
toothed,  rock-strewn  coast;  its  plains  are  checkered  with  fertile  fields 
and  pastures,  and  desolate  with  crags  and  alkali;  its  rivers  brim  with 
water  between  fringes  of  greenery  and  lose  their  flow  underground  in 
sandy  washes.  California's  contrasts  are  extreme.  It  has  fierce  heat 
and  bitter  cold,  some  of  the  country's  wettest  regions  and  some  of  its 
driest,  the  continent's  lowest  point  and  the  country's  second  highest. 
Its  landscape  is  so  variegated  that  when  the  Californian  goes  traveling, 


EL     DORADO      UP      TO     DATE        5 

he  is  apt  to  say  to  himself  as  he  looks  at  parts  of  the  rest  of  the  coun- 
try: "I  have  seen  all  this  before." 

The  people  are  as  diverse  as  their  environment.  The  tide  of  new- 
comers who  arrived  on  foot,  in  prairie  schooners,  on  clipper  ships  when 
California  became  American  territory  were  from  every  corner  of  the 
land:  New  England  farm  boys,  Irish-Americans  from  the  streets  of 
New  York,  younger  sons  of  southern  slave-owning  families,  and  mid- 
westerners  imitating  their  fathers'  trek  from  still  farther  east.  Before 
this  onrush  of  men  with  the  "California  fever,"  the  leisure-loving  pas- 
toral civilization  of  the  Spanish-Californians  was  swept  into  oblivion. 
It  disappeared  as  fast  as  the  way  of  life  of  the  short,  dark  aborigines 
had  disappeared  three-quarters  of  a  century  before.  The  Yankee  con- 
querors, all  citizens  of  the  same  Nation,  were  still  "of  every  possible 
variety,"  as  traveler  Bayard  Taylor  wrote  in  1849.  They  differed 
individually  from  each  other  almost  as  much  as  they  differed  collectively 
from  their  predecessors. 

People  from  nearly  every  nation  of  the  earth  still  mingle  in  a  poly- 
glot conglomeration.  In  the  dark  and  grotesque  alleyways  of  China- 
towns in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  and  smaller  cities  live  the  Chinese, 
descendants  of  pioneers  who  came  in  the  Gold  Rush.  The  Japanese 
are  found  in  Los  Angeles'  "Little  Tokyo,"  and  in  small  towns  and 
farms  in  southern  California.  In  Imperial  Valley,  in  Los  Angeles  and 
its  suburbs  thousands  of  Mexican  field  workers  live  in  rude  shacks. 
The  short  brown  men  of  the  Philippine  Islands  gather  in  employment 
agencies  and  shabby  roominghouses  of  the  big  cities.  The  vineyards 
around  Santa  Rosa  and  Napa,  the  fishing  fleets  of  the  seaports,  the 
shops  of  San  Francisco's  North  Beach  give  employment  to  the  Italians. 
On  the  dairy  farms  of  Alameda  County  live  the  Portuguese;  in  the 
lumber  towns  of  the  northern  coast,  the  Scandinavians.  In  the  big 
cities  are  colonies  of  Russians,  Germans,  French,  and  people  of  every 
other  nation  in  Europe.  Negroes  live  in  the  Central  Avenue  District 
of  Los  Angeles  and  the  West  End  of  Oakland — railroad  porters  and 
waiters,  domestics  and  bootblacks,  entertainers,  and  businessmen. 

The  people  differ  in  more  than  their  place  of  origin.  Their  lives 
have  been  shaped  by  the  parts  of  the  State  in  which  they  have  settled. 
The  sawmill  workers  of  the  bleak  mountain  shack  towns  of  Weed  and 
Westwood  are  a  world  removed  from  the  orange  growers  of  garden- 
surrounded  Whittier  and  Pomona.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  tough- 
skinned,  wizened  old-timers  of  the  Mother  Lode  ghost  towns  to  the 
comfortable,  retired  midwestern  farmers  and  storekeepers  of  Long 
Beach  and  San  Diego,  and  a  farther  cry  from  the  cowboys  and  sheep- 
herders  of  Susanville  and  Alturas  to  the  cameramen  and  movie  extras 
of  Hollywood.  The  vineyardgrowers  of  the  sun-warmed  Napa  and 
Sonoma  valleys,  the  grease-stained  oil  workers  of  the  torrid  Kettleman 


O        CALIFORNIA 

Hills,  the  wandering  pea-and-cotton-pickers  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley's 
river-bottom  camps — all  are  strangers  to  each  other. 

The  Union's  second  largest  State  in  area  might  well  have  been 
christened  by  its  discoverers  Las  California*,  for  there  are  several 
Californias.  Of  all  the  many  rivalries  that  make  the  life  of  the  State 
an  exciting  clash  of  opposites,  the  chief  has  always  been  the  rivalry 
between  San  Francisco  and  its  neighbor  cities  and  Los  Angeles  and 
its  neighbor  cities.  Northern  California  was  peopled  with  Americans 
during  the  Gold  Rush,  four  decades  before  real  estate  booms  brought 
settlers  to  southern  California.  Los  Angeles  remained  a  lazy  village 
long  after  San  Francisco  had  grown  into  a  thriving  city.  San  Fran- 
cisco, with  its  more  deeply  rooted  population,  has  the  charm  and  con- 
servatism of  an  older  town,  holding  still  to  some  of  the  traditions  of 
gold  rush  days.  In  the  interior  towns  of  the  north,  more  character- 
istically rural  than  those  of  the  south,  are  the  old-fashioned  houses  and 
quiet,  tree-lined  streets  of  a  country  village  "back  East" — especially  in 
the  towns  of  the  mining  country,  where  descendants  of  forty-niners 
live  in  almost  clannish  isolation  from  the  State's  more  up-and-coming 
sections.  In  rural  southern  California,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inhabit- 
ants are  more  likely  to  be  recent  immigrants  from  the  Middle  West, 
and  their  towns  have  the  neon  lights,  the  stucco  "Spanish"  bungalows, 
and  the  chromium-trimmed  cocktail  bars  of  their  big-city  neighbors. 
The  southlanders,  for  the  most  part,  have  had  only  a  short  time  to  get 
used  to  what  is  still  a  strange  wondrous  land — which  accounts,  per- 
haps, for  their  famed  susceptibility  to  unorthodox  religions,  architec- 
tures, and  political  movements  frowned  upon  by  northerners.  The 
inter-sectional  rivalry  has  often  prompted  demands  for  the  division  of 
the  State;  yet  despite  the  geographical,  temperamental  and  commercial 
differences,  the  sentiment  for  divorce  has  never  grown  very  strong. 

No  matter  how  fervent  his  local  patriotism,  the  Californian  will 
stop  arguing  the  claims  of  rival  regions  when  faced  with  the  challenge 
of  an  out-of-State  visitor.  At  once  he  becomes  a  citizen  of  "the  greatest 
State  of  all,"  just  as  the  caballeros  of  pre-American  days  haughtily  set 
themselves  up  as  California*,  a  race  apart.  Whether  northerner  or 
southerner,  native  son  or  transplanted  lowan,  the  true  Californian  de- 
velops a  proprietary  interest  that  prompts  him  to  tell  the  world  about 
his  State.  So  fond  is  he  of  bragging  about  it  that  he  is  always  ready 
to  "sell"  California  to  whoever  will  lend  an  ear.  Few  joys  in  life 
so  please  him  as  an  opportunity  to  declare  with  pride — and  perhaps 
even  on  occasion  with  justification — that  it  has  the  tallest  trees,  the 
highest  mountains,  the  biggest  bridges,  the  fastest-growing  population — 
in  fact,  the  best,  the  most,  or  the  greatest  of  whatever  is  being  dis- 
cussed at  the  moment. 

The  Californian  may  possibly  be  pardoned  his  pride  in  the  exten- 


EL     DORADO     UP     TO     DATE        7 

sion,  by  three  or  four  generations  of  human  effort,  of  the  bounties  of 
nature.  The  aggressive  energy  of  the  Yankees,  against  which  the 
leisure-loving  ways  of  the  easy-going  Calif omios  could  not  prevail  (with 
some  few  exceptions  in  the  south)  still  moves  a  people  who  have  built 
aqueducts  from  faraway  mountains  to  reclaim  whole  deserts,  strung 
power  lines  from  mighty  dams  across  inaccessible  wilderness  to  distant 
cities,  dredged  one  of  the  Nation's  great  harbors  from  mud  flats  and 
flung  the  world's  biggest  bridges  across  a  bay.  The  wild  wastes  of  a 
century  ago  are  dotted  now  with  lumber  mills,  mine  shafts  and  smelters, 
power  plants  and  factories.  The  valleys  are  squared  off  in  grain  field 
and  pasture,  vegetable  patch,  vineyard  and  fruit  orchard,  watered  with 
a  labyrinth  of  irrigation  ditches  and  criss-crossed  with  highways  and 
railroads.  Mountain  streams  have  been  dammed  for  electric  power; 
plains  and  slopes  drilled  for  oil.  Under  the  earth  extends  a  network 
of  pipelines  for  oil  and  natural  gas  and  above  it,  a  network  of  high- 
tension  wires  for  electric  current.  The  canneries  and  packing  houses, 
oil  refineries,  aircraft  factories  and  movie  studios  ship  their  products 
to  every  corner  of  the  Nation  and  beyond.  The  Californian  of  today 
feels  a  personal  pride  in  the  State's  gargantuan  public  works:  high- 
ways, bridges,  dams,  and  aqueducts.  And  most  of  all,  of  course,  he 
exults  in  the  region's  "happy  future." 

The  days  when  the  American  people  finally  reached  land's  end  on 
the  Pacific  are  almost  within  the  memory  of  living  men.  If  Californi- 
ans  seem  to  display  the  brash  boastfulness  of  adolescents,  perhaps  they 
deserve  charitable  forgiveness;  for  after  all,  they  are  citizens  of  a 
young  State.  And  boastfulness  is  not  the  only  telltale  sign  of  its  youth. 
The  restlessness  of  the  men  who  made  the  westward  trek  persists  in 
the  unquenchable  wanderlust  with  which  their  descendants  have  taken 
to  the  automobile,  thronging  the  highways  with  never-ending  streams 
of  traffic  bound  for  seashore,  deserts,  forests  and  mountains.  And  the 
sturdy  instinct  for  independence  that  inspired  the  rough-and-ready  de- 
mocracy of  the  mining  camps  and  towns  has  lasted  too;  quiescent  at 
intervals,  it  has  always  revived  in  time  to  save  Californians  from  unpro- 
testing  resignation  to  hardship.  They  hope,  perhaps,  that  the  stubborn 
search  for  a  better  land  that  brought  their  grandfathers  here  to  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific  has  not  spent  itself.  They  hope,  in  fact,  that  they 
can  yet  make  of  El  Dorado  the  promised  land  that  has  fired  men's 
imaginations  for  four  hundred  years. 


Natural  Setting  and  Conservation 


IF  CALIFORNIA  lies  beyond  those  mountains  we  shall  never  be 
able  to  reach  it,"  wrote  John  Bidwell,  leader  of  the  first  overland 
emigrant  train,  in  his  journal  on  October  29,  1841.  But  on  the 
next  day  he  set  down:  "We  had  gone  about  three  miles  this  morning, 
when  lo!  to  our  great  delight  we  beheld  a  wide  valley.  .  .  .  Rivers 
evidently  meandered  through  it,  for  timber  was  seen  in  long  extended 
lines  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach."  The  day  after  he  continued: 
"Joyful  sight  to  us  poor,  famished  wretches!  Hundreds  of  antelope 
in  view !  Elk  tracks,  thousands !  The  valley  of  the  river  was  very 
fertile,  and  the  young,  tender  grass  covered  it  like  a  field  of  wheat  in 
May." 

Thousands  of  later  emigrants  who  struggled  to  the  crest  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  towering  like  a  massive  wall  along  the  State's  eastern 
border,  were  equally  overjoyed  at  their  first  glimpse  of  El  Dorado.  As 
they  stood  at  the  summit,  the  dry  wilderness  of  the  Great  Basin  lay 
behind  them.  To  north  and  south  rose  the  rock-ribbed  flanks  of  the 
huge  Sierra  Nevada,  about  385  miles  long  and  with  an  average  width 
of  about  80  miles.  Westward  they  looked  toward  the  Great  Valley 
of  California,  a  vast  elliptical  bowl  averaging  50  miles  in  width  and 
more  than  400  miles  long,  larger  in  area  than  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire  combined.  Beyond  the  valley  stood  the  dim  blue  peaks 
of  the  Coast  Range,  skirting  the  ocean  and  parallel  to  the  Sierra  in 
chains  from  20  to  40  miles  wide  and  500  miles  long.  Far  to  the 
north,  beyond  their  vision,  the  rugged  Cascade  Range  and  Klamath 
Mountains  closed  in  on  the  valley's  northern  rim;  and  far  to  the  south, 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        9 

the  Tehachapi  Mountains  thrust  their  barrier  from  east  to  west  across 
its  southern  end. 

California,  with  a  total  area  of  158,297  square  miles,  is  the  Union's 
second  largest  State.  In  the  language  of  the  geographer,  its  latitude 
extends  from  32°  30'  to  42°  N.,  and  its  longitude  from  114°  to 
124°  29'  W.  Its  medial  line,  from  Oregon  to  the  Mexican  border, 
is  780  miles  long.  Its  width  varies  from  150  to  350  miles.  Its  coast- 
line is  approximately  1,200  miles — somewhat  less  than  one-tenth  of 
the  total  coastline  of  the  United  States.  So  pronounced  is  the  eastward 
curve  of  the  State's  southern  coast  that  San  Diego  lies  farther  east 
than  Reno  in  Nevada,  although  Eureka,  a  northern  port,  is  the  most 
westward  city  in  the  United  States.  On  the  east  the  State  is  bordered 
by  Nevada  and  by  the  Colorado  River,  which  separates  its  southeastern 
corner  from  Arizona. 

Beyond  each  end  of  the  mountain-walled  Great  Valley,  which  is 
California's  most  distinctive  topographic  feature,  the  terrain  is  broken 
and  rugged.  Northward  lie  the  Siskiyou  Mountains,  a  natural  barrier 
between  California  and  Oregon.  In  the  northwest,  wild  timbered 
slopes  reach  to  the  Pacific;  in  the  northeast,  mountain  spurs  hem  in 
barren  lava-bed  plateaus.  South  of  the  Tehachapis'  dividing  line  lies 
southern  California  comprising  one-third  of  the  State's  area.  Here 
the  complex  network  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  San  Bernardino,  and 
other  ranges  separates  the  so-called  Valley  of  Southern  California,  a 
broad  strip  of  broken  country  near  the  coast,  from  the  arid  wastes  of 
the  Mojave  and  Colorado  Deserts  in  the  hinterland.  From  Point 
Concepcion,  where  the  Coast  Range  breaks  into  numerous  ridges  and 
the  coast  swings  in  sharply  to  the  east,  the  Valley  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, which  includes  the  V-shaped  coastal  plain  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Basin,  stretches  southward  to  the  Mexican  border. 

These  chief  geographical  districts — the  Sierra  and  Coast  Range 
regions  and  the  Central  (Sacramento-San  Joaquin)  Valley  in  the  north, 
the  coastal  lowlands,  the  mountains,  and  the  desert  country  in  the 
south — present  startling  physiographic  contrasts  and  extremes,  from 
active  volcano  to  glacier,  from  arctic  flora  on  mountain  tops  to  cotton 
plantations  below  sea  level.  From  the  peak  of  Mount  Whitney,  the 
highest  point  in  the  United  States,  it  is  but  60  miles  to  Death  Valley, 
the  continent's  lowest  area.  Human  activities  range  from  fur-trapping 
in  the  snows  of  the  Klamath  region  to  prospecting  for  minerals  in  the 
furnace-like  heat  of  the  southeastern  deserts. 

California's  contour  is  marked  by  lofty  mountain  peaks  towering 
above  precipitous  gorges  and  canyons.  Of  the  41  peaks  that  exceed 
10,000  feet  in  height,  the  tallest  is  Mount  Whitney  (14,496  alt.)  in 
the  southern  Sierra.  The  Sierra's  abrupt  eastern  slope  has  one  of  the 
steepest  general  gradients  on  the  North  American  continent.  Over  a 


IO        CALIFORNIA 

i6omile  stretch  the  lowest  pass  is  at  an  altitude  of  9,000  feet,  while 
Kearsage,  the  most  frequently  used  pack  horse  pass  on  this  stretch,  is 
12,050  feet;  in  this  area  the  peaks  range  from  13,000  to  14,000  feet  in 
height.  Although  there  is  a  gradual  decline  in  altitude  to  the  north, 
other  isolated  peaks  of  the  Sierra  rise  above  14,000  feet.  Northward  the 
western  slopes  are  gashed  by  river  canyons  sometimes  half  a  mile  deep. 

The  Sierra's  sculptured  splendor  is  in  part  the  work  of  glaciers 
which  carved  deep  valleys,  expanses  of  polished  rock,  and  towering 
granite  walls  over  which  roar  great  waterfalls,  glacial  lakes  and 
meadows.  Most  beautiful  of  the  valleys  is  Yosemite,  in  the  midsection 
of  the  Sierra;  loveliest  of  the  lakes  is  Tahoe  (6,225  alt.),  cupped  be- 
tween the  main  Sierra  and  the  basin  ranges  at  the  angle  of  the  Nevada- 
California  boundary.  A  few  glaciers  even  now  survive  on  the  highest 
summits,  the  finest  of  them  being  a  group  of  five  supported  by  Mount 
Shasta  (14,161  alt.). 

Dominating  the  northern  end  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  is  Mount 
Shasta,  the  most  striking  of  the  many  extinct  or  dormant  volcanoes  in 
the  northern  California  mountains.  Lassen  Peak  (10,435  alt.),  85 
miles  southeast  of  Mount  Shasta,  is  a  mildly  active  volcano — the  only 
one  in  the  United  States  that  has  had  a  generally  observed  eruption. 
Although  traces  of  volcanic  action  are  most  abundant  in  the  State's 
northeastern  sector,  where  lava  beds  spread  over  vast  tracts,  there  are 
also  extinct  or  dormant  volcanoes  in  Owens  Valley  and  the  Mojave 
Desert,  and  numerous  hot  springs  in  the  Coast  Range. 

The  Coast  Range,  more  complex  than  the  Sierra,  includes  numer- 
ous indistinct  chains  from  2,000  to  7,000  feet  high.  Each  chain  is 
broken  down  into  forested  spurs  and  ridges  enclosing  small  pleasant 
valleys  and  plains  drained  by  rapid  streams. 

The  Santa  Ynez,  San  Barnardino,  and  San  Gabriel  Mountains 
bound  the  lowland  of  southern  California  on  the  north  and  northeast, 
and  subdivide  it  into  more  or  less  distinct  valleys  or  basins.  Farther 
south  the  coastal  lowland  is  bounded  by  the  Santa  Ana  and  San  Jacinto 
Ranges,  an  elevation  that  extends  into  Mexico.  The  southern  Cali- 
fornia ranges  are  marked  by  the  lofty  peaks  (more  than  10,000  feet 
high)  of  San  Bernardino,  San  Jacinto,  and  San  Antonio  and  by  the 
well-defined  passes  of  Soledad,  Cajon,  and  San  Gorgonio. 

Among  the  mountain-walled  valleys  between  the  southern  end  of 
the  Sierra  and  the  border  of  Nevada  is  the  long  and  narrow  Owens 
Valley,  bordered  by  granite  walls.  About  40  miles  east  of  dry  Owens 
Lake,  along  the  California-Nevada  border,  lies  Death  Valley,  its  lowest 
point  276  feet  below  sea  level.  It  stretches  between  the  sheer  rocky 
walls  of  the  Panamint  Range  on  the  east  and  the  Amargosa  Range  on 
the  west — 130  miles  long  and  from  6  to  14  miles  wide — a  region  of 
stark  simplicity,  majestic  silence,  and  spectacular  desolation.  South 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        II 

of  Death  Valley  spread  the  Mojave  and  Colorado  Deserts.  The  Mo- 
jave  is  an  expanse  of  ancient  dried  lake  bottoms,  short  rugged  ranges, 
and  immense  sandy  valleys.  Parts  of  the  Colorado  Desert  lie  below 
sea  level — 250  feet  below  at  its  lowest  point.  In  its  southern  end 
is  the  fertile  Imperial  Valley,  largely  reclaimed  from  the  desert  for 
agricultural  use  by  irrigation,  where  the  Salton  Sea,  formed  when  the 
Colorado  River  broke  its  banks  in  1905,  floods  an  ancient  lake  bottom. 

In  addition  to  the  Great  Valley  in  the  north  and  the  coastal  dis- 
trict (including  the  rich  Los  Angeles  Basin  and  Santa  Clara  and  San 
Fernando  Valleys)  in  the  south,  cultivated  lowlands  occur  elsewhere 
in  the  State.  Below  San  Francisco  Bay  stretches  another  Santa  Clara 
Valley;  and  southeast  of  Monterey  Bay,  between  the  Santa  Lucia  and 
Gabilan  Ranges,  lies  the  long  Salinas  Valley.  North  of  San  Fran- 
cisco in  Sonoma,  Mendocino,  and  Humboldt  Counties  are  similar  areas. 
The  northeast  corner  of  the  State,  hemmed  in  by  steep  ranges,  is  suitable 
for  cattle  raising  and  restricted  agriculture  despite  its  lava  beds  and 
sagebrush. 

In  the  whole  4OO-mile  length  of  the  Great  Valley  there  is  only 
one  break  in  the  mountain  walls  through  which  the  waters  of  the 
interior  can  escape  to  the  sea.  Behind  the  Golden  Gate  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, cutting  across  the  full  width  of  the  Coast  Range,  is  a  great  gap 
through  which  passes  almost  the  entire  drainage  of  the  Great  Valley. 
Into  Suisun  Bay  pour  the  waters  of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
Rivers;  they  empty  through  Carquinez  Strait  into  San  Pablo  and  San 
Francisco  Bays,  and  through  the  Golden  Gate  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  scantily  forested  eastern  flanks  of  the  Coast  Range  contribute 
no  stream  lasting  enough  to  reach  either  the  Sacramento  or  the  San 
Joaquin  in  the  dry  season;  but  down  the  western  slopes  of  the  Sierra, 
tributaries  pour  through  precipitous  canyons  to  the  great  rivers  at  each 
end  of  the  valley.  Fed  by  Mount  Shasta's  melting  snows,  the  Sacra- 
mento, California's  largest  river,  is  joined  by  the  Pit,  McCloud, 
Feather,  Indian,  Yuba,  and  American  Rivers  as  it  flows  southward 
350  miles  to  its  confluence  with  the  San  Joaquin  in  the  Delta  region. 
The  Sacramento's  lower  course  is  through  a  marshy  plain  partly  inun- 
dated yearly.  The  San  Joaquin,  whose  valley  comprises  more  than 
three-fifths  of  the  central  basin,  flows  northward  from  its  headwaters 
in  the  mountains  of  Fresno  County.  Into  it  drain  the  waters  of  the 
Fresno,  Merced,  Tuolumne,  Stanislaus,  Calaveras,  Mokelumne,  and 
Consumnes  Rivers,  together  with  many  smaller  streams. 

The  seaward  slopes  of  the  Coast  Range  are  drained  by  the  Klamath 
(joined  by  the  Scott  and  Trinity),  Mad,  Eel,  and  Russian  Rivers  north 
of  San  Francisco,  and  south  of  it  by  the  Salinas,  Santa  Maria,  Santa 
Ynez,  Santa  Clara  and  other  secondary  rivers,  many  of  them  inter- 
mittently dry.  Southern  California's  so-called  rivers — the  Ventura,  Los 


12        CALIFORNIA 

Angeles,  San  Gabriel,  Santa  Ana,  San  Luis  Rey,  Santa  Margarita,  and 
San  Diego — are  for  the  most  part  dry  creek  beds  except  during  spring 
floods. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  State's  drainage  system  is  its  many  river  "sinks" 
where  the  waters  either  dry  up  from  evaporation  or,  like  the  Amargosa 
River  in  Death  Valley,  disappear  beneath  the  surface.  Through  Modoc 
and  Lassen  Counties,  in  the  far  northeast,  stretches  a  chain  of  alkaline 
"lakes" — Goose,  Upper  and  Middle,  and  Honey  Lakes.  They  are  all 
without  drainage  to  the  sea,  and  the  spring  run-off  rapidly  evaporates. 
In  the  Central  Valley,  south  of  the  area  drained  by  the  San  Joaquin, 
the  Kings,  Kaweah,  and  Kern  Rivers,  fed  by  the  melting  snows  of  the 
high  Sierra,  formerly  emptied  into  shallow  marsh-girt  lakes.  But  with 
the  impounding  of  water  for  irrigation  these  lakes  have  dried  up,  and 
the  old  lake  beds  have  become  farm  lands.  The  Mojave  Desert,  in 
whose  sandy  wastes  the  Mojave  River  is  swallowed  up,  is  dotted  with 
glistening  alkaline-incrusted  dry  lake  beds.  In  Riverside,  San  Diego, 
and  Imperial  Counties,  many  creeks  (so-called  rivers  whose  beds  are 
normally  dry)  run  toward  the  desert  sink  of  the  Salton  Sea  region. 

California  has  two  magnificent  natural  harbors,  San  Francisco  and 
San  Diego  Bays,  both  landlocked;  and  one  great  artificially  built  har- 
bor, the  port  of  Los  Angeles.  San  Francisco  Bay,  entered  through  the 
Golden  Gate,  is  among  the  world's  finest;  here,  besides  the  port  of 
San  Francisco  itself,  are  those  of  Oakland,  Alameda,  and  Richmond. 
San  Diego  Bay,  safe  at  all  seasons,  is  sheltered  from  ocean  winds  by 
Point  Loma,  a  promontory  seven  miles  in  length.  The  Los  Angeles 
harbor,  fronting  on  open  San  Pedro  Bay,  20  miles  from  the  city,  is 
protected  by  a  breakwater.  California's  best  minor  harbors  are  those 
of  Monterey  and  Santa  Cruz,  on  Monterey  Bay,  and  Eureka,  on  Hum- 
boldt  Bay,  some  280  miles  north  of  San  Francisco. 

There  are  two  groups  of  islands  off  the  California  coast.  The 
Santa  Barbara  Islands,  nine  in  number,  lie  between  Point  Concepcion 
and  San  Diego,  20  to  60  miles  from  the  mainland.  From  San  Miguel 
Island  in  the  north  to  San  Clemente  Island  in  the  south  they  are  scat- 
tered over  a  distance  of  155  miles.  The  best  known  island  of  the 
group  is  rugged  Santa  Catalina,  25  miles  long  with  an  average  width 
of  four  miles,  which  stands  20  miles  south  of  San  Pedro.  The  Faral- 
lones,  a  group  of  six  small  rocky  islands,  lie  about  28  miles  west  of 
the  entrance  to  San  Francisco  Bay. 

CLIMATE 

The  first  American  writer  to  describe  California's  natural  features 
refrained  from  the  rhapsody  which  has  characterized  most  of  the  sub- 
sequent discussion  of  the  State's  far-famed  weather.  "The  climate  of 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        13 

California,"  wrote  Captain  William  Shaler,  "generally  is  dry  and  tem- 
perate, and  remarkably  healthy ;  on  the  western  coast  the  sky  is  generally 
obscured  by  fogs  and  haze,  but  on  the  opposite  side  it  is  constantly 
clear;  not  a  cloud  is  to  be  seen,  night  or  day.  The  northwest  winds 
blow  very  strong  eight  months  in  the  year,  on  the  western  coast,  with 
very  little  interruption;  the  land  breezes  at  that  time  are  hardly  per- 
ceptible; but  in  the  winter  months  they  are  stronger  and  regular.  In 
the  months  of  January,  February,  and  March  there  are  at  times  very 
high  gales  from  the  southeast,  which  render  most  of  the  bays  and 
harbours  on  the  coast  unsafe  at  that  season." 

California's  climate  is  characterized  by  certain  peculiar  features: 
the  temperature  of  the  entire  Pacific  Coast  is  milder  and  more  uni- 
form than  that  of  regions  in  corresponding  latitudes  east  of  the  moun- 
tains; the  year  divides,  in  general,  into  two  seasons — wet  and  dry — 
instead  of  into  the  usual  four  seasons;  and  where  extreme  summer  heat 
occurs,  its  discomfort  is  lessened  by  the  dryness  of  the  air. 

Despite  these  general  characteristics  the  State  is  a  place  of  many 
climates,  due  to  distance  from  the  ocean,  situation  in  reference  to 
mountains,  and,  above  all,  altitude.  Thus  there  are  sharp  climatic 
contrasts  within  a  single  limited  area.  One  may  go  sleighing  within 
sight  of  blossoming  orchards,  or  view  snow-clad  peaks  while  bathing 
in  the  sea.  A  winter  traveler  in  the  high  Sierra  will  be  reminded  of 
the  Alps,  while  anyone  venturing  into  the  scorching  inland  valleys  in 
midsummer  will  conclude  that  whoever  labeled  California  "semitropi- 
cal"  was  a  master  of  understatement. 

The  term,  however,  is  applied  with  good  reason  to  the  strip  of 
land  between  the  coastal  mountains  and  the  ocean.  For  those  who 
have  never  visited  this  area  the  most  restrained  account  of  its  climate  is 
likely  to  seem  hyperbole.  The  year-round  weather  is  more  equable 
than  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  United  States;  and  from  San  Fran- 
cisco southward  to  Monterey,  the  difference  between  the  average  sum- 
mer and  winter  temperatures  is  seldom  more  than  10  degrees.  In  this 
coastal  region  frost  heavy  enough  to  halt  the  greening  of  the  hills  under 
winter  rains  is  as  rare  as  thunder  and  lightning;  and  always  some 
flowers  are  in  bloom.  Sea  breezes  and  fogs  tend  to  stabilize  the  tem- 
perature without  extremes  of  heat  or  cold. 

The  annual  mean  temperature  of  San  Francisco  is  56°  ;  the  summer 
mean  is  less  than  60°,  the  winter  51°,  and  the  lowest  recorded  tem- 
perature 27°.  In  San  Diego  the  winter  mean  temperature  is  54°,  the 
summer  68°.  In  Monterey  the  difference  between  January  and  August 
mean  temperatures  is  from  10°  to  14°;  in  Los  Angeles  14°  to  16°. 
Because  of  the  California  current  and  the  marine  air  from  the  Pacific 
anticyclone,  summer  in  San  Francisco  is  actually  cooler  than  fall.  These 
same  factors  induce  fogs,  night  and  morning,  in  that  region  and  all 


14        CALIFORNIA 

along  the  California  coast  during  the  greater  part  ^of  the  summer.  So 
dense  and  persistent  are  these  coastal  fogs  that  great  areas  south  of 
San  Francisco  devoted  to  truck  gardening  require  no  other  moisture 
during  the  summer  months.  The  Coast  redwood,  as  well  as  the  plants 
which  grow  beneath  it,  is  watered  by  the  fog  that  condenses  on  its 
foliage. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  Central  Valley,  temperatures  are  often 
very  high.  Although  the  annual  mean  temperature  of  the  inland  is 
64°,  in  Fresno  and  Bakersfield  the  mercury  occasionally  soars  above 
110°.  The  desert  temperatures  are  still  higher,  the  summer  mean  in 
Fort  Yuma  being  92°.  In  Death  Valley,  the  average  daily  minimum 
for  July,  the  hottest  month,  is  87.6°.  But  on  July  10,  1913,  it  reached 
134°,  only  slightly  less  than  the  highest  natural  air  temperature  hitherto 
accurately  measured.  In  the  mountain  regions,  on  the  other  hand,  sum- 
mer temperatures  are  much  lower  and  the  winters  are  very  severe.  At 
the  top  of  Mount  Lassen,  in  the  winter  of  1932-33,  the  mercury  reg- 
istered 56°  below  zero. 

Annual  rainfall  in  the  State  varies  from  about  80  inches  at  Crescent 
City  in  the  extreme  north  to  about  10  inches  at  San  Diego  in  the 
extreme  south.  At  San  Francisco  the  annual  average  is  about  22  inches ; 
at  Los  Angeles,  16  inches.  The  northern  half  of  the  Sierra  and  the 
northwest  counties  are  covered  by  a  heavy  rain  belt.  In  the  high 
mountains  precipitation,  almost  entirely  in  the  form  of  snow,  provides 
most  of  the  run-off  which  supplies  water  for  the  cities  and  for  irri- 
gation. In  the  high  Sierra  the  average  annual  snowfall  is  from  300 
to  400  inches.  At  Tamarack  in  Alpine  County  the  snowfall  during 
the  winter  of  1906-7  was  844  inches,  the  greatest  ever  recorded  for 
a  single  season  anywhere  in  the  United  States.  The  belt  of  heavy  rain 
shades  off  to  a  region  of  lighter  rainfall  which  covers  all  the  rest  of 
the  State  except  Inyo,  Kern,  San  Bernardino,  and  Imperial  Counties, 
and  the  eastern  portion  of  Riverside  County.  The  limits  of  this  third 
region  may,  in  dry  years,  include  all  of  the  State  below  Fresno  and 
the  entire  Central  Valley. 

In  general,  rains  occur  in  California  only  in  the  months  from  Octo- 
ber to  May.  Even  during  this  rainy  season,  the  valley  districts  usually 
have  no  more  than  from  25  to  35  rainy  days.  Throughout  the  rest 
of  the  year  excursions  may  be  planned  everywhere,  except  in  some 
parts  of  the  mountains,  with  considerable  confidence  that  no  rain  will 
dampen  the  occasion. 

GEOLOGY  AND  PALEONTOLOGY 

Every  major  division  of  geologic  time  is  represented  in  California 
by  marine  sediments,  and  many  of  them  by  continental  deposits  as  well. 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION         15 

As  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west  and  the  ancient  Great  Basin  Sea  on 
the  east  alternately  encroached  on  the  California  region,  each  supplied 
that  part  of  the  record  which  the  other  omitted.  In  formations  of  the 
last  two  periods,  the  Tertiary  and  the  Quaternary,  California  is  par- 
ticularly rich. 

Structurally  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  a  single  colossal  block  of  earth's 
crust  lifted  along  its  eastern  edge  to  a  height  of  more  than  1 1 ,000  feet 
above  the  adjoining  blocks,  and  gently  tilted  westward.  The  oldest 
known  rocks  making  up  these  mountains  are  intrusions  of  molten  rock 
(magma)  and  limestones,  cherts,  shales,  and  sandstones,  all  sedimentary, 
and  nearly  all  changed  into  their  metamorphic  equivalents  in  the  proc- 
ess of  mountain  building.  These  older  sedimentary  rocks  were  de- 
posited in  ancient  seas  of  shifting  extent  and  depth,  which  during  the 
second  half  of  the  Paleozoic  and  the  first  two  periods  of  the  Mesozoic 
era,  covered  now  one  part,  now  another,  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  Jurassic  period,  the  lands  that  were  eventually  to  be- 
come the  ancestral  Sierra  Nevada,  the  Cascades,  and  the  Klamath 
Mountains  began  to  emerge  from  the  sea. 

During  the  Cretaceous  period  the  Sierra's  whole  block  tilted  west- 
ward. This  process  of  tilting  and  folding  wrenched  open  leaves  of 
slates,  once  shales;  heated  mineral-bearing  solutions  escaped  from  the 
magma  that  was  cooling  and  solidifying  below  and  filled  the  slate 
openings  with  gold-bearing  quartz.  The  Eocene  epoch  of  the  Tertiary 
period  was  comparatively  quiet.  The  Sierra  slowly  underwent  addi- 
tional elevations  and  subsidences  accompanied  by  active  erosion  of  the 
surface  rocks.  Meanwhile  the  rivers  were  cutting  their  channels  down 
the  western  slope  and  carrying  the  products  of  erosion  to  the  inland 
sea.  There  was  further  release  of  gold  from  the  bedrock,  and  the 
formation  of  rich  placers.  In  the  Oligocene  epoch  following,  there  was 
volcanic  activity,  and  the  Sierra  gold-bearing  stream  channels  were 
dammed  and  filled  with  rhyolite  ash. 

Volcanic  activity  continued  during  the  Miocene  age,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  lava  there  were  extensive  mud  flows  and  tuffs.  In  the  Pliocene 
epoch  the  volcanoes  were  far  less  active,  and  in  the  Pleistocene  the 
volcanic  cover  was  removed  in  part  by  erosion.  The  veins  and  buried 
stream  channels  were  cut  into,  and  gold-bearing  gravels  were  washed 
from  their  ancient  channels  and  redistributed  along  new  streams.  This 
is  the  origin  of  so-called  free  gold.  The  Sierra  had  been  greatly  worn 
down  in  late  Tertiary  times,  but  the  Pleistocene  epoch  of  the  Quat- 
ernary period  was  an  era  of  re-elevation.  There  was  much  faulting, 
and  a  new  period  of  volcanic  activity  began  which  is  not  quite  ended 
today. 

In  the  early  Tertiary  period  the  Sierra  slopes  were  luxuriant  with 
vegetation,  but  toward  the  end  of  that  period  the  climate  became  much 


l6         CALIFORNIA 

cooler.  The  slopes  and  summits  were  encased  in  thick  ice  and  snow, 
which  kept  them  captive.  The  glacial  periods  of  the  Pleistocene  were 
relieved  by  intervals  during  which  the  ice  fields  retreated  toward  the 
crests,  yielding  to  climates  even  milder  than  that  of  California  today. 
But  when  the  ice  of  the  last  glacial  age  had  finally  retreated  (traces 
of  this  epoch  still  linger  in  various  glaciers  such  as  those  on  Shasta), 
the  Sierra  crest  stood  stripped  of  vegetation  and  soil,  exposing  those 
bare  expanses  of  whitish  granites  and  schists  that  now  give  it  its  daz- 
zling beauty.  Yosemite  and  other  extraordinary  Sierra  valleys  and 
canyons  are  also  glacial  legacies,  as  are  the  numerous  lakes  in  the  high 
Sierra.  Tahoe,  lovely  lake  and  the  deepest  in  the  United  States,  was 
made  partially  by  glaciation  and  partly  by  faulting,  erosion,  and  vol- 
canic damming. 

The  volcanic  activity  of  Miocene  times  was  especially  great  in  the 
Cascade  Range,  where  a  number  of  volcanic  peaks  rose  in  a  compara- 
tively short  time.  Mount  Shasta  was  one ;  the  still  active  Mount  Las- 
sen  was  another,  and  the  volcanic  range  extends  north  into  Oregon 
and  Washington.  Eastward  from  the  range  extends  one  of  the  largest 
lava  fields  in  the  world,  covering  200,000  square  miles  to  depths  of 
from  200  to  2,ooo  feet.  This  lava  plateau,  generally  decomposed  on 
the  surface,  which  stretches  beyond  California  into  Oregon  and  across 
into  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  did  not  for  the  most  part  erupt  through 
typical  volcanic  vents,  but  flooded  up  through  great  cracks  or  fissures. 
The  Pit  River,  flowing  through  the  Cascades,  has  cut  deep  into  the 
series  of  volcanic  rocks  (andesites)  some  7,500  feet  in  thickness,  and 
the  thin  but  widespread  basalts.  Because  of  the  depth  of  this  cover- 
ing, the  pre-Miocene  history  of  the  region  is  uncertain. 

The  oldest  of  the  accessible  formations  of  the  Klamath  Mountains 
are  pre-Cambrian  metamorphic  rocks  including  schists,  quartzites,  and 
crystalline  limestones — the  last  named  consisting  partly  of  sedimentary, 
partly  of  igneous  rocks,  both  metamorphosed.  The  first  two  periods  of 
the  Mesozoic  are  represented  by  smaller  proportions  of  sedimentary 
rocks  which  are  covered  by  remnants  of  once  extensive  beds  of  sand- 
stones, shales,  and  conglomerates  of  the  Cretaceous  period.  There  were 
also  periods  when  volcanoes  were  active,  especially  the  early  Devonian 
period  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Mesozoic  era.  The  mass  had  been 
uplifted  during  the  Jurassic  period,  but  erosion  and  subsidence  brought 
the  ancestral  Klamath  mountains  to  below  sea  level  in  the  Cretaceous 
period.  This  oscillation  continued  more  or  less  quietly,  except  for  an 
outburst  of  great  volcanic  activity  in  the  middle  of  the  Miocene.  The 
most  recent  re-elevation,  like  that  of  the  Sierra,  was  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Quaternary  period.  At  approximately  the  same  time,  gold- 
bearing  gravels  were  carried  down  along  the  sides  of  many  canyons 
by  erosion. 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION         1 7 

There  are  no  Paleozoic  (old  life)  rocks  in  the  northern  Coast 
Range,  but  crystalline  limestone  and  schist,  probably  of  this  age,  are 
found  in  the  Santa  Cruz,  Gabilan,  and  Santa  Lucia  Ranges.  Of  the 
next  era,  the  Mesozoic,  Triassic  period  remains  are  lacking,  but  from 
the  Jurassic  come  most  of  that  complex  series  of  Coast  Range  rocks 
known  as  the  Franciscan.  These  are  sedimentary  rocks  of  several 
types:  conglomerate,  sandstone,  shale,  variegated  chert,  and  (rarely) 
limestone.  With  them  is  embedded  a  great  series  of  volcanic  and  plu- 
tonic  rocks  of  the  same  age. 

Cretaceous  rocks  in  the  Coast  Range  are  abundant.  They  make 
up  considerable  parts  of  the  Santa  Lucia,  the  Temblor,  and  Diablo 
Ranges,  and  they  become  even  more  widespread  north  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. The  rocks  consist  chiefly  of  shale,  siltstone  and  sandstone,  with 
some  small  streaks  of  coal,  and — near  Coalinga — shale,  which  is  the 
source  of  the  oil  in  overlying  Tertiary  beds.  The  Cretaceous  sea  cov- 
ered considerable  parts  of  what  is  now  the  north  Coast  Range,  but 
the  region  that  now  comprises  the  Santa  Lucia  Range  and  the  Salinas 
Valley  was  relatively  higher  than  at  present,  and  formed  Salinia,  a  long 
narrow  peninsula  running  out  to  the  northwest.  The  Eocene  strata  are 
relatively  uncommon  except  in  the  eastern  foothills  near  Coalinga  and 
in  the  Mount  Diablo  region.  The  rocks  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Cretaceous.  There  are  considerable  beds  of  coal,  but  the  latter  is  of 
poor  quality.  Salinia  had  become  an  island,  and  there  was  a  similar 
island  whose  axis  ran  along  what  are  now  the  Gabilan  and  Mount 
Hamilton  Ranges  northwest  to  Marin  County. 

The  Oligocene  formations  in  the  Coast  Range  are  chiefly  of  red 
sandstone;  there  are  also  certain  organic  shales,  which  seem  to  be  the 
source  rocks  for  the  oil  of  Kettleman  Hills.  The  seas  had  become  less 
widespread.  Salinia  extended  farther  north  and  west,  but  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley  still  formed  an  arm  of  the  sea  into  which  drained  the 
rivers  of  Mohavia — a  name  given  to  the  region  now  covered  by  the 
Mojave  Desert,  Death  Valley,  and  the  Owens  River  Valley.  In 
the  early  Miocene  there  was  much  volcanic  activity  in  the  Coast  Range, 
and  this  ultimately  cut  off  the  sedimentary  deposits  from  Mohavia  and 
prevented  their  reaching  the  sea.  There  followed  in  the  late  Miocene 
another  period  of  widespread  shallow  seas  and  many  coastal  islands. 
Much  organic  siliceous  shale  was  laid  down,  and  this  is  the  source 
)f  the  oil  in  the  Santa  Barbara  and  Ventura  coast  region  as  well  as 
elsewhere.  Of  Pliocene  origin  are  calcareous  and  feldspathic  sand- 
tones  and  thick  beds  of  brown  and  blue  sandy  clay.  As  elsewhere  in 
California,  the  climate  became  cooler.  There  was  still  a  series  of 
slands  and  peninsulas  along  the  entire  coast. 

In  the  Pleistocene  epoch  most  of  the  old  interior  seas  and  bays  dis- 
ippeared.  This  was  a  period  of  violent  deformation  of  structure,  with 


l8        CALIFORNIA 

foldings  and  bendings  of  the  strata  and  a  series  of  faults.  Of  these 
latter,  the  San  Andreas  fault,  which  was  responsible  for  the  earth- 
quake of  1906,  extends  from  Tomales  Bay,  40  miles  north  of  San 
Francisco,  to  the  Mojave  Desert,  600  miles  southeast.  In  contrast 
to  the  more  common  type  of  vertical  movement,  it  has  a  horizontal 
drift.  The  extent  of  its  movement  during  Tertiary  times  was  at  least 
700  feet,  and  according  to  some  estimates  as  much  as  10  or  20  miles. 
The  Hayward  fault,  which  runs  sub-parallel  to  the  San  Andreas  across 
San  Francisco  Bay  and  through  Berkeley,  is  also  important;  and  the 
Coast  Range  is  cut  by  several  smaller  faults. 

The  Great  Valley  is  an  immense  trough  formed  late  in  the  Jurassic 
period  when  the  mountain  ranges  inclosing  it  began  to  rise  from  the 
water.  Unlike  most  valleys  in  the  United  States,  which  were  cut  by 
streams,  it  came  into  being  through  the  sinking  of  the  earth's  crust. 
From  that  time  on  it  remained  an  inland  basin.  For  long  periods  it 
was  flooded  with  salt  water,  as  the  sea  flowed  in  through  gaps  in  its 
intermittently  rising  barriers.  The  upward  thrust  of  the  Coast  Range 
in  the  middle  of  the  Tertiary  period  made  it  a  nearly  landlocked  and 
shallow  inland  sea.  Finally,  in  early  Pleistocene  times,  the  streams 
of  the  Sierra  and  the  Coast  Range,  steadily  carrying  down  their  loads 
of  sediment,  caused  a  recession  of  the  sea  and  laid  down  the  flat  valley 
floor.  Although  the  valley  is  probably  still  sinking,  it  has  filled  with 
alluvium  as  fast  as  it  has  sunk.  In  some  places  drillings  to  depths  of 
more  than  3,000  feet  fail  to  reveal  bedrock. 

The  Transverse  Ranges,  comprising  the  San  Bernardino,  San  Ga- 
briel, Santa  Monica,  Santa  Inez,  and  Santa  Susana  Mountains,  have 
a  general  east-west  trend,  but  differ  only  slightly  in  their  geology  from 
the  chains  of  the  Coast  Range.  Some  of  their  Tertiary  sedimentary 
rocks  are  more  than  30,000  feet  thick,  exceeding  in  thickness  any  other 
such  rocks  in  North  America.  They  are  remarkably  rich  in  fossils. 

Extending  southeast  of  the  Los  Angeles  Basin  to  a  point  beyond 
the  Mexican  border,  the  Peninsular  Ranges  include  the  San  Jacinto, 
Santa  Ana,  Santa  Rosa,  and  Coyote  Mountains,  with  plateaus  and 
valleys  in  between.  Their  geology  has  been  but  little  studied,  but 
they  seem  to  belong  to  the  fault-block  type  of  mountains.  While  the 
faults  are  branches  of  the  San  Andreas,  their  general  geology  is  rather 
like  that  of  the  Sierra,  the  dominating  rocks  being  granitic. 

The  Great  Basin  comprises  all  that  part  of  California  lying  south- 
east of  the  Sierra  and  east  of  the  Peninsular  Ranges,  including  the 
Colorado  Desert,  the  Mojave  Desert,  and  the  Basin  Ranges.  Except 
for  the  Imperial  Valley  and  some  smaller  areas  under  irrigation,  the 
section  is  today  a  complete  desert.  The  Colorado  Desert,  in  part  245 
feet  below  sea  level,  is  a  depressed  block  between  active  branches  of 
the  alluvium  covered  San  Andreas  fault  in  the  Peninsular  Ranges 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION         1Q 

and  the  Mojave  Desert  to  the  north  and  east.  The  Mojave  Desert 
region  has  isolated  mountain  ranges  rising  abruptly  from  desert  plains. 
Farther  north  the  Basin  Ranges,  of  typical  fault-block  structure,  run 
roughly  parallel  from  north  to  south  and  are  separated  by  deep  basins 
or  troughs.  Death  Valley,  the  most  famous  of  the  basins,  is  the  bed 
of  a  lake  of  Pleistocene  times  and  shows  distinct  sets  of  shore  lines. 
The  Great  Basin  had  a  number  of  such  lakes  in  recent  geologic  time, 
although  the  region  as  a  whole  has  been  a  land  area  since  Cretaceous 
times.  In  the  Panamint  and  Amargosa  Ranges,  which  fence  in  Death 
Valley  on  the  east  and  west,  are  formations  from  as  far  back  as  the 
Paleozoic  era,  but- the  valley,  as  such,  is  recent.  The  Mojave  Desert's 
many  short  mountain  ranges  of  various  trends  are  largely  of  ancient 
volcanic  and  metamorphosed  Tertiary  rocks.  The  rest  of  the  Mojave 
is  an  expanse  of  great  sandy  valleys  and  of  dry  lakes  holding  deposits 
of  dead  seas — salt,  gypsum,  soda,  and  borax.  The  last  named  was 
formed  when  the  red-hot  lava  streams  flowed  into  the  saline  lakes. 
The  Colorado  Desert  is  underlaid  with  Tertiary  volcanic  flows  and 
coarse  conglomerates,  above  which  lie  Quaternary  fresh-water  silts  and 
sandstones. 

With  the  rise  of  the  mountains  to  the  north  and  west  in  the  early 
Miocene  epoch,  the  sea  that  covered  them  was  cut  off  and  inland 
drainage  systems  were  created.  Rainfall  decreased  and  the  region 
slowly  dried  up.  However,  lakes  of  considerable  extent  have  existed 
in  the  basin  of  the  Colorado  River  within  the  period  of  the  occupation 
of  the  country  by  the  Indians,  whose  old  camps  may  still  be  found 
on  the  margins  of  what  are  now  salt  flats. 

A  number  of  regions  in  California,  particularly  in  the  Coast  Range 
and  the  Los  Angeles  Basin,  are  rich  in  fossils.  Numerous  fossil  radio- 
laria  found  in  the  Franciscan  cherts  show  their  marine  origin,  and 
the  north  Coast  Ranges  have  yielded  fossil  ferns,  cyads,  and  conifers, 
as  well  as  several  kinds  of  mollusks  and  smaller  marine  organisms  of 
the  Cretaceous  period.  The  types  of  marine  organism  found  in  the 
Eocene  rocks  indicate  a  much  warmer  surface  water  than  exists  on 
the  California  coast  at  present,  and  consequently  a  warmer  climate. 

From  the  Sespe  beds  between  Los  Angeles  and  Ventura  have  come 
bones  of  a  variety  of  mammals  of  Oligocene  times :  the  rhinoceros,  the 
oreodont,  the  miohippus,  the  camelid,  primitive  carnivores,  rodents, 
and  insectivores.  At  a  number  of  places  the  remains  of  primitive  horses, 
peccaries,  and  camels  have  been  found  in  Miocene  formations.  In 
the  Pliocene  strata  there  are  primitive  horses  close  in  form  to  the 
modern  horse. 

The  best-known  paleontological  area  in  California,  and  one  of  the 
richest  in  the  world,  is  La  Brea  Pits  in  Los  Angeles  County.  Since 
Tertiary  times  the  quaking  and  sticky  area  of  the  La  Brea  asphalt 


2O        CALIFORNIA 

beds  has  been  a  death  trap  for  unwary  animals.  Beneath  it  have  been 
preserved  the  skeletons  of  a  prehistoric  menagerie,  including  the  im- 
perial elephants,  largest  of  all  land  mammals,  whose  domain  extended 
from  eastern  Nebraska  to  Mexico  City,  hideous  great  ground  sloths 
and  little  ground  sloths,  sabre-tooth  tigers,  giant  wolves,  camels  and 
horses,  llamas,  wide-front  bison,  and  numerous  smaller  species  such 
as  turtles,  snakes,  beetles,  and  birds.  Well-preserved  forms  of  vege- 
tation, which  show  the  evolution  of  plant  life,  have  also  been  un- 
earthed here.  Noteworthy  among  these  is  a  complete  eight-foot  cypress 
of  the  McNab  species,  which  was  discovered  standing  upright,  but- 
tressed by  bones.  This  species  is  now  found  only  rarely  on  the  dry 
hills  and  flats  of  the  Coast  Range  in  northern  California. 

The  Mojave  and  Death  Valley  Deserts  of  southern  California  have 
yielded  fossils  of  the  Oligocene  and  Miocene  epochs,  deposited  as  long 
as  25,000,000  years  ago.  In  a  narrow  canyon  near  Barstow,  where 
layers  of  breccia  in  dazzling  colors  were  thrust  up  by  an  ancient  vol- 
canic upheaval,  scientists  have  discovered  during  the  past  twenty  years 
the  remains  of  three-toed  horses,  several  varieties  of  camels,  antelope, 
and  smaller  animals,  and  an  animal  almost  identical  with  the  desert 
coyote  of  today.  The  complete  skeleton  of  an  Ice  Age  elephant  (ter- 
rabeladon),  similar  to  fossils  discovered  in  the  Gobi  Desert,  was  found 
in  1938  near  Saltdale,  Kern  County,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Mojave  Desert.  Death  Valley's  Tertiary  beds  have  yielded  the  re- 
mains— including  a  skull  three  feet  long — of  a  titanotherium,  a  large 
mammal  that  somewhat  resembled  the  rhinoceros,  found  in  red  sand- 
stone formations  of  the  Oligocene  epoch  near  Leadfield. 

The  fossils  of  Inyo  County's  "oldest  muds  in  the  world"  are  so 
abundant  that,  in  geologist  G.  D.  Bailey's  words,  they  "are  hauled 
away  by  carloads  to  fill  the  museums  of  the  East."  In  Fresno  County, 
less  rich  paleontologically,  submammalian  fossils  have  been  found  near 
Coalinga,  a  Pliocene  mastodon  skull  at  the  north  end  of  the  Kettleman 
Hills,  and  fossil  mastodon  bones  near  Fresno.  A  rare  find,  uncovered 
in  the  Coast  Range  west  of  Fresno  in  1937,  was  a  fossil  of  eight 
vertebrae  of  a  mesasaurus,  huge  sea  lizard  of  the  upper  Cretaceous 
epoch.  Kern  County  has  yielded  fossil  animal  bones  of  Tertiary  and 
earlier  ages  and  exceptionally  rich  marine  fossils  of  the  mollusca  phylum, 
among  them  some  highly  ornamented  forms  showing  a  considerable 
degree  of  advancement  in  racial  development. 

The  first  dinosaur  remains  ever  uncovered  on  the  west  coast  of 
America  were  found  in  1936  in  the  hills  west  of  Patterson,  Stanislaus 
County,  by  a  high  school  student.  The  remains  consisted  of  the  tail 
and  one  hind  foot.  In  other  mountain  counties  of  northern  California, 
ancient  caves — including  Hawver's  Cave  on  the  North  Fork  of  the 
American  River  in  Eldorado  County,  and  Potter  and  Samwell  Caves 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        21 

on  the  McCloud  River  in  Shasta  County — have  proved  to  be  veritable 
storehouses  of  the  bones  of  mammals  swept  in  by  river  floods  in  the 
remote  past.  Remains  of  the  giant  ground  sloth  (megalonyx)  have 
turned  up  in  the  earth  fan  at  the  entrance  to  Mercer's,  or  Murphy's 
Cave  in  Calaveras  County. 

The  State's  most  unexpected  paleontological  discovery  was  dredged 
from  the  mud  of  San  Francisco  Bay  during  construction  of  the  island 
site  of  the  1939  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition.  From  sand- 
stone strata  45  feet  below  the  bay  level,  a  tooth  and  a  section  of 
the  ivory  tusk  of  a  Columbian  mammoth  (elephas  Columbia)  of  the 
middle  Pleistocene  epoch  were  scooped  up  and  pumped  through  17,000 
feet  of  pipe  line.  On  the  Peninsula,  near  Menlo  Park  Station,  San 
Mateo  County,  remains  of  a  mastodon  skeleton  were  found  in  June 
1927,  buried  in  the  plain  formed  by  the  coalescent  fans  that  fringe 
the  Bay.  The  discovery  included  a  molar  tooth,  preserved  without 
even  discoloration  of  the  enamel,  three  sections  of  a  tusk,  and  frag- 
ments of  ribs  and  other  bones. 

The  most  complete  quarry  in  California  for  specimens  of  the  Ter- 
tiary period  was  discovered  in  1926  near  Moraga,  Contra  Costa  County, 
on  the  site  "of  an  ancient  fresh-water  lake.  The  fossils  so  far  re- 
covered are  not  so  well  preserved  as  those  of  the  La  Brea  Pits,  but 
they  are  believed  to  be  more  complete  and  to  predate  the  La  Brea 
remains  by  about  9,000,000  years.  A  three-toed  giant  horse  and  a 
three-footed  antelope,  a  camel  much  larger  than  any  known  today, 
and  the  most  primitive  dog  of  its  type  yet  found  are  among  the  species. 
Other  discoveries  include  fossils  of  mastodons,  hyenalike  dogs,  sabre- 
tooth  cats,  oreodons,  peccaries,  and  a  host  of  smaller  creatures.  At 
Irvington,  in  Alameda  County,  remnants  of  a  prehistoric  horse,  an 
antelope,  a  mammoth,  and  a  horned  toad — all  more  than  500,000  years 
old — were  found  in  1936  and  turned  over  to  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia department  of  paleontology,  which  discovered  the  beds. 

PLANT  AND  ANIMAL  LIFE 

California's  plant  and  animal  life  is  as  diverse  as  its  environment. 
Since  its  climate  ranges  from  subtropical  to  Arctic,  its  terrain  from 
arid,  below  sea  level  deserts  in  the  south  to  moist,  forested  mountains 
in  the  north  and  from  icy  Sierra  ridges  on  the  east  to  foggy  coastal 
slopes  on  the  west,  the  State  embraces  a  wide  variety  of  flora  and 
fauna.  All  the  life  zones  of  North  America,  except  the  tropical,  are 
represented,  their  distribution  depending  not  so  much  on  latitude,  as 
in  most  regions,  as  on  altitude.  California's  plant  and  animal  life, 
virtually  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  continent,  is  frequently  distinc- 
tive and  sometimes  unique.  While  some  species  have  migrated  into 


22        CALIFORNIA 

the  mountain  slopes  and  coastal  fog  belt  of  the  north  from  Oregon, 
and  into  the  semiarid  deserts,  plains,  and  mountains  of  the  south  from 
Mexico,  only  a  few  eastern  species  have  had  the  hardihood  to  cross 
the  inhospitable  deserts  of  the  Great  Basin  and  scale  the  barrier  of  the 
Sierra.  These  have  undergone  striking  transformation  in  their  migra- 
tion. 

Botanically,  California  is  notable  in  particular  for  the  unusual  num- 
ber of  its  annuals,  both  species  and  individuals,  and  for  its  numerous 
rare  species  of  the  lily  family.  More  evergreens,  especially  the  conifers, 
and  fewer  deciduous  trees  are  found  here  than  in  most  other  States. 
Notable  also  are  the  many  species  of  trees  surviving  only  in  limited 
localities  from  past  ages,  of  which  the  best  known  are  the  Monterey 
pine  and  Monterey  cypress  and  the  two  Sequoias  (the  coast  redwood 
and  the  "big  tree"),  representing  a  family  extinct  elsewhere  since  the 
Ice  Age.  Still  another  distinctive  feature  is  the  chaparral — extensive 
pigmy  forests  of  shrubs,  stunted  trees,  and  associated  herbaceous  plants 
— which  covers  the  hillsides  of  the  Upper  Sonoran  zone  in  dense 
thickets.  It  remains  dormant  throughout  the  hot  dry  summer,  but 
becomes  active  with  the  rains  of  late  winter  and  early  spring. 

The  eucalyptus  and  acacia  of  Australia,  the  pepper  tree  of  Peru, 
and  the  palm  tree  of  the  tropics  flourish  in  both  rural  and  urban  areas; 
the  eucalyptus  (eucalyptus  globulus)  especially  has  been  so  widely 
planted  in  groves  and  roadside  lanes  both  along  the  coast  and  in  the 
Great  Valley  as  to  seem  like  a  native.  The  wild  yellow  mustard,  that 
covers  orchard  lands  and  hillsides  in  season  with  a  yellow-green  tide, 
was  planted  by  the  earliest  Spanish  settlers,  as  was  the  wild  radish. 
The  geranium  and  fuchsia  both  grow  to  extraordinary  size  in  all  the 
coast  counties,  where  there  are  no  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  In  a 
number  of  places  in  the  Sierra  foothills,  Scotch  broom  (cystisus  sco- 
parius)  more  than  holds  its  own  as  an  "escape"  in  the  chaparral;  and 
a  species  of  filarese  (erodium  macrophyllum) ,  a  valuable  forage  crop, 
has  become  widely  distributed. 

The  animals  of  the  State  are  also  distinctive,  though  less  conspicu- 
ously so  than  the  vegetation.  The  birds  as  a  whole  tend  to  be  grayer, 
paler,  and  of  slighter  build  than  their  eastern  relatives.  There  are 
fewer  species  of  snakes  and  more  of  lizards.  Except  for  several  species 
of  trout,  few  fresh-water  fish  are  native  to  the  State,  although  some 
interesting  indigenous  species  are  found  among  the  fauna  of  the 'tidal 
strip. 

The  streams  were  once  abundantly  supplied  with  sturgeon,  but 
this  magnificent  fish  has  practically  disappeared  save  in  the  least  acces- 
sible rivers  of  the  State's  northwest  coast.  The  icy  lakes  and  streams 
of  the  Sierra  favor  many  species  of  native  and  introduced  trout.  The 
former  include  the  rainbow  trout,  or  steel  head,  the  Tahoe  trout,  the 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        23 

golden,  the  cutthroat,  and  Dolly  Varden.  Salmon,  migrating  from 
the  ocean  to  their  upstream  spawning  beds,  are  found  in  the  northern 
coastal  rivers  in  the  spring.  Dog  salmon  and  quinnat  salmon  fre- 
quent coastal  waters  and  the  great  king  salmon  enters  the  Bay  of 
Monterey  during  the  summer  months.  Other  deep-sea  fishes  are  the 
black  and  white  sea  bass,  the  yellowtail,  the  sheepshead,  the  "tonno," 
the  albacore,  the  leaping  and  the  yellowfin  tuna,  the  bonito  (the  Sardo 
chilensis  of  the  Pacific),  the  voracious  barracuda  (Sphyraena  barra- 
cuda}, and  the  battling  swordfish. 

Marine  life  of  every  kind  is  prolific  and  variegated.  The  Cali- 
fornia lobster,  though  large,  lacks  the  huge  pinchers  of  his  eastern 
cousin.  The  pilchard  or  sardine  (Sardinia  caerulea)  is  found  in  such 
numbers  during  its  run  as  to  comprise  2O  percent  of  the  annual  value 
of  the  State's  fisheries.  Herds  of  sea  lions  roar  from  the  rocks  off 
San  Francisco,  and  elsewhere  the  leopard  seal  is  occasionally  seen.  The 
abalone,  most  noted  of  California's  shellfish,  is  a  table  delicacy  and  its 
shell  is  of  use  in  manufacture.  Oysters  are  plentiful  but  smaller  than 
eastern  varieties. 

California  is  divided  by  biologists  into  six  life  zones,  in  each  of 
which  the  altitude  and  climatic  conditions  are  roughly  uniform  through- 
out the  zone  (see  accompanying  map).  These  are  designated  the  Lower 
Sonoran,  Upper  Sonoran,  Transition,  Canadian,  Hudsonian,  and  Arctic 
zones.  The  first  is  the  lowest  in  altitude,  and  the  warmest;  the  last 
is  the  highest  and  coldest.  The  Lower  Sonoran  zone  includes  the 
larger  part  of  the  Great  Valley  from  Red  Bluff  to  Bakersfield,  all 
of  the  great  arid  and  desert  regions  southeast  of  the  Sierra  to  the 
Nevada  and  Arizona  lines,  and  several  long  narrow  strips  extending 
from  the  Salinas  Valley  south.  The  Upper  Sonoran  takes  in  all  the 
foothill  country  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  lava  plateaus  of  Modoc  and 
Lassen  Counties,  the  western  slopes  of  the  Sacramento  Valley,  the  inner 
chains  of  the  Coast  Range  and  Valleys  from  Mendocino  County  to 
San  Francisco  Bay,  and  all  of  the  coastal  region  south  of  San  Fran- 
cisco except  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains  and  the  higher  elevations  of 
the  Santa  Lucias.  These  latter  belong  to  the  Transition  zone,  which 
also  includes  all  of  the  coast  country  north  of  San  Francisco,  the  heavily 
watered  northeastern  counties  and  a  long  belt,  between  2500  and  5000 
feet  high  in  the  Sierra.  The  Canadian,  Hudsonian,  and  Arctic  zones 
lie  in  the  higher  elevations  of  the  Siskiyous,  the  Trinity  Mountains, 
the  Sierra,  .the  San  Bernardino  and  San  Jacinto  ranges. 

It  is  possible  to  mention  here  only  a  few  of  the  commoner  or  more 
characteristic  inhabitants  of  these  biologic  zones,  as  a  brief  indication 
of  the  extraordinary  range  and  variety  of  California's  plant  and  ani- 
mal life. 


24        CALIFORNIA 

In  the  Colorado  Desert  section  of  the  Lower  Sonoran  zone  are 
found  the  California  fan  palm;  the  cylindrical  cacti,  echinocactus,  and 
bigelovia;  the  mesquite,  screwbean,  and  palo  verde;  and  in  the  rainy 
season,  among  other  flowers,  the  dwarf  desert  poppy  and  several  dimin- 
utive asters.  The  most  famous  of  plants  peculiar  to  the  Mojave 
Desert  is  the  Joshua  tree  (Yucca  arborescens) .  Along  the  river  bot- 
toms of  the  Great  Valley  grow  Fremont  cottonwoods  and  valley  oaks. 
The  mammalian  life,  mostly  nocturnal  in  its  habits,  includes  jack  rab- 
bits, kit  foxes,  kangaroo  rats,  pocket  mice,  and  white-footed  mice. 
Few  animals  besides  the  various  species  of  chipmunks  and  ground 
squirrels  appear  in  the  daytime.  In  recent  years  the  San  Joaquin  and 
Tulare  basins  have  been  overrun  by  Texas  opossum,  all  originating 
from  imported  animals  which  either  escaped  or  were  liberated.  The 
birds  of  the  Lower  Sonoran  include  Texas  nighthawks,  mocking-birds, 
blue  grosbeaks,  road  runners,  phainopeplas,  cactus  wrens,  hooded  orioles, 
verdins,  and  LeConte  thrashers.  Because  of  the  large  number  of 
rodents,  hawks  and  owls  are  unusually  common.  The  tule  elk  once 
roamed  over  the  marshes  and  sloughs  of  the  Tulare  Basin  and  San 
Joaquin  River;  today  the  last  herd  can  be  seen  at  the  State  park  west 
of  Bakersfield.  The  reptiles  include  the  sidewinder  (a  small  rattle- 
snake), the  desert  tortoise,  and  the  horned  toad. 

The  Upper  Sonoran  zone  includes  the  State's  great  chaparral  belt. 
This  was  the  home  of  the  now  extinct  California  grizzly;  it  is  still 
the  haunt  of  the  rapidly  disappearing  California  condor,  largest  flying 
bird  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  Here  are  found  Digger  pines,  blue 
and  scrub  oaks,  California  buckeyes,  many  species  of  manzanita  and 
ceanothus,  certain  kinds  of  yucca,  and  a  host  of  other  shrubs.  Some 
of  its  distinctive  species  of  birds  are  the  California  jay,  stellar  jay, 
California  thrasher,  bush  tit,  Anna  hummingbird,  bell  sparrow,  house 
finch,  dusky  poorwill,  valley  quail,  mourning  dove,  and  yellow-billed 
magpie.  Among  the  animals  are  the  brown-footed  woodrat,  brush 
rabbit,  antelope,  and  ring-tailed  cat  (a  relative  of  the  raccoon). 

This  is  a  region  rich  in  flowers.  Early  travelers  in  the  State 
were  eloquent  in  their  descriptions  of  the  continuous  garden  that  once 
blanketed  the  plains  and  lower  slopes.  At  a  later  time  John  Muir 
wrote,  "For  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles,  your  foot  crushed  a 
hundred  flowers  at  every  step."  Most  of  this  land  is  under  cultiva- 
tion now,  and  much  of  the  rest  is  heavily  grazed ;  but  on  fallow  lands, 
in  spite  of  the  ravages  of  careless  tourists  in  well-traveled  regions,  wild 
flowers  still  flourish  in  surprising  abundance  and  soon  recapture  aban- 
doned fields  and  ranges.  Among  the  most  common  genera  are  gilia, 
nemophila,  mint,  mimulus,  godetia,  phacelia,  lupine,  orthocarpus,  cas- 
tilleia,  dodecathon,  viola,  and  calochortus.  The  State  flower,  the  Cali- 
fornia poppy,  or  eschscholtzia,  is  most  abundant  in  this  zone.  In  the 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION         25 

spring  it  colors  hills  and  fields  and  roadsides  with  great  masses  of 
brilliant  orange.  It  acquired  its  generic  name  from  Adelbert  von 
Chamisso,  a  German  poet  and  naturalist,  who  saw  it  in  bloom  at  San 
Francisco  in  1816  and  named  it  for  a  college  friend  who  accompanied 
him — the  German  naturalist  Johann  Friedrich  Eschscholtz.  Though 
the  eschscholtzia  is  widely  distributed,  it  is  not  found  in  the  densely 
wooded  regions  or  at  high  elevations.  A  plant  that  is  common  to  all 
parts  of  California  and  that  occurs  in  a  greater  number  of  species  here 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  world  is  the  lupine.  As  herb  or  shrub  it 
varies  from  dwarf  kinds  in  the  high  Sierra  to  the  arborescent  varieties 
growing  close  to  the  ocean.  The  pea-shaped  flowers  are  of  many 
colors,  ranging  from  white  through  pale  yellow,  pink,  and  lavender 
to  deep  blue  and  purple. 

In  the  Transition  zone,  which  includes  most  of  the  State's  great 
forests  and  therefore  supplies  most  of  its  commercially  valuable  timber, 
are  the  redwood  (Sequoia  sempervirens)  forests  of  the  Coast  Range, 
extending  from  the  Oregon  border  on  the  north  to  the  coastal  canyons 
below  Monterey  on  the  south  and  as  far  as  the  inner  limit  of  the 
summer  fogs  on  the  east.  The  redwood  is  one  of  the  tallest  trees  in 
the  world,  commonly  growing  more  than  2OO  feet  high,  and  sometimes 
more  than  300  feet.  Trunks  are  often  15  to  20  feet  in  diameter,  and 
occasionally  from  20  to  25  feet.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  red- 
wood is  its  shallow  root  system,  though  the  trunks  are  strongly  but- 
tressed at  the  base.  Because  of  the  spongy,  fire-resistant  bark,  these 
trees  survived  the  annual  fires  set  by  the  Indians  of  the  region  to  clear 
out  the  underbrush  and  make  hunting  easier.  The  gently  tapering 
shafts  are  almost  bare  of  branches  for  a  hundred  feet  or  more  above 
the  ground.  The  bark  is  a  deep  purplish  red,  massively  fluted ;  the 
foliage  is  delicate  and  feathery.  A  virgin  redwood  forest,  with  the 
light  filtering  through  the  treetops  and  falling  in  diagonal  beams  be- 
tween the  great  columns,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  in  the 
world. 

Beneath  the  trees,  watered  by  the  fog  which  they  have  trapped 
and  precipitated,  is  an  extraordinarily  luxuriant  growth.  Swordferns, 
woodwardia  ferns,  alumroot,  fringecups,  barrenwort,  fetid  adders- 
tongue,  erythronium  and  violas,  trillium  and  fritillaria  carpet  the  floor. 
In  almost  impenetrable  thickets  grow  the  huckleberry,  Oregon  grape, 
rhododendron,  azalea,  California  buckthorn,  salmonberry,  elder,  and 
wild  currant.  The  trees  most  commonly  found  in  association  with  the 
redwood  are  the  broad-leaved  maple,  madrona,  tanbark  oak,  California 
laurel,  and  (usually  in  separate  stands)  the  somber  Douglas  fir.  Of 
these  Coast  Range  trees  the  most  picturesque  is  the  madrona,  a  species 
of  arbutus,  which  moved  Bret  Harte  to  write: 

I 


26        CALIFORNIA 

Captain  of  the  western  wood 
Thou  that  apest  Robin  Hood! 
Green   above  thy  scarlet  hose, 
How  thy  velvet  mantle  shows! 
Never  tree  like  thee  arrayed, 
O  thou  gallant  of  the  glade! 

The  Transition  zone  is  particularly  rich  in  animal  life.  It  is 
the  home  of  the  Columbian  black-tailed  deer,  black  bear,  Pacific  coon, 
marten,  mink  weasel,  skunk,  fox,  packrat,  and  mountain  beaver.  The 
California  ring-tailed  cat,  common  in  both  the  Upper  Sonoran  and 
the  Transition  zones,  is  one  of  the  handsomest  animals  peculiar  to  the 
West;  it  is  often  tamed  and  kept  as  a  pet.  Cougars  and  bobcats  are 
fairly  common.  A  few  small  herds  of  Roosevelt  elk  survive  in  the  ex- 
treme northwest.  Of  the  few  reptiles,  gopher  snakes,  garter  snakes, 
and  the  rattlers  are  commonest.  Amphibia  are  numerous,  as  is  to  be 
expected  in  so  moist  a  region.  The  streams  abound  in  water-puppies, 
and  the  woods  in  big  mottled  redwood  salamanders  which  thrive  on 
the  abundant  yellow  groundslugs.  In  the  depths  of  the  Transition 
zone  forests  the  birds  are  neither  very  numerous  nor  very  conspicuous. 
Kingfishers,  chickadees,  various  warblers,  towhees,  varied  and  hermit 
thrushes,  robins,  juncos,  mountain  quail,  and  hummingbirds  are  the 
most  common. 

East  of  the  redwood  belt,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Klamaths,  the  Cas- 
cades, and  the  northern  Sierra,  is  a  mixed  forest  of  coniferous  and 
deciduous  trees,  with  the  former  predominating.  Yellow  pine,  Douglas 
fir,  sugar  pine,  white  fir,  incense  cedar,  western  yew,  mountain  birch, 
and  white  oak  are  the  important  trees  of  this  region.  The  herbaceous 
flora  resembles  that  of  the  southern  Sierra  and  the  drier  portions  of 
the  redwood  belt.  This  is  the  home  of  the  white  Washington  lily,  the 
orange  Lilium  pardalinum,  the  erythronium,  western  azaleas  of  white 
or  pink,  several  lupines,  and  the  curious  darlingtonia,  which  traps  un- 
wary insects  in  its  hoodlike  leaves.  The  Klamath  Mountains,  mark- 
ing the  border  line  between  the  Oregonian  and  Californian  floras,  are 
of  great  interest  to  botanists.  With  the  exception  of  the  antelope  of 
the  Modoc  lava  beds,  the  mule  deer,  the  eastern  kingbird,  and  an 
occasional  eastern  bobolink,  the  fauna  of  this  area  is  much  like  that 
of  the  coastal  region. 

South  of  Lake  Tahoe  lies  the  characteristic  Sierran  forest.  Here 
at  an  average  elevation  of  about  3,500  feet  is  found  the  "big  tree" 
(Sequoia  gigantea).  Unlike  the  redwood  (Sequoia  sempervirens) ,  it 
does  not  form  great  belts  of  continuous  forest  but  stands  in  about  35 
isolated  groves,  scattered  from  the  American  River  to  the  Tule.  These 
trees  are  probably  the  oldest  living  things  in  the  world — some  of  them 
have  been  shown  by  ring  counts  to  be  not  less  than  4,000  years  old. 
In  diameter  they  average  from  15  to  20  feet;  their  average  height  is 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        27 

about  250  feet.  The  "big  tree"  is  bulkier  than  the  redwood,  with 
cinnamon-colored  bark  and  foliage  similar  to  that  of  its  coast  cousin. 
The  two  Sequoias,  with  the  ginkgo  tree  and  the  marestail,  are  sur- 
vivals from  a  flora  that  was  nearly  destroyed  in  the  glacial  period.  In 
Miocene  times,  Sequoias  of  various  species  were  common  over  much 
of  the  northern  hemisphere.  In  spite  of  their  great  age,  both  indi- 
vidually and  as  a  species,  the  "big  trees"  are  not  dying  out,  but  rather 
are  increasing  with  the  aid  of  the  reforestation  work  of  the  United 
States  Forest  Service  and  office  of  National  Parks.  The  "big  tree"  is 
found  on  the  edge  of  the  Transition  and  Canadian  zones,  usually  close 
to  stands  of  fir.  Below  it,  in  the  Transition  zone,  stretch  extensive 
forests  of  yellow  and  sugar  pine,  incense  cedar,  golden  and  black  oak, 
California  laurel,  and  broadleaved  maple.  In  this  Sierran  forest,  the 
most  common  wild  flowers  are  pentstemons,  gilias,  mariposa  tulips, 
pussypaws,  mimulus,  lappulas  (wild  forget-me-nots),  collinsias,  tiger 
and  leopard  lilies,  buttercups,  and  the  omnipresent  lupines. 

As  one  enters  the  Canadian  zone,  a  change  is  immediately  notice- 
able. The  yellow  pine  gives  way  to  the  related  Jeffrey  pine.  As  one 
ascends,  mountain  pines  and  red  firs  and  (higher  still)  lodgepole  pines 
dominate  the  forest.  Brushy  areas  are  covered  with  dwarf  manzanita 
and  ceanothus.  Under  the  firs  grows  some  herbaceous  vegetation, 
mostly  living  on  the  decayed  wood  common  in  fir  forests.  Notable  in 
this  vegetation  are  the  brilliant  snowplant,  several  species  of  corallor- 
rhiza,  and  the  cancerroot.  This  is  also  the  home  of  the  unique  Sierra 
puffball.  Some  of  the  more  conspicuous  birds  are  the  blue-fronted  jay, 
Sierra  junco,  western  chipping  sparrow,  Sierra  hermit  thrush,  water 
ouzel,  evening  grosbeak,  Sierra  grouse,  and  Townsend  solitaire.  Among 
the  animals  are  the  mountain  weasel,  yellow-haired  porcupine,  snowshoe 
rabbit,  golden-mantled  ground  squirrel,  Sierra  chickaree,  and  certain 
species  of  chipmunks. 

The  Hudsonian  zone  is  the  belt  of  forest  immediately  below  timber 
line.  With  the  Canadian  zone  it  shares  the  lodgepole  pine,  which  is 
here  the  dominant  cover.  Usually  associated  with,  or  above  the  level 
of,  the  lodgepole  are  the  white  bark,  foxtail,  and  silver  pines.  These 
latter  trees,  with  the  mountain  hemlock,  form  the  stunted  and  twisted 
growth  of  the  timber  line.  Birds  become  scarcer  in  this  zone,  though 
mammals  remain  plentiful;  some  of  the  species  extend  up  from  the 
zones  below.  The  California  pine  grosbeak,  mountain  bluebird,  white- 
crowned  sparrow,  alpine  chipmunk,  Sierra  marmot,  Sierra  cony,  pine 
marten,  Sierra  least  weasel,  and  wolverine  are  typical  of  the  region. 

The  Arctic-Alpine  zone,  the  highest  of  all,  is  a  treeless  area  stretch- 
ing from  an  elevation  of  about  10,500  feet  to  the  summits  of  the  loftiest 
peaks.  Here  are  found  the  Sierra  primrose,  the  blue  and  fragrant 
polemonium,  the  yellow  columbine,  the  alpine  buttercup,  the  steershead, 


28       CALIFORNIA 

and  the  alpine  shootingstar.  Only  one  species  of  bird  is  native  to  the 
zone,  the  Sierra  rosy  finch;  but  many  others  visit  it,  notably  flocks  of 
migrating  hummingbirds  and,  in  the  summer,  gray  and  white  Clark 
nutcrackers.  The  principal  mammals  are  visitants  from  lower  eleva- 
tions; however,  the  Sierra  cony  is  often  found  in  these  heights  and  the 
Sierra  white-tailed  jackrabbit  makes  its  home  here.  The  Sierra  Nevada 
bighorn  sheep  are  seen  occasionally  in  the  White  Mountains  east  of 
Owens  Valley  and  in  some  of  the  southeastern  ranges.  A  small  band 
remains  in  the  Mount  Whitney  region,  survivors  of  those  described  by 
John  Muir,  which  in  his  day  ranged  along  the  Sierran  crest  to  the 
vicinity  of  Sonora  Pass. 

Certain  animals  range  through  several  zones,  particularly  the  mule 
deer,  the  coyote,  and  the  cougar  or  mountain  lion ;  as  do  a  number 
of  birds  notably  the  blue-fronted  jay,  the  Sierra  junco,  the  redshafted 
flicker,  certain  hawks,  and  some  of  the  sparrows.  The  flowers  and 
trees  are  generally  confined  within  the  limits  of  their  native  zones, 
although  various  similar  forms,  distinguishable  only  by  botanists,  occur 
at  several  elevations.  Thus,  the  Jeffrey  and  western  yellow  pines  can 
be  differentiated  with  certainty  only  by  a  chemical  analysis  of  their 
sap;  while  the  Compositae  generally,  and  particularly  the  asters,  are 
the  despair  of  all  but  highly  trained  specialists. 

Gone  now  from  most  sections  of  the  country  is  Nature's  intricately 
organized  population  of  bear,  marten,  beaver,  otter,  elk,  deer,  and 
badger.  Tilled  fields  have  replaced  the  natural  haunts  of  fox,  lynx, 
bobcat,  and  fisher.  But  in  California  these  animals  still  possess  the 
sunny  chaparral  and  the  green  shade  of  forests.  The  United  States 
Forest  Service  estimates  that  in  the  18  national  forests  of  California, 
covering  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  State's  area,  there  are  1 1 1 ,000  bkcktail 
deer,  148,000  mule  deer,  7,000  bear,  2,800  antelope,  24,000  foxes,  and 
1,230  mountain  lions.  Man's  encroachments  have  not  yet  driven  out 
all  the  mountain  sheep,  weasels,  badgers,  raccoons,  muskrat,  beaver,  and 
otter.  Over  vast  areas  of  the  California  wilderness,  human  footprints 
seldom  obliterate  the  tracks  of  paw  and  hoof. 

NATURAL  RESOURCES  AND  THEIR  CONSERVATION 

Gold  was  the  first  natural  resource — scarcely  noticed  by  the  Indians 
and  Spanish-Calif ornians — to  be  discovered  in  the  land  fronting  the 
Pacific.  Its  discovery  spelled  the  destruction  of  the  simple  economy 
of  pre- Yankee  California,  attracted  tens  of  thousands  of  fortune  seek- 
ers, and  radically  affected  the  history  of  the  State. 

California's  minerals,  forests,  soils,  and  water  power,  its  scenery 
and  climate,  and  its  two  great  natural  harbors,  place  it  among  the 
regions  most  richly  endowed  by  nature.  But  its  natural  resources, 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        29 

originally  so  great  as  to  seem  inexhaustible,  were  thrown  open  to 
private  exploitation  without  restriction.  Gold  miners,  taking  little 
thought  of  the  future,  despoiled  forests,  denuded  land  of  its  surface 
soil,  and  clogged  rivers  with  debris.  Cattlemen  deliberately  set  fire 
to  forests  to  increase  their  acreage  of  grazing  lands ;  ranchers  exhausted 
the  soil  by  growing  wheat  year  after  year  on  the  same  areas.  The 
inevitable  consequences  were  floods,  erosion,  and  soil  depletion. 

The  land  surface  of  the  State  comprises  about  100,000,000  acres, 
of  which  approximately  30,000,000  acres  are  tillable.  Since  cultiva- 
tion in  many  areas  is  dependent  on  irrigation,  it  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  amount  of  tillable  land  with  accuracy.  About  500  variations 
in  soil  types  have  been  listed  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Chemistry  and 
Soils;  taken  as  a  whole,  they  are  uncommonly  productive. 

Ever  since  pioneer  days,  the  State's  forest  lands  have  yielded  vast 
quantities  of  lumber.  Some  7,700,000  acres  have  been  logged  over,  and 
500,000  have  been  reclaimed  for  agricultural  use.  The  commercial 
forests,  mainly  in  the  mountain  sections,  consist  chiefly  of  coniferous 
trees :  Ponderosa  pine,  sugar  pine,  and  white  and  red  fir  in  the  Sierra ; 
Douglas  fir  and  the  towering  redwood  in  the  northern  coast  counties 
of  Del  Norte,  Humboldt,  and  Mendocino.  Many  stands  in  both  regions 
are  very  heavy,  capable  of  yielding  as  much  as  100,000  board  feet 
to  the  acre.  The  total  bulk  of  old-growth  timber  in  California  is 
estimated  at  213,500,000,000  board  feet.  The  forest  lands  are  divided 
almost  equally  between  public  and  private  ownership,  but  the  heavier 
and  more  accessible  stands  are  privately  owned. 

Legislative  attempts  early  in  the  present  century  to  conserve  forest 
resources  were  mostly  unsuccessful  because  of  the  opposition  of  cor- 
porate interests.  In  recent  years  the  division  of  forestry  of  the  State 
department  of  natural  resources  has  done  useful  work,  especially  in 
fire  and  insect  control. 

Since  1892  the  Federal  Government  has  set  apart  as  national  forests 
1 8  tracts  along  the  headwaters  of  California  streams,  with  a  combined 
area  of  19,216,332  acres — about  one-fifth  of  the  State's  total  acreage. 
These  tracts  have  been  "set  aside  to  protect  and  maintain  in  a  per- 
manently productive  and  useful  condition  lands  unsuited  to  agriculture 
but  capable  of  yielding  timber  and  other  forest  benefits,  such  as  forage 
for  livestock  and  water  for  irrigation,  domestic  use,  and  power."  They 
are  controlled  and  supervised  by  the  Forest  Service  of  the  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Agriculture.  Extensive  forest  tracts  are  also  reserved  as 
State  parks.  Artificial  reforestation  is  done  mostly  in  the  redwood 
region,  where  the  climate  fosters  the  growth  of  seedlings.  In  the  pine 
region,  with  its  hot  dry  summers  and  cold  winters,  natural  reforestation 
is  usually  more  successful.  Artificial  reforestation  is  carried  on  by 


3O        CALIFORNIA 

the  U.  S.  Forest  Service  and  a  few  county  organizations,  some  4,000 
acres  being  planted  annually. 

Of  the  58  counties,  each  has  some  of  the  State's  mineral  substances. 
The  six  most  important  products  of  1936  (latest  available  figures), 
listed  in  order  of  financial  value,  are  petroleum,  gold,  natural  gas,  stone, 
soda,  and  cement.  California  is  rich  in  petroleum,  which  has  replaced 
gold  as  its  most  important  mineral.  Its  oil,  which  is  in  general  dis- 
tinguished by  an  asphaltum  base,  is  found,  along  with  great  quantities 
of  natural  gas,  on  the  coastal  plain  of  southern  California,  in  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley,  and  in  scattered  smaller  areas  elsewhere.  California 
continues  to  outrank  the  rest  of  the  United  States,  including  Alaska, 
in  the  production  of  gold;  its  1936  production  topped  any  previous 
year  in  the  history  of  the  State.  Quicksilver,  copper,  silver,  lead,  and 
zinc  are  found  in  substantial  amounts,  as  are  cement,  clay  products, 
stone,  sand,  and  gravel.  Most  of  the  world's  supply  of  borax  comes 
from  California.  Platinum,  tungsten,  magnesite,  chromite,  pyrites,  sil- 
ica, diatomaceous  earth,  potash,  sodium  salts,  and  talc  are  also  mined. 

In  the  early  iSyo's,  Sacramento  Valley  farmers  organized  anti- 
debris  associations  as  a  defense  against  the  strongly  intrenched  mining 
interests,  and  in  1893  an  act  was  passed  by  the  State  legislature  to 
control  hydraulic  mining.  Shortly  after  1900,  steps  were  taken  for 
co-operative  work  between  owners  of  land  and  the  State  and  Federal 
governments  to  reclaim  valuable  swamp  and  overflow  lands  along  the 
rivers.  Not  until  1911,  however,  did  the  State  legislature  create  a 
conservation  commission. 

Since  petroleum  and  natural  gas  are  classed  as  minerals,  their  pro- 
duction is  controlled  by  Federal  laws;  but  under  the  California  laws 
of  1911  and  1915  the  State  may  regulate  oil-drilling  methods  and 
prevent  the  waste  of  natural  gas.  Under  the  act  of  1915,  "to  protect 
the  natural  resources  of  water,  petroleum,  and  gas  from  damage,  waste, 
and  destruction,"  oil  operators  must  use  every  effort  to  prevent  con- 
tamination of  fresh  water  suitable  for  irrigation  or  domestic  use,  to 
avoid  the  waste  of  natural  gas,  and  to  make  regular  reports  of  produc- 
tion to  the  State  gas  and  oil  supervisor.  In  1919  several  previously 
existing  agricultural  commissions  were  combined  in  a  State  department 
of  agriculture,  under  the  charge  of  a  director  of  agriculture.  The 
department  is  organized  in  several  divisions,  such  as  plant  industry, 
animal  industry,  and  agricultural  chemistry.  Its  work  is  supplemented 
by  that  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  of  the  University  of  California, 
with  its  central  establishments  at  Berkeley  and  Davis.  State  conserva- 
tion activities  include  restoration  of  soil  fertility,  control  and  exclusion 
of  pests,  and  study  of  plant  diseases. 

The  task  of  protecting  wild  life  is  divided  between  State  and  Fed- 
eral agencies.  The  State  maintains  an  effective  patrol  organization  to 


NATURAL     SETTING     AND     CONSERVATION        31 

enforce  its  regulations  in  this  field.  U.  S.  Forest  Service  officers  help 
the  State  to  enforce  the  fish  and  game  laws,  and  aid  in  the  restocking 
of  streams  and  lakes  with  trout.  Throughout  the  national  forests,  many 
areas  have  been  set  aside  as  State  game  refuges.  California's  lakes  and 
streams  are  stocked  annually  writh  millions  of  fingerlings,  under  State 
and  Federal  conservation  programs.  The  work  of  breeding  the  numer- 
ous game  fishes  is  carried  on  at  twenty  State  and  two  U.  S.  fish  hatch- 
eries, and  distribution  to  the  lakes  and  streams  at  higher  elevations  is 
effected  through  co-operation  with  the  anglers'  associations  and  the 
Sierra  Club. 

The  future  of  California  is  closely  linked  with  the  future  of  its 
water  supply.  From  the  earliest  days  of  the  State,  a  popular  movement 
for  public  ownership  and  distribution  of  irrigation  water  has  struggled 
for  domination  over  private  ownership  and  sale.  Californians  have 
undertaken  many  comprehensive  investigations  of  the  problems  of  water 
control,  pollution  abatement,  watershed  protection,  and  beach  erosion. 
In  1931  a  complete  water  utilization  plan,  reported  by  the  State  division 
of  water  resources,  outlined  specific  projects  for  the  great  agricultural 
districts.  The  reports  of  the  California  Basin  Committees,  drafted 
for  the  National  Resources  Committee  (1937),  recommended  projects 
in  flood  control,  irrigation,  soil  and  wildlife  conservation  in  the  northern 
California-Klamath,  Central  Valley,  central  California  coast,  and  south- 
ern California  coastal  drainage  basins. 

The  project  of  making  the  desert  blossom  as  a  rose,  or  (more  pro- 
saically) of  turning  desert  areas  into  productive  farmland,  has  held 
the  imagination  of  western  settlers  for  more  than  half  a  century.  The 
possibility  of  irrigating  the  Imperial  Valley  area  through  the  diversion 
of  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  River  was  first  considered  in  1876.  The 
Colorado  Irrigation  Company  was  formed  in  1892  and  constructed  a 
canal  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Mexican  border.  The  plan  almost  ended 
in  disaster  when  the  powerful  Colorado  River  changed  its  course  during 

I  a  flood  in  1905-6  and  hurled  its  waters  through  Imperial  Valley  into 
the  big  inland  sink  since  known  as  Salton  Sea,  threatening  to  make  a 
clean  sweep  of  the  valley  ranches  and  settlements.  After  the  damage 
had  finally  been  repaired  at  great  cost,  the  problem  of  effectively  regu- 
lating the  Colorado  River  was  repeatedly  brought  before  Congress. 
The  completion  in  1936  of  Boulder  Dam,  second  in  size  only  to  Grand 
Coulee  in  the  Northwest,  finally  solved  the  problem,  assuring  the  future 
of  Imperial  Valley  as  one  of  the  most  important  agricultural  regions 
in  the  country.  Boulder  Dam  will  control  the  waterflow  of  the  All- 
American  Canal,  opened  in  1938,  which  will  distribute  irrigation  water 
throughout  the  reclaimed  desert  region  in  the  southeastern  corner  of 
the  State. 

Despite  the  extremely  high  productivity  of  Central  Valley's  alluvial 


32         CALIFORNIA 

soils,  large  parts  of  the  valley  have  been  threatened  for  years  with 
reversion  to  desert  through  drought  and  salinity,  largely  caused  by 
prodigal  and  unplanned  use  of  water  resources  over  a  long  period. 
In  order  to  conserve  and  regulate  the  water  resources  of  the  valley, 
and  to  prevent  the  acute  water  shortage  threatening  over  a  million 
acres  in  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  basins,  the  Bureau  of  Reclama- 
tion of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  the  Interior  has  now  under  construc- 
tion another  great  irrigation,  flood  control,  and  power  project,  known 
as  the  Central  Valley  Water  Project.  Its  key  unit,  the  Shasta  Dam, 
above  Redding,  which  will  be  the  second  largest  concrete  dam  in  the 
world,  will  back  up  the  Sacramento,  Pit,  and  McCloud  Rivers  for  a 
distance  of  35  miles,  to  create  a  storage  reservoir  with  a  capacity  of 
nearly  a  billion  gallons.  The  Central  Valley  project  also  includes  the 
construction  of  the  Friant  Dam  on  the  upper  San  Joaquin  River  east 
of  Fresno,  with  a  reservoir  capacity  of  147,00x5,000  gallons.  Developed 
water  power  in  the  State  is  more  than  2,000,000  horse-power,  with 
large  potential  reserves  still  undeveloped. 

The  California  Conservation  Council,  representing  a  number  of 
national  and  State  organizations,  stresses  the  necessity  for  local  initiative 
in  conservation  work  and  urges  not  only  wise  utilization  of  natural 
wealth  but  also  cooperation  with  Federal,  State,  and  county  agencies, 
enforcement  of  protective  laws,  and  nonpolitical  administration  of 
natural  resources.  Since  1935,  the  Council  has  annually  sponsored  a 
"Conservation  Week." 

One  of  the  most  forward-looking  phases  of  Califorina's  conservation 
program  is  that  which  has  preserved  and  developed  the  beaches  all  along 
the  coast  as  State  parks.  Numerous  historic  sites  are  protected  as  State 
monuments.  The  national  conservation  program  in  the  State  embraces 
three  national  parks — Lassen,  Yosemite,  and  Sequoia — and  the  two 
great  national  monuments,  Death  Valley  National  Monument  and 
Joshua  Tree  National  Monument. 


The  First  Californians 


WHEN  on  June  17,  1579  "it  pleased  God"  to  send  Francis 
Drake's  Golden  Hind  into  the  "faire  and  good  bay"  north 
of  the  Golden  Gate,  he  encountered  "the  people  of  the  coun- 
try, having  their  houses  close  by  the  water's  edge."  Overawed,  they 
supposed  the  bearded,  white-skinned  sailors  who  bestowed  on  them 
"necessary  things  to  cover  their  nakedness"  to  be  gods  and  "would  not 
be  persuaded  to  the  contrarj^."  The  men,  their  faces  painted  in  all 
colors,  left  their  bows  behind  on  a  hill  and  came  down  to  the  shore 
bearing  presents  of  feathers  and  tobacco.  The  women  remained  on 
the  hill,  "tormenting  themselves"  in  some  sacrificial  frenzy  and  "tearing 
the  flesh  from  their  cheeks."  Their  king,  "clad  with  conie  skins  and 
other  skins,"  arrived  with  a  retinue  of  "tall  and  warlike  men,"  bearing 
a  sceptre.  After  much  singing,  dancing,  and  speech  making,  they  begged 
Drake  to  "take  their  province  and  kingdom  into  his  hand  and  become 
their  king." 

In  the  interior  Drake's  men  found  other  villages.  Up  and  down 
California,  if  they  had  traveled  farther,  they  would  have  discovered 
others,  for  the  Indians  of  California  were  widely  but  unevenly  scattered 
over  the  State's  fertile  regions.  The  estimated  native  population  of 
almost  one  inhabitant  to  each  square  mile  was  comparatively  large;  the 
Central  Valley  was  probably  more  densely  populated  than  any  other 
part  of  North  America  at  that  time. 

For  an  unknown  age  before  the  white  man  first  stumbled  upon 
them  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Indians  of  California  had  dwelt  in 
their  scattered  bands,  walled  off  from  the  rest  of  the  aboriginal  world 

33 


34        CALIFORNIA 

by  mountains  and  deserts.  On  the  shores  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  along 
the  southern  California  and  Humboldt  Bay  seacoasts  and  in  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley,  evidence  has  been  unearthed  from  their  shell  mounds — 
huge  kitchen  middens  of  shell,  ash,  and  earth,  piled  up  layer  by  layer 
from,  the  refuse  of  daily  living  over  the  centuries — indicating  a  culture 
which  remained  almost  unchanged  over  a  period  of  perhaps  three  or 
four  thousand  years.  It  was  probably  the  simplest  culture  in  all  abo- 
riginal North  America. 

The  scattered  bands  dwelt  in  isolation  one  from  another,  each  fishing 
in  its  own  creek,  catching  game  in  its  own  preserves,  gathering  nuts, 
seeds,  and  berries  in  its  own  forests.  The  village,  composed  of  groups 
of  kin  and  relatives  by  marriage,  was  the  unit  of  society,  its  members 
holding  rights  in  common  to  a  specific  tract  of  land;  seldom  was  it 
united  with  other  villages  by  tribal  ties.  Even  among  the  semi-organ- 
ized tribes  of  northern  central  California,  the  village  was  the  real  social 
unit.  The  Maidu  of  central  California,  although  united  in  language 
and  customs,  distinguished  their  local  groups  into  Hill  Maidu,  Valley 
Maidu,  and  Mountain  Maidu.  The  only  exceptions  were  the  Mojave 
and  Yuma  in  the  far  southeast,  who  displayed  aggressive  tribal  unity 
against  outsiders. 

In  customs  and  in  culture  the  isolated  villages  varied  widely,  but 
in  nothing  so  widely  as  in  language.  Over  most  of  the  State  a  villager 
needed  to  travel  little  more  than  50  miles  to  encounter  other  Indians 
whose  language  he  could  not  speak ;  in  a  5O-mile  journey  through  many 
regions  he  might  pass  the  boundaries  of  three  or  four  distinct  language 
groups.  More  than  100  dialects  of  21  distinct  language  stocks  were 
spoken.  Of  all  the  many  language  groups,  only  three  larger  language 
families  from  outside  the  State  were  represented  in  California:  the 
Hupa  and  their  neighbors  in  the  far  northwest  belonged  to  the  Atha- 
bascan; many  groups  in  the  south  to  the  Shoshonean,  and  the  Mojave 
and  Yuma  along  the  Colorado  to  the  Yuman  linguistic  stock. 

Drake's  men  discovered  tribes  living  in  conical,  dome-shaped,  or 
round  huts.  In  the  northwest  part  of  the  State  they  were  covered  with 
light  planks  or  poles ;  towards  the  south  with  bark,  brush,  or  thatch ; 
in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  with  sod.  The  ceremonial  center  for  most 
villages  was  the  temescal  (sweat  house),  round  and  earth-covered, 
almost  airtight.  Confinement  in  its  steam-vapored  interior,  followed 
by  a  plunge  into  icy  water,  was  considered  an  effective  remedy  for  illness 
and  a  pleasant  cleanly  habit. 

California's  great  stands  of  oak  provided  the  Indians  with  their 
staple  food  in  most  parts  of  the  State.  Acorns  were  dried,  ground  with 
pestles  in  stone  or  wooden  mortars,  and  leached  with  repeated  soakings 
in  hot  water  to  remove  their  tannic  acid.  This  acorn  meal,  seasoned 
with  salt  or  wood  ashes,  was  eaten  as  it  was,  baked  in  unleavened  cakes, 


THE     FIRST     CALIFORNIANS        35 

or  boiled  in  a  gruel.  In  the  southwestern  desert  country  the  Indians 
gathered  mesquite  beans  and  on  the  eastern  Sierra  slopes,  pinon  nuts; 
only  near  the  Colorado  River  did  they  cultivate  plants  for  food.  Often 
they  ground  or  roasted  grass  seeds,  berries,  roots,  and  nuts,  and  stored 
them  in  baskets.  Lacking  pottery,  which  only  the  Indians  in  the 
extreme  southeast  near  the  Colorado  River  knew  how  to  make,  most 
of  the  California  natives  boiled  their  food  in  close-woven  baskets,  into 
which  they  dropped  hot  stones.  They  hunted  small  game  with  snares, 
sticks  and  nets,  or  bows  and  arrows;  larger  game  with  the  aid  of  pits 
and  traps,  and,  in  the  north,  dogs.  Deer-hunters  often  donned  deer- 
skins and  stuffed  deer's  heads  to  approach  their  game.  Grasshoppers 
and  caterpillars  were  also  eaten.  Everywhere  fish  were  caught  with 
hook,  net,  or  spear;  by  the  seashore  clams  and  mussels  were  gathered, 
and  along  the  rivers  of  the  north,  salmon  were  speared  during  the 
spawning  season. 

The  California  Indians  perfected  basketry  and  thus  supplied  them- 
selves with  utensils  for  gathering  and  winnowing  grain,  cooking  and 
storing  water.  Into  their  weaving  went  sedge,  bulrush,  redbud,  wil- 
low, diggerpine,  juniper,  bracken,  grape,  or  tule.  With  strands  stained 
with  vegetable  dyes  in  clear  blues,  deep  reds,  warm  yellows,  and 
luminous  pinks,  the  weavers  worked  fine  geometric  patterns.  The  Pomo 
families  of  Lake,  Sonoma,  and  Mendocino  Counties  sometimes  wove 
into  their  baskets  the  downy,  many-colored  feathers  of  birds. 

The  California  Indian's  other  possessions  were  few  and  crude.  Out 
of  bone,  shell,  or  stone  he  carved  his  arrowheads,  awls,  pestles  and 
mortars,  pots,  charm  stones,  beads,  and  pendants.  For  money  he  used 
dentalium  or  clamshell  disk  beads,  ground,  bored,  and  strung,  and 
valued  according  to  size,  thickness,  and  polish.  His  musical  instruments 
were  varied;  most  widespread  was  the  rattle,  made  of  split  clap-sticks, 
gravel-filled  cocoon  bunches,  bundles  of  deer  hoofs,  or  turtle  shells  and 
gourds;  in  addition  there  were  bone  whistles,  flutes,  musical  bows,  and 
drums. 

He  built  two  kinds  of  vessels  for  navigation:  the  balsa,  a  raft  or 
float  made  of  tule  rushes  for  use  in  quiet  waters,  sometimes  replaced 
by  huge  woven  baskets  in  which  goods  or  human  beings  were  ferried 
across  streams;  and  the  wooden  canoe,  hollowed  out  of  a  log,  for  use 
on  the  ocean.  The  Canalino  Indians  living  along  the  Santa  Barbara 
Channel  made  boats  of  lashed  planks,  craft  found  nowhere  else  in 
North  America. 

Most  village  groups  were  headed  by  a  chief,  who  held  the  office 
more  often  by  virtue  of  wealth  than  heredity;  he  was  privileged  only 
to  advise,  not  to  command.  Within  the  village  group,  scarcely  any  dis- 
tinctions, either  of  social  status  or  vocation,  were  drawn,  except  in  the 
northwest,  where  social  classes  based  on  the  possession  of  wealth  tended 


36        CALIFORNIA 

to  form.  In  the  absence  of  any  coherent  tribal  organization  warfare 
as  practised  in  eastern  North  America  was  unknown,  although  sporadic 
feuds  broke  out  between  kin  or  local  groups. 

The  only  other  tribal  functionaries  besides  the  chief  were  the 
shamans.  The  shaman  might  be  either  a  man  or  a  woman,  who 
acquired  supposedly  supernatural  powers  through  consultation  with 
spirits  in  a  dream.  Sometimes  he  cured  illness  by  "sucking  the  pain 
object"  from  the  patient's  body,  sometimes  by  bringing  back  his  wander- 
ing soul,  sometimes  by  blowing  tobacco  smoke  on  the  affected  part,  by 
chanting  incantations,  or  by  inducing  a  trance.  Supposedly  he  could 
kill,  as  well  as  cure.  Among  these  shamans  were  specialists,  the  rain, 
rattlesnake,  and  grizzly  bear  doctors.  Most  feared  of  all  in  northern 
California  were  the  grizzly  bear  shamans,  who  either  dressed  in  bear- 
skin robes,  or  were  credited  with  the  power  of  turning  themselves  into 
ferocious  grizzlies  in  order  to  destroy  their  enemies. 

Birth,  puberty,  marriage,  and  death  called  for  religious  observances. 
In  most  localities  the  husband  kept  to  his  house  for  several  days  (usu- 
ally four)  after  the  birth  of  a  child,  abstaining  with  his  wife  from 
meat  and  salt.  Among  the  Achomawi  and  Shasta  in  the  northeast, 
boys  at  the  age  of  puberty  were  initiated  into  the  life  of  the  group  with 
simple  ceremonies  by  fasting,  whipping  with  a  bowstring,  and  the 
piercing  of  their  ears.  The  initiation  of  girls  was  more  elaborate :  hidden 
away,  sometimes  in  a  separate  hut,  they  were  instructed  in  womanly 
duties,  meanwhile  eating  no  meat,  bathing  frequently,  and  scratching 
themselves  with  special  carved  sticks  (since  scratching  with  the  hands 
was  taboo).  Marriage  was  a  somewhat  loosely  defined  institution  ex- 
cept in  the  northwest,  where  the  bridegroom  presented  gifts  in  propor- 
tion to  the  social  standing  of  his  bride's  family.  In  most  parts  of  the 
State  the  dead  were  forgotten  as  soon  as  their  bodies  had  been  buried 
or  cremated;  to  speak  their  names  was  commonly  taboo.  Among  the 
southern  California  group,  however,  the  chief  public  demonstrations 
were  mourning  ceremonies,  celebrated  at  annual  or  semi-annual  me- 
morials by  burning  the  piled-up  effigies  of  all  the  recent  deceased,  to 
the  accompaniment  of  sad  wailing. 

The  only  organized  religious  cults  which  gained  a  foothold  in 
California  were  the  kuksu  (big-head)  and  toloache  (Jimsonweed)  cults. 
The  kuksu  rites,  practised  in  the  southern  Sacramento  Valley,  were 
celebrated,  almost  always  in  winter,  by  dancers  representing  gods. 
Their  faces  painted  and  disguised  by  curtains  of  feathers,  grass,  or 
shredded  rushes,  they  danced  in  earth-covered,  dome-roofed  dance  houses 
to  the  accompaniment  of  stamping  on  a  hollow-slab  foot  drum.  The 
cult  trained  the  adolescent  boys  and  girls  (initiating  the  boys  with 
puberty  rites),  organized  the  male  members  of  the  community,  and 
focused  the  activities  of  the  shaman.  The  toloache  cult,  practised  in 


THE     FIRST     CALIFORNIANS        37 

the  San  Joaquin  Valley  and  in  southern  California,  centered  about  the 
taking  of  the  narcotic  Jimsonweed  plant  to  induce  hallucinations.  Its 
practitioners  used  sand  paintings  to  picture  the  cosmos.  The  toloache, 
like  the  kuksu  cult,  conducted  puberty  rites,  some  groups  extending  them 
to  girls  as  well  as  boys,  with  the  intention  of  making  the  initiate  strong, 
fortunate,  and  successful.  Some  groups  celebrated  with  ceremonial 
rites  such  events  as  the  first  fire-making  or  acorn-gathering  of  the  new 
year  or  the  first  catch  of  salmon  in  the  spawning  season.  In  the  north- 
west, the  exhibition  of  prized  possessions  like  prepared  deerskins  was 
celebrated  by  dancers  decked  out  in  all  their  valuable  goods.  The 
groups  of  the  southeast  and  desert  performed  ritual  dances  to  accompany 
song  cycles  in  celebration  of  mythical  events. 

In  1769,  nearly  two  centuries  after  Drake's  brief  visit,  Franciscan 
friars  trudged  into  the  country  to  convert  the  "heathen."  Cross  or 
sword,  the  Indians  had  to  choose.  On  several  occasions  bloody  struggles 
broke  out,  in  which  the  Indians  were  usually  defeated.  Only  the  groups 
in  the  mountains  escaped  missionary  efforts:  those  who  submitted  were 
baptized.  Almost  all  the  natives  in  the  coastal  regions  were  brought 
to  live  in  and  around  the  21  Franciscan  missions,  established  from  San 
Diego  to  Sonoma  between  1769  and  1823.  From  4,000  in  1783,  the 
Mission  Indian  population  was  increased  to  7,500  by  1790,  to  13,500 
by  1800,  and  to  20,355  by  1805.  The  monotonous  round  of  work  and 
prayer,  the  rigid  moral  regulations,  the  cramped  and  prisonlike  housing 
made  life  unbearable  for  many.  They  ran  away,  although  they  faced 
whipping  if  caught,  or  they  died. 

The  resentment  against  the  missions  flared  several  times  into  open 
rebellion.  On  November  4,  1775,  some  800  rebels  swept  down  from 
the  hills  and  set  fire  to  San  Diego  Mission.  The  year  after,  San  Luis 
Obispo  was  burned.  The  Yumas  in  1781  destroyed  their  mission  and 
freed  themselves,  arousing  the  spirit  of  revolt  among  the  Indians  of 
San  Diego  and  San  Juan  Capistrano.  During  the  last  two  decades  of 
the  century  there  were  conflicts  at  Santa  Barbara,  at  most  of  the  south- 
ern missions,  and  at  San  Juan  Bautista.  In  February  1824  the  neo- 
phytes at  Purisima  Concepcion,  Santa  Ines,  and  Santa  Barbara  revolted 
simultaneously,  killing  several  people  and  burning  the  buildings  at  Santa 
Ines.  In  1829  secular  authorities  waged  a  campaign  against  the  forces 
of  Chief  Estanislao  (for  whom  Stanislaus  River  and  County  are  named). 
A  fugitive  from  Mision  San  Jose,  Estanislao  led  a  band  of  other 
escaped  neophytes  and  wild  Indians  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  an 
uprising  that  was  crushed  only  by  a  force  of  100  Spaniards  with  muskets 
and  cannon. 

When  the  Mexican  Government  broke  the  mission  system's  land 
monopoly  with  its  secularization  decrees  of  1833-34,  tne  Indians  were 
suddenly  freed.  Well-meaning  in  their  despotism  as  the  mission  fathers 


38        CALIFORNIA 

may  have  been,  they  had  degraded  their  converts  into  dependent  slaves, 
unable  to  shift  for  themselves.  In  theory,  secularization  was  to  grant 
rights  of  citizenship  to  the  Indians  and  restore  to  them  one-half  of  all 
mission  land,  livestock,  and  farm  tools.  In  practice,  the  neophytes  re- 
lapsed into  helpless  vagrancy,  too  demoralized  to  work  their  own  lands, 
if  indeed  they  had  not  been  dispossessed  of  them  by  crooked  adminis- 
trators. The  mission  population  fell  off  rapidly,  decreasing  from  24,634 
in  1830  to  6,000  in  1840.  The  Indians  took  up  their  old  life  in  the 
wilds,  if  luck  was  with  them;  if  not,  they  fell  into  wretched  peonage 
on  the  vast  private  ranches. 

On  the  ranchos  the  Indians  were  never  paid,  and  in  the  small 
industrial  establishments  of  the  later  Mexican  period  they  were  paid 
only  with  glass  beads,  parched  corn,  or  homemade  brandy.  The  raw, 
poisonous  liquor,  drunk  with  greediness,  killed  many  of  them;  scarlet 
fever,  smallpox,  tuberculosis,  and  syphilis  killed  many  more. 

From  an  estimated  total  of  133,000  in  1770  the  Indian  population 
had  already  fallen  by  1852  to  85,000,  and  continued  to  decline  at  an 
accelerated  rate  under  the  American  regime.  The  drop  in  Indian  popu- 
lation between  1849  and  1856  has  been  estimated  at  50,000.  One  of 
John  C.  Fremont's  men  reported  in  1847:  "We  killed  plenty  of  game 
and  an  occasional  Indian.  We  made  it  a  rule  to  spare  none  of  the 
bucks."  As  Americans  acquired  the  Mexican  grants,  they  drove  the 
ranch  Indians  off;  the  squatters  who  staked  off  so-called  Government 
lands  pushed  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  back  into  the  mountains  and 
deserts.  Their  salmon  waters  muddied  by  mining  operations,  acorn 
groves  cut  down  for  firewood,  hunting  lands  confiscated,  the  Indians 
were  left  to  starve.  In  the  towns  and  cities,  where  they  were  paid 
only  half  the  wages  of  whites,  they  were  cut  down  by  disease  and  drink. 

When  the  less  submissive  of  the  Indians  resisted  starvation  by  depre- 
dations on  American  property  or  livestock  or  retaliated  for  outrages  by 
killing  white  men,  they  were  massacred  without  mercy.  For  nearly 
three  decades  after  American  occupation  of  California,  "Indian  wars" 
continued — the  Klamath  War  of  1851-52,  Kern  River  War  of  1856, 
Pit  River  massacres  of  1867,  and  the  Modoc  War  of  1873.  During 
the  campaign  of  1855-59  m  the  north,  soldiers  killed  more  than  100 
Indians,  while  settlers  of  the  Mad  and  Eel  River  regions  put  at  least 
200  to  death  in  a  series  of  massacres.  Up  to  December  1854  the  State 
had  spent  $1,030,530  on  Indian  campaigns;  during  the  next  six  years 
it  spent  twice  that  amount.  The  cattle  raids  and  attacks  on  emigrant 
trains  of  the  Yumas  and  Mojaves  were  answered  in  the  Owens  Lake 
incident  of  1865,  when  the  settlers  drove  100  Indians  to  a  terrible 
death  in  the  corroding  waters  of  an  alkaline  lake.  The  Pit  River  Valley 
massacre  of  10  or  15  white  men  in  1867  was  followed  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  a  whole  village.  During  the  troubles  in  the  far  north  which 


THE     FIRST     CALIF  ORNIANS        39 

eventually  culminated  in  the  last  and  bloodiest  of  the  Indian  "wars," 
the  Modoc  War  of  1873,  a  company  under  Captain  Ben  Wright  fell 
upon  the  Indians  when  they  laid  down  their  arms  to  make  a  treaty  and 
murdered  so  many  that  Wright  could  boast  of  making  a  "permanent" 
treaty  with  at  least  1,000  Indians. 

The  Indian,  his  affairs  entrusted  to  special  agents  who  seldom  inter- 
fered in  his  behalf,  had  no  spokesman  before  the  Government  of  a  people 
who  wanted  only  to  steal  his  land.  The  white  man  found  it  easy  to  sup- 
port almost  any  charges  against  him.  According  to  Helen  Hunt  Jack- 
son, early  champion  of  the  Indian,  "  'Papers  from  Washington'  seemed 
to  give  the  white  man  the  right  to  deprive  any  Indian  of  the  land  of  his 
forefathers — so  the  Indian  gradually  disappeared,  'hunted  down,  driven 
out.'  The  United  States  Government  took  over  all  the  Indian  holdings, 
and  grants  to  white  people  could  be  obtained  on  application  without 
any  consideration  for  the  right  of  occupancy  by  the  Indian.  To  betray 
sympathy  with  the  Indian  was  more  than  any  man's  'political'  head  was 
worth." 

As  early  as  1849  the  Federal  Government  had  commissioned  agents 
to  collect  data  on  Indian  rights  and  land  titles.  In  the  following  year 
it  appointed  a  commission  of  three  which  eventually  succeeded  in  signing 
1 8  treaties  with  chiefs  of  more  than  100  groups,  representing  most  of 
the  State's  Indian  population.  In  return  for  their  promise  to  recognize 
United  States  sovereignty,  keep  the  peace,  settle  on  reservations — 18  in 
number,  aggregating  7,500,000  acres — and  cede  their  land  rights  to 
the  Government;  they  were  to  receive  farm  implements  and  goods,  in- 
structors in  blacksmithing,  woodwork,  and  farming,  and  maintenance 
of  permanent  reservations.  The  treaties  were  transmitted  to  the 
Senate  but  never  ratified ;  for  over  half  a  century  they  remained  hidden 
in  Senate  archives.  Meanwhile  the  Indians  of  California,  having  ful- 
filled their  part  of  the  bargain,  remained  uncompensated  for  their 
losses,  seeing  their  promised  7,500,000  acres  dwindle  to  500,000. 

Beginning  in  1853,  the  Indians  were  gradually  gathered  together 
on  reservations.  The  first  one  was  established  at  Tejon;  others  were 
established  later  on  the  Klamath  River  south  of  Crescent  City,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Noyo  River  on  the  Mendocino  coast,  and  at  Nome  Lake 
in  the  Sacramento  foothills.  The  results  at  first  were  far  from  happy, 
since  bands  of  diverse  origin  and  speech  were  lumped  together  indis- 
criminately. Under  a  system  of  education  which  forced  the  white 
man's  ways  upon  the  Indian,  aboriginal  culture  disintegrated  rapidly. 
As  the  natives  ran  away  faster  than  they  died,  one  reservation  after 
another  was  abandoned.  Little  by  little  the  reservations  were  robbed 
of  their  more  valuable  lands.  The  32  which  exist  today,  as  well  as 
the  land  allotments  made  to  individuals,  are  located  chiefly  in  unpro- 
ductive hill  country.  Here  the  Indians,  housed  and  clothed  much  like 


4O        CALIFORNIA 

their  white  neighbors,  practice  farming,  stockraising,  and  handicrafts, 
on  some  reservations  under  the  guidance  of  Indian  Bureau  agents.  The 
children  attend  either  Indian  schools,  such  as  the  Sherman  Institute  near 
Arlington,  Riverside  County,  or  public  schools  to  which  the  Indian 
Bureau  makes  tuition  payments. 

For  every  seven  or  eight  Indians  living  in  California  before  the 
white  man  came  to  stay,  only  one  remained  14  decades  later.  The 
Indian  population,  including  half  and  mixed  bloods  (nearly  30  percent 
of  the  total),  had  fallen  by  1910  to  16,371 — a  decline  of  about  90  per- 
cent. Since  then  the  Indian  population  has  increased  to  an  estimated 
24,000  in  1938. 

There  are  Indians  in  every  county  in  the  State,  but  in  only  four — 
Humboldt,  Mendocino,  Riverside,  and  San  Diego — are  there  more  than 
1,000.  About  three-fifths  of  the  Indian  population  live  on  reserva- 
tions; many  of  the  remainder  live  on  land  allotments  or  homesteads. 
Indian  ranch  hands  work  at  hop-picking,  fruit  gathering,  sheep-shearing, 
and  general  ranching.  In  the  larger  urban  centers,  where  they  have 
doubled  in  number  during  the  last  three  decades  and  total  about  1,100 
today,  the  women  find  employment  as  domestics,  the  men  as  mechanics, 
factory  hands,  or  railroad  wrorkers. 

Under  the  Indian  Bureau's  influence,  native  arts  are  now  fostered, 
particularly  at  the  Sherman  Institute.  The  Luiseno  and  other  groups 
are  encouraged  to  stage  their  picturesque  ceremonies  at  summer  fiestas, 
ceremonies  whose  primitive  origin  is  plainly  apparent  despite  Christian 
transformations.  Unfortunately,  this  policy  of  encouragement  has  suc- 
ceeded that  of  persecution  too  late  to  save  more  than  a  tiny  remnant 
of  Indian  culture. 


Calif ornicfs  Last  Four  Centuries 


WITHIN  the  half  century  after  Christopher  Columbus  discov- 
ered the  new  world,  Europeans  discovered  and  named  Cali- 
fornia. In  1513  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  reached  the  Pacific 
coast  at  Panama;  twenty-two  years  later  another  Spaniard,  Hernando 
Cortes,  discovered  a  land  he  named  California;  and  in  1542  Juan 
Rodriguez  Cabrillo,  a  Portuguese  navigator,  rode  at  anchor  in  San 
Diego  Bay,  the  first  white  man  to  see  any  part  of  the  region  now 
known  as  California. 

The  chain  of  events  that  led  to  California  started  with  the  search 
by  Columbus  in  the  Caribbean  in  1493  for  the  island  Mantinino,  which 
he  had  been  told  "was  peopled  merely  by  women."  Columbus  thought 
this  might  be  Marco  Polo's  Amazonian  island  "near  the  coast  of  Asia." 
He  failed  in  his  search,  but  the  fabulous  isle  fascinated  other  navigators 
during  the  next  decade.  After  Garcia  Ordonez  de  Montalvo  published 
his  romance  Las  Sergas  de  Esplandidn  in  1510,  Spanish  navigators 
were  familiar  with  both  the  legend  and  with  the  name  California. 
A  passage  reads:  "Know  that,  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Indies,  there 
is  an  island  called  California,  very  near  to  the  Terrestrial  Paradise, 
which  was  peopled  with  black  women.  .  .  .  Their  arms  were  all  of 
gold." 

Spain's  dominion  in  the  new  world  was  extended  to  the  western  coast 
of  Mexico  by  Cortes'  conquest  of  the  empire  of  Montezuma.  In  an 
attempt  to  push  it  farther  west  and  north  Cortes  sent  two  ships  com- 
manded by  his  kinsman  Diego  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  on  a  "voyage  of 
discovery"  in  1532.  Mendoza  got  as  far  north  into  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 

41 


42        CALIFORNIA 

fornia  as  27°  N.  before  a  mutinous  crew  compelled  him  to  send  back 
one  of  the  ships;  of  his  own  vessel,  nothing  but  vague  rumor  was  ever 
heard  again.  Fortune  Ximenes,  pilot  of  an  expedition  sent  to  search 
for  Mendoza,  anchored  in  a  small  bay  "near  the  23rd  degree  of  lati- 
tude," landed,  and  was  killed  by  natives,  along  with  20  of  his  men. 
The  survivors  reported  the  discovery  of  an  island,  said  to  "abound  in 
the  finest  pearls."  On  May  5,  1535,  Cortes  entered  the  little  bay 
Ximenes  had  found  (possibly  the  present  La  Paz)  called  it  Santa  Cruz, 
landed  and  named  the  supposed  island  California.  He  was  convinced 
that  it  lay  "on  the  right  side  of  the  Indies,"  if  not  "near  to  the  Terres- 
trial Paradise." 

For  more  than  a  year  Cortes  stayed  in  the  new  land,  a  desolate  sandy 
waste,  while  the  mutinous  soldiers  cursed  him,  "his  island,  bay,  and 
his  discovery."  Clinging  tenaciously  to  his  search  for  the  "seven  cities 
of  Cibola"  in  the  north,  he  sent  three  ships,  under  command  of  Fran- 
cisco de  Ulloa,  to  begin  a  thorough  survey  of  the  coast  line  in  1539. 
Ulloa  examined  both  shores  of  what  he  called  "The  Sea  of  Cortes," 
now  known  as  the  Gulf  of  California,  discovered  that  Cortes'  island 
was  really  a  peninsula.  Later  in  the  same  year,  it  is  said,  he  sailed 
around  Cape  San  Lucas  and  surveyed  the  Pacific  coast  line  of  the  penin- 
sula, getting  as  far  as  the  28th  degree — some  say  as  far  as  "Cape 
Engano,  near  the  3Oth  degree."  By  this  time,  however,  Cortes  had  gone 
back  to  Spain,  never  to  return. 

The  new  viceroy,  Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza  sent  Cabrillo,  in  com- 
mand of  the  ships  San  Salvador  and  La  Victoria  "to  examine  the  west- 
ern side  of  California  as  far  northward  as  possible,  seeking  particularly 
for  rich  countries  and  for  passages  leading  towards  the  Atlantic." 
Cabrillo  sailed  from  Navidad,  a  small  port  in  Xalisco,  on  June  27,  1542. 
Slowed  by  adverse  winds,  he  finally  entered  "a  very  good  closed  port" 
on  September  28,  which  he  named  San  Miguel — the  bay  of  San  Diego. 
He  discovered  Santa  Monica  Bay  and  the  three  large  islands  of  the 
Santa  Barbara  group,  rounded  Cabo  Galera  (Point  Concepcion)  and 
Cabo  de  los  Reyes  (Point  Reyes).  The  ships  passed  the  Golden  Gate 
without  seeing  it.  On  the  way  back  they  found  the  harbor  in  the  island 
of  the  Santa  Barbara  group  which  they  named  La  Posesion.  There 
Cabrillo,  who  had  been  suffering  from  a  broken  arm,  died  on  January 
3,  1543,  and  the  command  passed  to  his  pilot,  Bartolome  Ferrelo. 
Sailing  north  again,  the  ships  reached  a  promontory  on  February  26, 
probably  Cape  Mendocino,  which  Ferrelo  named  Cabo  de  Fortunas 
(Cape  of  Perils  or  Stormy  Cape).  Turning  back,  they  eventually  came 
into  their  home  port,  Navidad. 

Disappointed  by  the  reports  of  the  expedition,  Spanish  officials  be- 
came more  and  more  convinced  that  north  of  Mexico  the  New  World 
contained  "neither  wealthy  nations,  nor  navigable  passage  .  .  .  between 


CALIFORNIA     S     LAST     FOUR     CENTURIES        43 

the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans."  Later,  when  the  treasures  of  the 
Orient  began  to  come  into  the  port  of  Acapulco  from  the  Philippines 
and  from  China,  Spain  found  in  the  long  continental  mainland  the  best 
protection  of  its  inland  sea — the  Pacific.  England's  sea  rovers  had  no 
way  into  the  Pacific  except  by  rounding  Cape  Horn.  This  Francis 
Drake  did  in  his  looton  schooner,  the  Golden  Hinde;  he  anchored  on 
June  17,  1579,  in  what  became  Drake's  Bay  and  named  the  region  New 
Albion. 

Drake's  visit  seems  to  have  aroused  Spain's  dormant  interest  in 
California.  In  1584  Francisco  Gali  made  a  much  more  thorough  exam- 
ination of  the  California  coast  than  Cabrillo  had  done  42  years  before, 
and  1 1  years  later  Sebastian  Cermeno  was  directed,  while  returning 
from  Manila  to  Acapulco,  to  examine  the  California  coast,  "in  search  of 
harbors  in  which  galleons  might  take  refuge."  Losing  his  own  ship, 
somewhere  "near  San  Francisco  Bay  south  of  Cape  Mendocino,"  he 
sailed  southward  along  the  coast  in  a  small  boat  and  sighted  the  Bay 
of  Monterey,  which  he  named  "San  Pedro  Bay." 

With  three  ships  "well  officered,"  Sebastian  Vizcaino  made  a  second 
attempt  in  1602  to  explore  the  coast,  sailing  as  far  as  Cape  Mendocino, 
naming  the  first  harbor  he  reached,  "the  best  in  all  the  South  Sea," 
San  Diego.  On  November  12,  Carmelite  friars  of  his  party  celebrated 
Holy  Mass  ashore — the  first  time  in  Upper  California.  Vizcaino  spent 
almost  a  year  in  the  survey,  but  like  Cabrillo  he  missed  the  Golden 
Gate.  He  renamed  many  places  named  in  1542  by  Cabrillo,  among 
them  San  Diego,  Santa  Catalina,  Santa  Barbara,  Point  Concepcion,  the 
Carmel  River,  Point  Reges,  and  Monterey  Bay — in  honor  of  the  vice- 
roy, Gasper  de  Zunigay  Acebedo,  who  was  the  Count  of  Monterey. 

After  Vizcaino's  visit  Spain's  efforts  were  largely  spent  in  attempts 
to  colonize  New  Mexico  rather  than  Upper  California,  though  recur- 
rent attempts  were  made  to  keep  alive  the  pearl-fishing  industry  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  The  most  pretentious  of  these 
was  in  1683,  when  Don  Isidro  de  Atondo,  placing  settlers,  soldiers  and 
Jesuits  at  different  points,  planned  a  steady  penetration  of  California. 
But  the  project  lagged,  and  not  until  1697  did  Jesuits  receive  royal 
warrants  to  enter  upon  the  reduction  of  California  at  their  own  expense. 
In  that  year  the  first  permanent  colony  was  planted  in  Baja  California 
— at  Loreto  by  Father  Juan  Maria  Salvatierra.  Father  Kino,  in  1701, 
crossed  the  Colorado  near  Yuma  and  entered  Alta  California,  working 
among  the  Indians  of  "Pimeria  Alta." 

By  1734  Vitus  Bering  was  pushing  his  exploration  of  Alaska,  and 
Spain  began  to  fear  the  colonizing  activities  of  Russia  along  the  Pacific 
coast.  Twenty  years  later  a  new  peril  arose,  when  France  was  swept 
from  sovereignty  in  America  by  Britain.  Spain  could  put  off  no  longer 
the  settlement  of  Alta  California. 


44        CALIFORNIA 

A  high  officer  of  the  Spanish  "Council  of  the  Indies,"  Jose  de 
Galvez,  was  sent  to  Mexico  as  visitador-general  and  arrived  in  Mexico 
City  in  1766.  Early  in  the  following  year  Carlos  III  of  Spain  issued  a 
decree  banishing  all  Jesuits  from  Spanish  territories.  Franciscans  were 
to  take  over  the  mission  at  Loreto,  which  was  to  be  the  base  of  the 
operations,  both  military  and  pastoral. 

Captain  Caspar  de  Portola  was  appointed  Governor  of  Baja  Cali- 
fornia and  ordered  to  proceed  to  Loreto  to  superintend  the  transfer  of 
mission  property.  He  reached  Loreto  with  an  escort  of  fifty  soldiers, 
accompanied  by  fifteen  Franciscan  monks,  and  was  joined  by  Father 
Junipero  Serra,  who  was  made  president  of  the  missions  in  California, 
and  Galvez.  The  king  had  ordered  Galvez  "to  send  an  expedition  by 
sea  to  rediscover  and  people  the  bays  of  San  Diego  and  Monterey." 
Galvez  thought  it  would  be  well  to  send  a  land  expedition  also  and 
Father  Serra  concurred  with  this  plan.  Three  missions  in  Alta  Cali- 
fornia— at  San  Diego,  Monterey  and  at  an  intermediate  point — were 
to  be  established,  also  two  presidios  or  military  posts. 

On  January  9,  1769,  one  of  the  ships,  the  San  Carlos,  left  La  Paz; 
two  days  later  the  San  Antonio  sailed  from  San  Lucas,  and  the  Senor 
San  Jose,  from  Loreto  soon  after.  The  vessels  were  loaded  with  orna- 
ments, sacred  vases,  church  vestments,  household  utensils,  field  imple- 
ments, seeds,  and  other  settlement  needs.  The  San  Antonio,  under 
Captain  Juan  Perez,  reached  its  destination,  San  Diego  Bay,  on  April 
1 1  ;  the  San  Carlos  on  April  29.  Scurvy  had  swept  both  vessels,  but 
its  ravages  on  the  San  Carlos  had  so  prostrated  the  crew  that  not  even 
a  boat  could  be  lowered.  The  San  Antonio's  boats  carried  the  sick 
ashore,  where  they  convalesced  behind  a  temporary  stockade. 

The  march  by  land  was  no  less  long  and  painful.  The  forces 
divided  into  two  columns,  one  under  an  army  captain,  Fernando  de 
Rivera,  and  the  other  under  Portola.  With  the  latter  went  Father 
Serra.  The  columns  took  different  routes,  each  driving  a  herd  of  cattle. 
Rivera's  party  reached  San  Diego  on  May  1 5 ;  Portola's  route  was  more 
difficult  and  his  party  did  not  arrive  until  July  I. 

The  expedition  lost  no  time  in  putting  its  plans  into  action.  Mision 
San  Diego  de  Alcala  was  dedicated  on  July  16,  two  days  after  Portola 
had  led  sixty-four  members  of  the  expedition  away  to  the  north  to  find 
the  Bay  of  Monterey.  Through  country  described  by  Portola  as  "rocks, 
brushwood  and  rugged  mountains"  wound  these  newcomers — Spanish 
officers  in  brilliant  uniforms,  monks  in  gray-brown  cowls,  leather-clad 
soldiers,  Indians  on  foot.  On  October  2  they  reached  Monterey,  failed 
to  recognize  it,  and  pushed  on.  In  Father  Crespi's  words:  "The  expe- 
dition strove  to  reach  the  Punta  de  los  Reyes,  but  some  immense  arms 
of  the  sea  which  penetrate  into  the  mainland  in  an  extraordinary  fashion 
would  have  made  it  necessary  to  take  a  long,  circuitous  detour."  Those 


CALIFORNIAS     LAST     FOUR     CENTURIES        45 

arms  of  the  sea,  first  seen  by  Sergeant  Ortega  and  his  band  of  scouts, 
were  the  reaches  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  Curiously  inept  at  foraging  for 
food,  the  company  would  have  starved  except  for  their  pack  animals. 
They  ate  twelve  in  as  many  days. 

At  last,  on  January  24,  1770,  they  returned  to  San  Diego,  "smelling 
frightfully  of  mules."  At  San  Diego  there  was  so  much  suffering  from 
illness  and  hunger  that  Portola  decided  to  abandon  the  expedition  and 
return  to  Baja  California  if  help  did  not  come  from  Galvez  by  March 
20.  But  at  dusk  on  March  19  they  sighted  a  sail  on  the  horizon — and 
less  than  a  month  later  were  on  their  way  back  to  Monterey. 

This  time  they  recognized  the  Bay,  and  on  June  3,  1770,  dedicated 
the  sites  of  the  mission  and  the  presidio.  Serra  felt  that  they  were 
dedicating  themselves  to  the  task  of  civilizing  the  natives  and  winning 
them  for  God.  To  Portola,  the  planting  of  royal  standards  and  crosses 
in  the  name  of  King  Carlos  III  of  Spain,  signified  the  assertion  of 
Spain's  rights  in  California.  During  the  next  half  century  nineteen 
more  missions  were  established,  and  near  some  of  them  presidios  and 
pueblos.  The  last  mission — San  Francisco  Solano — was  founded  north 
of  San  Francisco  Bay  on  July  4,  1823. 

The  missions  formed  a  chain  of  civilized  outposts  along  the  coast, 
spaced  a  day's  journey  apart.  Each  had  its  herd  of  cattle,  its  fields 
and  vegetable  gardens,  tended  by  the  Indian  neophytes.  The  Indians 
were  taught  by  the  padres  to  build  irrigation  systems  and  they  became 
weavers,  masons,  carpenters,  and  blacksmiths.  Thus  the  missions  could 
be  nearly  self-sustaining,  though  they  did  receive  clothing,  furniture, 
implements,  and  tools  from  New  Spain,  in  exchange  for  their  surplus 
of  meal,  wine,  oil,  hemp,  hides,  and  tallow. 

The  work  of  the  padres,  measured  by  the  number  of  Indians  re- 
claimed from  their  free  life  in  the  wilderness  and  put  to  tilling  fields, 
was  for  a  time  successful.  But  even  in  1786 — at  a  time  when  the 
future  of  the  missions  was  most  promising — a  discerning  French  sci- 
entist, Jean  Frangois  Galaup  de  la  Perouse,  visited  California  and  wrote 
that  he  was  not  impressed  with  what  the  padres  were  accomplishing. 
He  doubted  whether  the  mission  system  would  ever  develop  self- 
reliance  in  the  aborigines. 

The  presidios,  with  their  small  military  staffs,  were  established  to 
protect  the  missions  from  hostile  natives  and  possible  invaders.  Their 
military  equipment  was  meager  and  antiquated,  but  fortunately  the  sol- 
diers had  little  use  for  it.  They  occupied  themselves  with  explorations, 
bear  hunts,  capture  of  run-away  neophytes,  carrying  of  the  mails,  and 
providing  their  own  food  supply.  Like  the  padres,  the  soldiers  were 
supposed  to  receive  regular  wages  from  New  Spain,  but  more  often 
than  not  the  money  failed  to  come,  and  they  were  forced  to  become 
more  self-reliant  than  most  subjects  of  the  paternal  Spanish  Government. 


46        CALIFORNIA 

Gradually  small  towns  began  to  grow.  Some  of  them,  like  San 
Diego,  San  Francisco,  Santa  Barbara,  and  Monterey,  spread  around 
the  edges  of  the  presidios,  and  were  at  first  under  military  rule.  Others 
sprang  up  near  the  missions;  among  these  were  Sonoma,  San  Juan 
Bautista,  San  Juan  Capistrano,  and  San  Luis  Obispo.  Los  Angeles  and 
San  Jose  began  as  independent  towns,  with  civic  governments,  and  San 
Francisco,  although  an  adjunct  to  the  Presidio,  was  definitely  planned 
by  the  Spanish  authorities  as  a  civic  enterprise.  Its  first  settlers  were 
240  immigrants  brought  from  Sonoma,  and  Tubac,  Mexico,  by  Juan 
Bautista  de  Anza.  Leaving  Tubac  in  October  1775,  he  led  them  over 
the  present  Arizona  desert  and  the  snows  of  the  high  Sierra,  and  arrived 
with  his  company,  almost  intact ;  only  one  person,  a  woman,  died  on  the 
way,  and  eight  children  were  born.  (The  Spanish  Government  had 
supplied  every  anticipated  need.)  On  March  28,  1776,  Anza  located 
a  presidio  along  the  Golden  Gate.  The  settlers,  who  had  stopped  in 
Monterey,  arrived  on  June  27. 

Although  Portola  had  hoped  to  establish  the  authority  of  Spain  in 
California,  his  successors  could  not  even  repel  the  small  company  of 
Russian  fur  traders  who  landed  in  1812  and  boldly  built  a  stockade, 
Fort  Ross,  in  the  Spanish  province.  The  Spaniards  made  polite  pro- 
tests but  the  intruders  stayed  as  long  as  was  convenient  to  them. 
Because  of  their  military  weakness,  the  presidio  commanders  were  also 
forced  to  receive  respectfully  the  visits  of  British,  French,  South  Amer- 
ican, and  Yanqui  ships — all  of  which  were  technically  forbidden  to  enter 
the  California  harbors.  The  captains  of  these  vessels  carried  home 
eloquent  reports  of  life  in  California  .  .  .  and  it  was  inevitable  that 
one  or  another  covetous  nation  would  snap  the  weakening  Spanish  rule. 

After  Mexico  won  its  independence  from  Spain  in  1821  and  Cali- 
fornia settlers  had  their  first  taste  of  self-government,  their  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  patriarchal  mission  authority  crystallized.  The  Indians 
were  virtual  slaves — who  could  not  be  sold,  but  could  be  pursued  if 
they  left  the  mission  grounds,  brought  back,  whipped,  and  locked  up, 
and  when  penitent  allowed  to  go  to  work  again.  Though  unhappy 
enough  to  plan  two  or  three  revolts — the  worst  occurring  in  1824 — 
the  Indians  were  not  very  articulate  about  their  plight,  but  the  "y°ung 
Californians" — a  party  of  progressive  Castilians — took  up  the  Indians' 
cause.  Their  efforts,  added  to  the  republican  sentiment  in  Mexico, 
resulted  in  a  decree  issued  by  the  Mexican  Congress  in  1833  removing 
the  missions  from  Franciscan  management.  California's  Mexican  Gov- 
ernor, Jose  Figueroa,  had  made  a  careful  plan  for  the  secularization 
of  the  missions,  but  he  died  before  it  could  be  carried  out  and  the  im- 
patient Calif ornios  made  the  change  unwisely  and  with  too  much  haste. 

One-half  of  the  mission  land  and  livestock  was  to  have  been  given 
to  the  Indian  neophytes  who  had  developed  it  and  to  whom  it  had  be- 


CALIFORNIA     S     LAST     FOUR     CENTURIES        47 

longed  before  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards.  Since  they  had  never  been 
taught  self-discipline,  they  were  to  be  forbidden  to  sell  or  mortgage 
their  holdings.  But  when  the  missions  were  finally  dismembered  colon- 
ists helped  themselves  to  mission  lands  and  the  cattle.  The  Indians 
received  little  cash  for  what  they  were  able  to  sell,  and  that  little  they 
quickly  squandered. 

The  Good  Life:  A  few  years  after  Portola's  earnest  little  company 
struggled  up  from  Baja  California,  there  rode  into  the  new  province  a 
new  kind  of  Spanish  immigrants.  Travelers  returning  to  New  Spain 
had  told  how  the  mission  herds  were  thriving  on  the  virgin  pastures 
of  Alta  California.  Castilian  colonists,  attempting  to  raise  their  cattle 
on  the  stonier  soil  of  Mexican  ranches,  were  tempted  to  move  on  up  the 
coast.  The  viceroy  encouraged  them  with  generous  land  grants. 
Although  mission  authorities  opposed  such  colonizing  by  individuals,  in 
1786  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pages,  Governor  of  Alta  California,  was 
empowered  to  make  private  grants  and  to  outfit  each  ranchero  with  a 
storehouse  and  at  least  2,000  head  of  cattle.  By  1824  the  colonist  was 
also  guaranteed  security  of  person  and  property  and  freedom  from  taxes 
for  five  years. 

The  ranch  houses,  built  of  sun-dried  adobe  brick  were  plain  but 
comfortable.  Fields,  worked  by  Indian  labor,  surrounded  the  house 
and  beyond  these  were  the  vast  pasture  lands  for  the  family's  herds. 
The  rancheros  and  their  wives  worked  from  dawn  to  sunset  as  indus- 
triously as  the  people  who  labored  for  them.  The  individual  ranches 
had  to  be  self-sustaining,  for  the  arrival  of  the  supply  ship  was  uncer- 
tain. All  visitors  praised  their  hospitality.  "If  I  must  be  cast  in  sick- 
ness or  destitution  on  the  care  of  the  stranger,"  wrote  Walter  Colton, 
"let  it  be  in  California;  but  let  it  be  before  American  avarice  has 
hardened  the  heart  and  made  a  God  of  gold." 

It  was  the  younger  sons  of  these  families  who  led  the  progressive 
factions  when  the  Californios  were  forced  into  politics.  As  long  as 
Spain's  American  colonies  remained  loyal,  even  California,  the  remotest 
of  them,  looked  to  Madrid  for  guidance  and  assistance.  The  Californios 
took  no  part  in  the  struggle  to  sever  Spanish  dominance  in  the  New 
World  but,  when  they  learned  early  in  1822  that  an  independent  gov- 
ernment had  been  set  up  in  Mexico  City,  they  suddenly  became  con- 
scious of  their  republican  rights.  On  April  9,  1822,  Governor  Pablo 
Vicente  de  Sola  and  ten  delegates — eight  presidio  comandantes  and 
military  officers  and  two  priests — met  at  Monterey,  recognized  Cali- 
fornia "from  this  time  ...  as  a  dependent  alone  of  ...  the  Empire 
of  Mexico  and  independent  of  the  dominion  of  Spain."  On  November 
9,  1822,  California  set  up  her  own  legislative  body,  the  Diputadon, 
composed  of  six  vocales,  or  representatives,  one  from  each  presidio  and 
pueblo  district.  During  this  first  brief  period  of  independence,  the 


48       CALIFORNIA 

province  acted  decisively.  It  declared  the  Indians  free  citizens,  opened 
the  ports  to  trade,  levied  import  and  export  duties,  and  taxes  on  crops 
and  cattle,  and  established  a  military  force  and  militia,  and  a  judiciary. 

California  in  March  1825  formally  became  a  Territory  of  the  Re- 
public of  Mexico.  Under  the  Republic,  California  government  con- 
sisted of :  a  governor,  appointed  by  the  national  government ;  a  secretary ; 
a  territorial  legislature ;  a  superior  court ;  a  prefect  and  sub-prefect 
(sheriffs);  district  judges;  alcaldes  (minor  judges);  justices  of  the 
peace;  and  ayuntamientos,  or  town  councils.  The  Territory  of  Cali- 
fornia could  send  one  diputado  to  represent  it  in  the  Mexican  Congress 
but  had  no  vote. 

In  November  1825  Luis  Antonio  Arguello's  provisional  governor- 
ship (1822-25)  was  ended  by  the  arrival  of  a  Mexican  governor,  Jose 
Maria  de  Echeandia.  Echeandia's  troubles  began  at  once.  The  soldiers 
struck  and  marched  against  some  of  his  Mexican  troops,  when  he  was 
not  immediately  able  to  pay  their  wages.  But  as  generally  happened 
in  the  local  rebellions  of  this  period,  no  blood  was  spilled.  Although 
Echeandia  rescinded  some  of  the  measures  put  into  effect  during  Ar- 
guello's  term,  on  the  whole  he  was  liberal  and  just.  But  in  March 
1830  he  was  replaced  by  a  dictatorial  governor,  Manuel  Victoria,  who 
did  not,  however,  take  office  until  February  1831.  Victoria  opposed 
secularization  of  the  missions,  ordered  the  death  penalty  for  small  mis- 
demeanors, and  refused  to  convoke  the  Diputadon  or  to  give  the  Cali- 
fornios  more  voice  in  their  affairs,  although  urged  to  do  so  by  prominent 
diputados.  The  Calif  or  nios,  led  by  Pio  Pico,  Juan  Bandini,  and  Jose 
Carrillo,  seized  the  presidio  at  San  Diego  and  advanced  towards  Los 
Angeles.  On  December  5,  1831,  they  clashed  with  Government  troops 
near  Cahuenga  Pass.  The  fight  was  not  severe,  for  there  was  only  one 
fatality,  but  Victoria  was  convinced  that  he  probably  could  never  sub- 
due the  independent  spirit  of  these  provincials,  and  he  returned  to 
Mexico. 

Into  the  rancheros'  lives  of  gentlemanly  leisure  had  come  a  new  sense 
of  political  responsibility.  Although  they  had  no  heritage  of  democratic 
ideals,  as  a  class  the  caballeros  acquired  quite  suddenly  a  natural  desire 
to  take  their  own  government  into  their  own  hands.  This  they  did  in 
1836,  revolting  against  Mexico  to  proclaim  the  "Free  and  Sovereign 
State  of  Alta  California."  But  the  Republic  of  Mexico  made  con- 
cessions which  brought  California  back  into  the  Union. 

During  this  transitional  period,  1830  to  1846,  a  number  of  "battles" 
were  fought  which  usually  settled  the  current  controversy.  But  the 
Calif ornios  had  such  an  aversion  to  shedding  blood  that  the  opposing 
forces  generally  were  careful  not  to  shoot  if  the  enemy  was  within 
range  of  their  guns.  Most  of  the  decisions  were  won  by  oratory  and 
pronunciamentos.  Some  of  the  California*'  controversies  were  with  the 


LAST    FOUR   CENTURIES      49 

Mexicans,  some  with  each  other.  When  they  had  an  unpopular  Mexi- 
can governor  to  oust,  they  united  fervently,  but  between  times  they 
indulged  in  just  as  violent  local  disputes.  Jealous  from  the  beginning 
were  Los  Angeles  and  Monterey,  each  wanting  to  be  the  capital.  The 
balance  of  power  between  customhouse  and  legislature  was  never  settled. 
One  of  the  most  bitter  of  the  many  individual  rivalries  involved  two 
of  California's  respected  citizens — Juan  Bautista  Alvarado,  a  spell- 
binding young  leader  who  became  civil  governor  at  27,  and  his  uncle, 
Mariano  Guadalupe  Vallejo,  Alvarado's  co-ruler  as  military  chief. 
Their  disagreement  brought  down  upon  them  Mexican  authority,  in 
the  person  of  General  Manuel  Micheltorena  who  arrived  with  an  army 
of  convict  soldiers  in  August  1842.  Micheltorena,  the  last  of  the  Mexi- 
can governors,  stayed  in  the  province  for  three  years.  He  was  driven 
out  by  the  Calif ornios  under  Castro  and  Alvarado  in  March  1845,  15 
months  before  the  Americans  took  command  at  Monterey. 

Yankee  Bargain :  The  tide  of  American  pioneer  families  that  flooded 
California  in  the  i84o's  was  preceded  a  generation  earlier  by  a  smaller 
migration  of  skippers,  traders,  and  trappers  who  came  on  brief  com- 
mercial missions.  True  to  their  reputation  for  driving  a  good  bargain, 
they  secured  wives,  estates,  and  finally  control  of  the  province  and  its 
gracious  people.  The  visitors  were  welcomed  by  the  Calif  ornios,  but  not 
by  their  rulers  in  Mexico  City  or  Madrid.  Even  before  1800  the 
Spanish  Court  had  instructed  the  colonists  that  no  foreigners  were  to 
land  at  California's  ports  or  cross  its  borders. 

Since  the  Court  had  neglected,  however,  to  send  regular  supply 
ships  to  the  colonists,  the  Californios  seldom  turned  away  the  Yanqui 
skippers  when  they  arrived  with  shiploads  of  such  essentials  as  skillets, 
needles,  cotton  cloth,  and  plows.  The  captain  of  an  American  vessel 
wrote  in  1817:  "We  served  to  clothe  the  naked  soldiers  of  the  king, 
when  for  lack  of  raiment  they  could  not  attend  mass,  and  when  the 
most  reverend  fathers  had  neither  vestments  nor  vessels  fit  for  the 
church,  nor  implements  wherewith  to  till  the  soil."  The  first  United 
States  ship,  the  Otter  of  Boston,  docked  at  Monterey  in  1796.  In 
1799  the  Eliza  stopped  at  San  Francisco,  and  in  1800  the  Betsy  at  San 
Diego.  In  addition  to  the  regular  traders,  storm-battered  whalers 
bound  home  from  the  North  Pacific  stopped  at  California  harbors  for 
repairs  and  supplies,  paying  for  them  with  household  goods  brought 
from  New  England.  Gradually,  in  spite  of  Spain's  embargo,  Cali- 
fornia hides  and  tallow  began  to  find  their  way  to  Atlantic  coast 
markets. 

While  Yankee  skippers  were  breaking  into  the  California  ports, 
Yankee  trappers  climbed  the  barrier  of  the  Sierra  and  descended  the 
canyons  into  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  Valleys.  They  explored 
many  parts  of  California  the  Spaniards  had  never  reached  and  took 


5O        CALIFORNIA 

away  a  fortune  in  furs.  On  the  whole,  since  they  offered  the  Spaniards 
little  and  threatened  much,  they  were  not  received  as  well  as  were  the 
sea-faring  traders.  But  one  trapper,  James  Ohio  Pattie,  assured  him- 
self a  welcome  by  bringing  smallpox  vaccine. 

Before  foreigners  settled  among  the  Calif  or nios  there  had  been  little 
commercial  enterprise  in  the  province,  but  the  newcomers  immediately 
started  to  organize  its  business  life.  One  ambitious  firm,  McCullough 
&  Hartnell — called  "Macala  and  Arnell"  by  the  soft-spoken  Spaniards 
—contracted  to  dispose  of  the  entire  mission  output  of  hides  for  a  yearly 
shipload  of  supplies.  While  the  foreigners  aided  California  financially 
in  this  period,  they  held  it  back  politically;  in  most  cases  they  supported 
the  despotic  Mexican  governors  against  the  rebellious  California*  be- 
cause they  feared  that  revolution  would  endanger  their  commercial 
interests. 

The  influence  of  the  Americans  after  the  arrival  of  the  first  United 
States  immigrant  train,  the  Bidwell-Bartleson  company,  in  1841  rose 
steadily.  They  had  not  yet  declared  any  intention  of  raising  the  United 
States  flag  over  the  presidios,  pueblos,  and  ranches,  but  that  purpose 
was  stirring  in  their  minds,  as  the  Calif ornios  must  have  realized  after 
October  19,  1842.  On  that  day  two  American  vessels  sailed  into 
Monterey  Bay  and  their  commander,  Commodore  Thomas  Ap  Catesby 
Jones,  ordered  the  port  to  surrender  to  the  United  States.  Stationed 
at  Peru,  the  Commodore  had  heard  a  rumor  that  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  were  at  war  and  had  hurried  north  to  annex  California. 
When  he  learned  that  no  war  had  been  declared,  he  retired  from 
Monterey  on  October  20  with  elaborate  apologies  .  .  .  leaving  the 
Calif  ornios  something  to  think  about. 

Quieter  but  more  significant  was  the  arrival  of  Captain  John  C. 
Fremont,  the  U.  S.  topographical  engineer  later  honored  as  "The 
Pathfinder,"  who  came  to  California  in  1844  on  a  scientific  expedition. 
The  next  year  he  came  again,  this  time  visiting  Monterey  for  several 
weeks  as  the  guest  of  the  United  States  Consul,  Thomas  O.  Larkin. 
Jose  Castro,  the  prefect,  met  Fremont  and  entertained  him — but  in 
January  1846  Castro  learned  that  Fremont,  en  route  to  Monterey,  had 
left  two  detachments  of  soldiers  behind  him  in  the  back  country. 
Upon  Fremont's  assurance  that  his  party  were  interested  only  in 
scientific  data,  Castro  gave  them  permission  to  spend  the  winter  in 
California,  with  the  express  provision  that  they  remain  away  from  the 
coast  settlements.  Fremont  left  Monterey  to  rejoin  his  soldiers.  Six 
weeks  later  the  prefect  learned  that  Fremont's  band  were  camped  at  his 
back  door,  in  the  Salinas  Valley,  and  demanded  that  they  leave  Cali- 
fornia at  once.  Then  Fremont,  acting  perhaps  under  secret  orders  from 
Washington  (the  whole  question  of  Fremont's  official  instructions  re- 
mains a  controversy),  fortified  a  little  hill,  Gabilan  (Hawk's  Peak), 


LAST     FOUR     CENTURIES        51 

and  raised  the  American  flag.  His  force  was  so  small  that  it  seems 
fantastic  to  regard  this  gesture  as  the  first  maneuver  in  the  annexation 
of  a  great  territory — but  so  it  was.  It  came  to  nothing.  When  Gen- 
eral Jose  Castro  made  some  not  very  effective  military  advances,  Fre- 
mont withdrew  up  the  Sacramento  Valley,  and  after  spending  a  week 
at  the  fort  of  Johann  August  Sutter,  the  Swiss  immigrant  who  wel- 
comed overland  caravans  at  his  colony  of  New  Helvetia  on  the  Sacra- 
mento River,  retreated  northward  toward  Oregon. 

The  retreat  was  made  without  haste,  however.  On  the  shores  of 
Klamath  Lake,  Fremont  was  overtaken  by  two  men  from  Sutter's  Fort 
with  the  message  that  Lieut.  A.  N.  Gillespie  was  following  his  trail 
with  dispatches  for  him  from  the  United  States  Government.  Fremont 
and  his  company  broke  camp  and  retraced  their  steps.  When  he  had 
read  Gillespie's  dispatches,  he  knew,  as  he  wrote  later,  "that  at  last 
the  time  had  come  when  England  must  not  get  a  foothold;  that  we 
must  be  first.  I  was  to  act,  discreetly  but  positively."  Soon  after- 
wards all  the  American  ranchers  north  of  San  Francisco  Bay  were 
informed  by  an  anonymous  paper  that  a  band  of  Californians  were 
on  their  way  north  to  destroy  the  crops,  cattle,  and  houses  of  the 
Americans.  What  followed  remains  largely  conjecture,  since  Fremont 
withheld  most  of  the  story.  Probably  the  Americans,  when  they  re- 
ported to  Fremont  for  aid,  were  advised  to  provoke  the  Californians 
into  an  act  of  overt  hostility.  At  any  rate,  they  struck  first  when  a 
small  band  headed  by  Ezekiel  Merritt  captured  250  horses  which  a 
group  of  vaqueros  were  driving  southward  to  Castro's  camp  in  the 
Santa  Clara  Valley. 

As  dawn  was  breaking  on  June  14,  1846,  in  the  pueblo  of  Sonoma, 
the  northern  frontier,  a  little  band  of  Yankees  who  had  surrounded 
the  house  of  the  comandante  of  the  presidio,  General  Mariano  G. 
Vallejo,  seized  him  and  the  other  officers.  The  presidio,  ungarrisoned, 
was  taken  without  a  shot.  The  rebels,  led  by  farmer  William  B.  Ide, 
hauled  down  the  Mexican  flag  and  raised  a  new  one  of  their  own, 
fashioned  of  homespun  with  a  strip  of  red  flannel  and  decorated  in 
brown  paint  with  a  star,  the  figure  of  a  grizzly  bear,  and  the  words 
"California  Republic."  Although  war  had  begun  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  on  May  13,  neither  the  rebels  nor  Fremont  knew 
it.  Despite  the  provocation  of  the  Americans,  the  California*  remained 
strangely  reluctant  to  make  reprisals,  even  when  the  force  at  Sonoma 
grew  to  130  and  Fremont  marched  to  join  them  at  the  head  of  72 
mounted  riflemen. 

Although  the  intentions  of  the  Americans  must  have  been  thoroughly 
revealed  to  the  Calif ornios,  by  July  I,  their  two  ranking  officials,  Gov- 
ernor Pio  Pico  in  Los  Angeles  and  General  Jose  Castro  in  Monterey, 
were  so  absorbed  in  a  private  dispute  that  they  made  no  preparations 


52        CALIFORNIA 

to  defend  the  province.  While  they  were  arguing  with  each  other  in 
Los  Angeles,  Commodore  John  D.  Sloat  sailed  into  Monterey  Bay 
and  on  July  7,  raised  the  American  flag  on  the  custom-house,  and 
claimed  California  for  the  United  States.  Two  days  later  the  flag  was 
flying^  over  San  Francisco  and  Sonoma. 

In  alarm,  Castro  and  Pico  combined  at  last  to  resist  the  invasion. 
Mustering  a  hundred  men,  they  were  ready  when  the  American  forces 
— 350  strong — landed  in  San  Pedro  under  Commodore  Robert  F. 
Stockton,  who  had  arrived  in  Monterey  on  July  15  to  succeed  Com- 
modore Sloat.  But  before  a  shot  was  fired,  both  Castro  and  Pico  had 
fled  to  Mexico,  and  on  August  13  Stockton  entered  Los  Angeles.  Leav- 
ing Capt.  Archibald  Gillespie  in  charge,  he  returned  northward.  On 
September  23  the  California*  attacked  the  small  garrison.  John  Brown 
(California's  Paul  Revere)  carried  an  appeal  for  help  to  San  Francisco 
on  horseback,  covering  more  than  500  miles  in  less  than  five  days.  But, 
by  the  time  Captain  Mervine  had  reached  Los  Angeles  with  reinforce- 
ments on  the  Savannah,  Los  Angeles  had  been  recaptured.  On  October 
6  the  California*  met  and  defeated  Mervine  and  his  sailors  in  a  battle 
at  the  Domingues  Rancho  and  drove  them  back  to  their  ship  in  San 
Pedro  Bay.  At  Santa  Barbara  and  at  San  Diego  the  American  flags 
so  recently  raised  were  hauled  down  again. 

Meanwhile  the  California*,  skirmishing  with  the  Americans  led  by 
Fremont  and  Thomas  O.  Larkin  in  the  Salinas  Valley,  seemed  to  be 
getting  the  better  of  it,  until  late  in  the  fall  assistance  arrived  for  the 
Americans.  An  expeditionary  force  sent  overland  from  Santa  Fe  by 
the  War  Department,  under  command  of  Colonel  Stephen  W.  Kearny, 
arrived  on  December  5  and  engaged  with  General  Pico's  forces  the  day 
following  in  an  indecisive  skirmish.  Kearny's  men,  when  combined 
with  Stockton's  and  the  resident  Americans,  now  made  an  army  of 
600,  equal  to  the  California*'  forces.  The  two  "armies"  met  in  the 
battle  of  San  Gabriel  and  of  La  Mesa  on  January  8  and  9,  1847.  So 
decisive  were  the  American  victories,  that  the  California*  surrendered. 
On  January  10  General  Kearny  and  Commander  Stockton  once  more 
raised  the  American  flag  over  Los  Angeles,  and  on  the  I3th  hostilities 
finally  ended  with  the  signing  of  articles  of  capitulation  by  General 
Andres  Pico  and  Fremont  at  a  ranch  house  near  Cahuenga  Pass.  The 
incident  was  like  the  patching  up  of  a  quarrel  by  old  friends,  for  the 
Americans  required  of  the  Californios  only  that  they  give  up  their 
artillery  and  pledge  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  On  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1848,  when  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  was  signed, 
California  was  formally  relinquished  by  Mexico. 

California's  adopted  sons  had  one  more  job  to  do.  Although  the 
United  States  now  owned  California,  Congress  made  no  satisfactory 
provision  for  its  civil  government  because  the  Congressional  slavery  and 


CALIFORNIA     S     LAST     FOUR     CENTURIES        53 

anti-slavery  factions  could  not  come  to  an  agreement  on  these  questions. 
After  a  confused  period  in  which  military  law,  Spanish  law,  and 
American  law  were  simultaneously  administered  in  California,  Briga- 
dier-General Bennet  Riley,  U.S.A.,  military  Governor,  took  official 
action  on  June  3,  1849,  when  he  issued  a  proclamation  "recommending 
the  formation  of  a  State  constitution,  or  a  plan  for  a  Territorial  gov- 
ernment." When  the  convention  met  in  Colton  Hall,  Monterey,  on 
September  I,  48  delegates  were  admitted  to  seats.  On  October  10 
they  adopted  a  constitution,  which  was  ratified  by  people  on  November 
13,  1849.  It  remained  in  force  until  1879. 

On  the  day  of  ratification  (as  provided  by  the  constitution)  the 
people  elected  a  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  16  State  senators, 
and  36  assemblymen.  On  December  15,  1849,  the  State  legislature 
convened  and  on  the  2Oth  inaugurated  Peter  H.  Burnett  as  Governor, 
and  John  McDougal  as  Lieutenant  Governor.  On  the  same  day  the 
legislature  elected  two  United  States  Senators,  John  C.  Fremont  and 
William  M.  Gwin,  and  on  December  22  most  of  the  State  officials 
and  the  supreme  court  judges. 

On  December  20,  1849,  the  military  Governor,  General  Riley, 
issued  a  remarkable  proclamation:  "A  new  executive  having  been 
elected  and  installed  into  office  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  State,  the  undersigned  hereby  resigns  his  powers 
as  Governor  of  California."  The  proclamation  constituted  a  recog- 
nition by  the  highest  United  States  agent  in  California  that  California 
had  declared  itself  to  be  a  State,  although  legally,  of  course,  it  had  no 
right  to  do  so  without  Federal  permission.  Its  action  precipitated  an 
eight  months'  argument  in  Congress,  prolonged  by  pro-slavery  Con- 
gressmen who  fought  to  prevent  the  admission  of  a  new  non-slavery 
State.  Finally  on  September  9,  1850,  California  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  as  a  free  State. 

Flood  Tide:  Hundreds  of  reports  describing  California  as  "a  per- 
fect paradise,  a  perpetual  spring"  had  started  eastern  families  building 
prairie  schooners  several  years  before  California  became  American  terri- 
tory. The  first  pioneer  train,  organized  largely  by  John  Bidwell,  left 
Independence,  Missouri,  May  19,  1841  and  reached  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  on  November  4.  The  first  to  travel  in  wagons,  the  Chiles- 
Walker  Party,  came  in  1843.  By  1846  thousands,  including  the  tragic 
Donner  party,  almost  half  of  whom  died  of  exposure  and  starvation 
en  route,  were  on  the  westward  trails.  It  was  in  that  year  that  immi- 
grants also  started  to  come  around  the  Horn,  one  group  of  2OO 
Mormons  arriving  at  San  Francisco  on  the  ship  Brooklyn  on  July  31. 

A  member  of  one  of  the  overland  trains  in  1845  was  a  young  New 
Jersey  wagon  builder,  James  Wilson  Marshall,  who  went  to  work  for 
Sutter,  building  a  saw  mill  on  the  south  fork  of  the  American  River 


54        CALIFORNIA 

near  the  site  of  Coloma.  While  inspecting  the  tail  race  there,  one 
morning  late  in  January  1848,  Marshall  picked  out  of  the  water  a  piece 
of  shining  metal  half  the  size  of  a  pea.  At  first  he  thought  it  was  iron 
pyrites,  but  when  he  pounded  it  between  stones  and  found  it  soft,  he 
knew  that  what  he  held  in  his  hand  was  gold.  Alone  in  the  upland 
forest  Marshall  "sat  down  and  began  to  think  right  hard,"  as  he  wrote 
in  his  diary.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  guessed  that  his  discovery 
would  start  the  greatest  mass  movement  of  people  since  the  Crusades. 

Less  than  six  months  later  Walter  Colton,  alcalde  of  Monterey, 
wrote:  "The  blacksmith  dropped  his  hammer,  the  carpenter  his  plane, 
the  mason  his  trowel,  the  farmer  his  sickle,  the  baker  his  loaf,  and 
the  tapster  his  bottle.  All  were  off  for  the  mines,  some  on  horses, 
some  on  carts,  and  some  on  crutches,  and  one  went  in  a  litter."  By 
June  1848  scarcely  a  male  remained  in  Monterey,  San  Francisco,  San 
Jose,  or  Santa  Cruz.  Soldiers  deserted,  and  so  did  the  detachments 
sent  to  capture  them.  Hundreds  of  ships  lay  at  anchor  in  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay,  their  crews  gone  to  the  foothills.  Fields  of  wheat  went 
unharvested,  homes  and  shops  were  abandoned,  newspapers  suspended 
publication,  and  city  officials  closed  their  desks. 

The  gold  fever  spread  almost  as  quickly  throughout  the  Nation 
and  the  world.  At  one  time  westbound  wagon  trains  passed  between 
Missouri  and  Fort  Laramie  in  an  unbroken  stream  for  two  months. 
By  March  1849,  17,000  had  embarked  for  California  from  eastern 
ports.  Within  its  first  10  years  as  one  of  the  United  States,  California 
became  generously  populated — not  only  with  Americans,  but  with  the 
adventurous  of  all  nations.  Between  1847  and  1850  the  population 
of  California  increased  from  15,000  to  92,497  and  a  decade  later  the 
Federal  Census  enumerated  379,994  persons  in  the  State.  Substantial 
pioneer  families  were  among  the  Argonauts  who  danced  and  played 
games  on  the  crowded  little  ships,  while  gales,  scurvy,  and  starvation 
threatened  them.  Others  trudged  courageously  over  trails  so  bordered 
with  the  wreckage  of  previous  parties  that  one  immigrant,  James  Abbey, 
counted  in  15  miles  362  abandoned  wagons  and  the  bleaching  bones 
of  350  horses,  280  oxen,  and  120  mules. 

Oh!  Californy! 

That's  the  land  for  me! 

I'm  bound  for  Sacramento 

With  the  washbowl  on  my  knee. 

In  the  boisterous  shanty-towns  of  gold  rush  days — Git-up-and-git, 
Bogus  Thunder,  Angel's  Camp,  You  Bet,  Shinbone  Creek,  Red  Dog, 
Lazy  Man's  Canyon — the  average  return  was  up  to  $50  a  day,  though 
many  made  much  more.  From  one  panful  of  dirt  $1,500  was  washed, 
and  a  trench  100  feet  long  yielded  its  two  owners  $17,000  in  7  days. 


CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR    CENTURIES      55 

Sometimes  gold  was  picked  out  of  the  rock  "as  fast  as  one  can  pick 
kernels  out  of  a  lot  of  well-cracked  shell  barks."  Fully  as  much  was 
made  by  those  who  served  the  miners.  Many  a  tent-store  took  in 
$1,000  a  day.  Owners  of  river  steamers  and  stage  coaches,  conveyors 
of  water,  innkeepers,  entertainers  gathered  in  copious  wealth.  They 
supplied  the  elementary  needs;  amenities  were  nonexistent.  One  of 
the  "best  hotels,"  described  by  Hinton  R.  Helper,  was  a  canvas  struc- 
ture, floored  with  dirt.  It  consisted  of  an  undivided  room  were  guests 
ate,  drank,  and  slept  in  tiered  bunks.  "When  we  creep  into  one  of 
these  nests  it  is  optional  with  us  whether  we  unboot  or  uncoat  our- 
selves; but  it  would  be  looked  upon  as  an  act  of  ill-breeding  to  go  to 
bed  with  one's  hat  on." 

The  colorful  ruffians  of  the  times  have  been  so  immortalized  as 
to  create  the  impression  that  the  camps  were  lawless.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  mining  camps,  in  distinction  to  the  cities,  stand  as  one  of  the 
world's  best  examples  of  men's  spontaneous  ability  to  govern  them- 
selves. With  no  formal  legal  setup,  the  miners,  extremely  diverse  in 
background  and  nationality,  established  a  society  with  a  high  degree 
of  justice  and  democracy — particularly  in  the  early  years.  Later,  when 
"loose  fish"  and  "bad  whites"  came  to  California  in  increasing  num- 
bers, crime  became  more  difficult  to  control,  both  in  the  camps  and  in 
the  feeder-town,  San  Francisco. 

Gold  seekers,  disembarked  after  a  nine-month  trip  around  the  Horn 
or  down  from  the  camps  with  bags  of  gold,  wanted  the  lustiest  enter- 
tainment imagination  could  provide.  They  got  it.  Visitors  gambled 
around  the  roulette  tables — residents  gambled  in  real  estate,  nails,  cork, 
calico,  rice,  whatever  commodities  could  be  cornered — all  gambled  with 
their  lives,  for  it  is  said  that  during  the  years  from  1849  to  1856  more 
than  a  thousand  murders  were  committed  in  San  Francisco,  with  but 
a  single  execution.  Of  city  government  there  was  practically  none. 
An  alarmed  official  addressed  his  fellow  citizens  in  1849:  "We  are 
without  a  dollar  in  the  public  treasury.  .  .  .  You  have  neither  an  office 
for  your  magistrate,  nor  any  other  public  edifice.  You  are  without  a 
single  police  officer  or  watchman,  and  have  not  the  means  of  confining 
a  prisoner  for  an  hour."  To  remedy  the  situation  the  citizens  formed 
the  vigilance  committees  of  1851  and  1856.  The  former  drove  out 
the  "Hounds,"  a  gang  that  attacked  various  racial  minorities,  and  the 
latter  dispersed  more  "reputable"  crooks  in  league  with  bankers  and 
politicians.  Both  groups  sprang  from  a  widespread  desire  for  demo- 
cratic control,  representing  the  community  as  a  whole.  Less  clearly 
characterized  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  its  actions  was  the  similar 
sort  of  spontaneous  government  that  arose  in  Los  Angeles,  where  volun- 
tary citizens'  committees  broke  up  the  bandit  organizations  of  Salomon 
Pico,  Juan  Flores,  and  Pancho  Daniel. 


56        CALIFORNIA 

In  1854  the  Great  Bonanza  suddenly  slackened.  Fortunes  large 
and  small  collapsed.  Disillusioned  miners  drifted  up  and  down  the 
State.  Added  to  their  numbers  were  the  wagon  trains  and  boatloads 
of  immigrants  arriving,  now,  to  homestead  on  Uncle  Sam's  new  fertile 
acres.  They  came  not  realizing  that  most  of  this  vast  land  had  been 
apportioned  long  before  to  the  Calif  or  nios,  who  had  been  guaranteed 
their  property  rights  at  the  end  of  the  Mexican  war.  The  Americans 
simply  moved  onto  the  ranches  and  dared  the  owners  to  put  them  off. 
What  to  do  with  these  squatters  became  the  question  of  the  hour. 
Unfortunately  the  boundaries  of  the  ranches  had  never  been  fixed 
exactly.  "Professional  squatters"  were  hired  by  land-grabbing  corpora- 
tions. Unscrupulous  legislators  defended  the  squatters  in  order  to  court 
their  votes.  When  at  last  riots  and  bloodshed  forced  the  Federal 
Government  to  take  action,  a  survey  of  the  State  was  ordered  and  a 
land  commission  formed  to  adjust  disputes.  In  the  end  many  of  the 
Spanish  families  were  reduced  to  comparative  poverty.  They  were  re- 
markably patient.  General  Vallejo,  one  of  them,  wrote,  "The  inhabi- 
tants of  California  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  change  of  govern- 
ment, for  if  the  rich  have  lost  thousands  of  horses  and  cattle,  the  poor 
have  been  bettered  in  condition." 

The  admission  of  California  into  the  Union  had  not  satisfied  all 
Californians.  In  1850  Walter  Colton  had  predicted  that  an  inde- 
pendent nation  would  spring  up  on  the  Pacific  unless  Congress  built 
a  railroad  to  the  Coast,  for  without  it,  California  would  easily  have 
become  self-sufficient.  The  cry  for  independence  was  soon  taken  up 
by  southern  sympathizers,  the  followers  of  pro-slavery  Senator  William 
S.  Gwin,  who  overran  southern  California,  especially  San  Bernardino 
County.  The  Democratic  Party,  which  controlled  the  State  legislature 
in  every  session  but  one  from  1851  to  1860,  was  torn  by  the  struggle 
between  the  Gwin  faction  and  the  anti-slavery  faction  headed  by  David 
C.  Broderick,  who  was  elected  to  the  Senate  in  1857.  When  Brod- 
erick  was  slain  in  a  duel  by  Gwin's  henchman,  David  S.  Terry,  in 
September  1859,  his  successor  in  the  Senate,  Milton  S.  Latham,  joined 
Gwin  in  the  demand  for  a  republic  on  the  Pacific.  He  declared  in 
1860  that  if  civil  war  should  break  out,  California  would  declare  its 
independence.  In  1860  the  pro-slavery  Democrats  had  gained  over- 
whelming strength  in  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  but  in  the  year 
following  they  split,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  carried  the  State — by  less 
than  a  thousand  votes.  In  the  nick  of  time  a  plot  to  seize  Federal 
strongholds  in  California  and  raise  Confederate  forces  was  frustrated. 
When  news  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  came  on  May  17,  California 
pledged  its  loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  in  the  next  session  of  the  legis- 
lature Republicans  controlled  the  assembly.  Gold  from  California's 
mines  began  traveling  eastward  to  help  win  the  war  for  the  North. 


CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR   CENTURIES      57 

Steel  Rails  to  Sunny  Shores:  When  the  first  transcontinental  rail- 
road was  completed  in  May  1869,  new  multitudes  of  pioneers  traveled 
westward.  Although  two  decades  had  passed  since  the  first  Argonauts 
set  out  across  the  plains,  California  had  still  not  absorbed  its  surplus 
population.  The  new  pioneers  found  their  promised  land  in  a  state  of 
poverty  and  strife — wages  low  and  unemployment  widespread,  capital 
scarce  and  interest  rates  prohibitive,  land  titles  uncertain,  freight  rates 
exorbitant,  and  water  rights  held  by  monopolies.  They  found  the  labor 
movement  restless,  anti-Chinese  agitation  rampant,  and  the  whole  people 
in  an  uproar  against  a  government  corrupted  by  railroad  control. 

Following  collapse  of  a  wild  frenzy  of  speculation  in  wildcat  mining 
and  oil  company  stocks  in  the  i86o's  had  come  an  even  wilder  boom 
in  Nevada  silver  mining  stocks,  set  off  by  exploitation  of  the  Comstock 
Lode's  Bonanza  mines  in  1872.  The  California  Stock  Exchange  Board, 
organized  in  that  year,  became  the  scene  of  such  violent  excitement  that 
the  flush  days  of  forty-nine  paled  in  comparison.  Throughout  the 
State  people  invested  in  stocks  every  cent  they  could  borrow,  beg,  or 
steal.  A  few  made  millions;  most  lost  all  they  had.  For  on  August 
27>  J875,  the  Bank  of  California  crashed — and  California  was  shaken 
to  its  foundations. 

The  hard  times  that  followed  the  bank  panic  bore  down  on  people 
in  town  and  country  alike.  The  farmers  of  the  interior  valleys,  already 
oppressed  by  inequable  mortgage  and  taxation  laws,  the  railroad's  high 
freight  rates,  monopoly  of  land  and  water  rights  by  the  railroad  and 
land  companies,  and  finally  by  the  ravages  of  a  severe  drought  in  1876, 
took  with  ill  grace  the  added  burdens  of  an  economic  depression.  In 
the  cities  wages  fell  and  breadlines  grew  as  thousands  were  thrown  out 
of  work — and  hungry  men  walking  the  streets  began  to  resent  the 
Bonanza  kings'  ostentatious  display  of  their  newly  found  wealth. 

Meanwhile  the  long-smouldering  hostility  against  the  Chinese,  who 
had  been  thronging  in  since  1848  as  miners,  truck  gardeners,  laundry- 
men,  fishermen,  and  workers  on  the  railroad,  had  begun  to  break  out  in 
flames.  It  was  incited  by  politicians,  among  them  Governor  Henry 
Haight,  who  had  said  in  December  1869:  "The  Chinese  are  a  stream 
of  filth  and  prostitution  pouring  in  from  Asia,  whose  servile  competition 
tends  to  cheapen  and  degrade  labor."  As  workingmen,  under  artful 
urging,  began  to  blame  the  Chinese  for  all  their  wrongs,  the  anti- 
Chinese  feeling  spread  throughout  the  State.  In  1871  a  lawless  gang 
looted  and  pillaged  Los  Angeles'  Chinatown  and  lynched  nineteen 
Chinese.  The  labor  movement  took  up  the  cry:  "The  Chinese  must 
go!"  On  July  23-24,  1877,  several  thousand  rioters  burned  and  sacked 
Chinese  laundries  in  San  Francisco  and  fired  the  Pacific  Mail  Steam- 
ship docks  where  Chinese  immigrants  landed.  Elsewhere  there  were 
sporadic  outbreaks  of  violence. 


58        CALIFORNIA 

Despairing  of  redress  for  their  difficulties  from  the  railroad  con- 
trolled State  government,  city  and  farm  workers,  and  even  some  small 
businessmen  and  small  landholders  organized  the  Workingmen's  Party 
of  California,  promptly  nicknamed  the  Sand-Lot  Party  for  its  Sunday 
afternoon  meetings  on  San  Francisco's  vacant  sand  lots  harangued  by 
the  Irish  spellbinder,  Dennis  Kearney.  The  party  vowed  "to  wrest  the 
government  from  the  hands  of  the  rich  and  place  it  in  those  of  the 
people,  where  it  properly  belongs;  to  rid  the  country  of  cheap  Chinese 
labor  as  soon  as  possible ;  to  destroy  the  great  money  power  of  the  rich 
...  to  destroy  land  monopoly  in  our  state  by  a  system  of  taxation  that 
will  make  great  wealth  impossible  in  the  future." 

For  a  solution  to  their  problems,  the  people  looked  to  the  legislature. 
The  authors  of  California's  first  constitution,  framed  in  the  idealistic 
days  of  the  Gold  Rush,  had  given  the  legislators  sweeping  powers — to 
levy  taxes,  make  appropriations,  grant  franchises,  and  give  away  public 
lands — of  which  the  legislators  of  the  seventies  took  full  advantage. 
By  1878  the  Workingmen's  Party  had  grown  so  strong  that  it  forced 
the  legislature  to  adopt  an  act  calling  a  constitutional  convention.  Of 
the  152  members  of  the  convention  who  came  together  on  September 
28,  1878,  51  were  members  of  the  Workingmen's  Party  and  78  were 
nonpartisan ;  they  included  mechanics,  miners,  farmers,  and  even  a  cook, 
as  well  as  lawyers,  doctors,  journalists,  and  teachers. 

The  constitution  which  they  adopted  was  ratified  by  the  voters 
May  7,  1879.  It  was  termed  reactionary  by  some,  radical  by  others. 
It  remodeled  the  judiciary  department,  improved  prison  regulations  and 
prohibited  convict  labor,  and  passed  a  law  instituting  the  eight-hour 
working  day.  In  general,  it  differed  little  from  the  organic  law  com- 
mon in  most  States  of  the  Union,  but  when  compared  with  the  consti- 
tution of  1849,  it  marked  a  distinct  advance  toward  popular  control. 
The  power  of  the  legislature  was  everywhere  curtailed.  "Lobbying" 
was  made  a  felony.  Provisions  to  tax  and  control  common  carriers  and 
corporations,  and  to  regulate  public  utilities  and  services  were  inserted. 
A  two-thirds  vote  in  both  houses  and  ratification  by  the  people  were 
required  to  pass  a  constitutional  amendment.  Suffrage  was  extended 
to  "every  male  citizen,"  21  years  or  more  old  who  had  lived  in  Cali- 
fornia for  a  year,  "provided  no  native  of  China'1  and  no  idiot,  lunatic, 
convicted  criminal,  or  illiterate  "shall  ever  exercise  the  privileges  of  an 
elector."  The  legislature  was  to  consist  of  40  senators  and  80  assem- 
blymen, meeting  biennially.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
secretary  of  state,  controller,  treasurer,  attorney  general  and  surveyor 
general  were  to  be  elected  by  the  people  for  four-year  terms.  A 
two-thirds  vote  of  each  house  could  overcome  the  Governor's  veto. 
Judicial  powers  were  confined  to  a  supreme  court  (a  chief  justice  and 


CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR    CENTURIES      59 

six  associate  justices),  three  district  courts  of  appeal,  a  superior  court 
for  each  county,  and  also  minor  courts  (as  amended  Nov.  8,  1904). 

The  Workingmen's  Party  was  driven  out  of  existence  in  1880  by  a 
fusion  of  Democrats  and  Republicans — but  not  before  its  anti-Chinese 
agitation  had  led  to  a  vote  by  the  people  of  the  State  (154,638  to  883) 
against  further  immigration  from  China.  On  March  20,  1879,  the 
national  Congress  passed  an  exclusion  bill,  killed  by  the  veto  of  Presi- 
dent Rutherford  B.  Hayes.  Two  years  later  a  treaty  with  China 
giving  the  United  States  the  power  to  "regulate,  limit,  or  suspend" 
Chinese  immigration  was  ratified  by  the  Senate. 

Although  the  State's  population  had  increased  54  percent  during 
the  iSyo's,  its  professional  boosters — fast  becoming  a  familiar  type — 
discovered  soon  after  1880  that  promotion  would  bring  still  more  new 
settlers.  For  the  first  time  California  went  afield  to  bid  for  immigrants 
with  advertisements,  books,  magazine  and  newspaper  articles  telling 
about  the  extraordinary  climate  and  resources  of  "the  Coast.''  Typical 
was  this  from  B.  F.  Taylor's  Between  the  Gates:  "Whoever  asks 
where  Los  Angeles  is,  to  him  I  shall  say:  across  a  desert  without 
wearying,  beyond  a  mountain  without  climbing  .  .  .  where  the  flowers 
catch  fire  with  beauty  .  .  .  where  the  pomegranates  wear  calyx  crowns 
.  .  .  where  the  bananas  of  Honolulu  are  blossoming;  where  the  chest- 
nuts of  Italy  are  dropping;  where  Sicilian  lemons  are  ripening;  where 
the  almond  trees  are  shining  ...  in  the  midst  of  a  garden  of  thirty- 
six  square  miles — there  is  Los  Angeles."  The  inducements  were  so 
convincing  that  by  1884  the  Southern  Pacific  was  doing  a  rushing 
passenger  business  at  fajes  of  $125  from  the  Midwest  to  Los  Angeles. 
When  the  Santa  Fe  was  completed  the  following  year,  the  two  roads 
entered  on  a  rate  war  that  reduced  fares  to  $5  and  even,  at  one  time, 
to  $i.  Multitudes  climbed  on  the  trains  and  started  West,  savings  in 
their  pockets,  bound  as  they  thought  for  a  sort  of  South  Sea  paradise. 

A  real  estate  boom  began,  legitimate  enough  in  that  it  originated 
in  a  sudden  influx  of  buyers.  But  the  shrewd  encouragement  of 
swindlers  led  most  of  the  citizens  to  believe  that  the  1885  boom  was 
only  the  prelude  to  another  that  was  to  "outclass  the  present  activity 
as  thunder  to  the  crack  of  a  hickory-nut."  Prices  of  Los  Angeles 
lots  rose  from  $500  to  $5,000  within  a  year.  Truck  gardens  and  out- 
lying vineyards  worth  $350  an  acre  were  squared  off  into  lots  and  sold 
for  $10,000  an  acre.  Networks  of  sidewalks  ran  mile  after  mile  out 
into  the  sagebrush.  Elaborate  hotels  were  built  on  desert  tracts — and 
never  occupied  except  on  the  opening  day. 

The  newcomers,  many  of  them  unsophisticated  farmers  and  small 
tradespeople  from  the  Middle  West,  grew  hysterical  when  the  boom 
got  really  under  way.  The  wealthier  among  them  paid  $20,000  to 
$50,000  for  waterfront  lots  on  a  lonely  stretch  of  shore,  "Redondo- 


60         CALIFORNIA 

by-the-Sea,"  because  "engineers"  had  declared  that  a  submarine  oil  well 
off  Redondo  kept  the  water  smooth  and  made  an  ideal  harbor.  Smaller 
savings  were  invested  in  Widneyville-by-the-Desert,  a  wasteland 
covered  with  Joshua  trees,  spiny  and  tortuous.  Since  the  grotesque 
trees  failed  to  give  the  site  a  homelike  atmosphere,  the  promoters  stuck 
oranges  on  the  spines — and  sold  a  citrus  grove!  To  Widneyville,  as 
to  the  other  boom  towns,  prospective  buyers  were  carried  in  tallyhoes 
and  stages,  accompanied  with  bands,  to  be  greeted  on  the  grounds  by 
the  smoothest  of  high-pressure  salesmen  and  plied  with  free  chicken 
dinners  and  all  the  liquor  they  could  drink.  "Millionaires  of  a  day," 
to  quote  Theodore  C.  Van  Dyke,  "went  about  sunning  their  teeth 
with  checkbooks  in  their  outside  pockets." 

In  1887  many  of  those  millionaires  were  suicides,  as  syndicates 
collapsed,  banks  closed,  individuals  and  business  firms  went  bankrupt, 
and  the  bands,  the  tallyhoes,  and  the  oratory  disappeared  from  the  sunny 
scene.  Once  more  the  bubble  had  burst.  The  hard  times  of  the  early 
iSgo's  lay  ahead,  breadlines  once  more  lengthened,  unemployed  men 
mustered  to  join  Coxey's  Army  in  a  hunger  march  on  Washington, 
and  the  cities  put  their  jobless  thousands  to  work  on  public  works 
projects.  The  influx  of  new  settlers  dwindled. 

Twentieth  Century:  But  the  tide  of  immigration  once  more  rose 
and  new  multitudes  flocked  in,  swelling  the  population  by  60  percent 
in  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910.  "A  new  century — a  new  order" 
became  the  slogan.  The  new  century  began  with  prosperity,  marked 
by  rising  wages  and  industrial  expansion,  the  development  of  the  petro- 
leum and  hydroelectric  industries,  and  of  intensive  fruit  growing  on 
a  big  scale.  But  the  newcomers,  mostly  people  from  the  Midwest 
who  brought  with  them  a  long  tradition  of  active  participation  in 
community  affairs,  found  much  in  California  to  challenge — corruption 
in  municipal  politics,  machine  control  of  government  by  corporations, 
industrial  strife,  and  anti-Oriental  agitation. 

For  once  more  the  outcry  against  the  "yellow  peril"  had  broken 
out.  The  Japanese,  imported  in  increasing  numbers  by  large  agricul- 
turists to  take  the  place  of  the  Chinese  as  farm  workers,  had  begun  to 
settle  as  farmers  and  tradesmen,  managing  their  small  holdings  so 
thriftily  that  soon  they  were  displacing  white  workers  and  farmers. 
Although  they  numbered  but  14,243  in  1906 — and  for  many  years  had 
been  excluded  along  with  other  Orientals  from  the  privilege  of  natural- 
ization— military  and  patriotic  groups,  merchants'  associations,  and 
labor  organizations  combined  to  raise  the  cry:  "California  shall  not 
become  the  Caucasian  graveyard."  In  1906  the  San  Francisco  Board 
of  Education  passed  an  order  segregating  the  93  Japanese  pupils  in  the 
city  schools  in  an  Oriental  public  school.  When  Japan  protested  that 
the  action  was  a  violation  of  her  treaty  with  the  United  States,  the 


CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR    CENTURIES      61 

Federal  Government  persuaded  the  board  to  rescind  its  order.  The 
result  of  the  diplomatic  controversy  was  the  "Gentlemen's  Agreement" 
of  1907,  by  which  the  United  States  agreed  to  admit  Japanese  chil- 
dren below  the  age  of  16  to  the  regular  public  schools,  while  Japan 
contracted  to  prevent  the  emigration  of  laborers  to  the  United  States. 
But  anti- Japanese  feeling  persisted  and  grew  in  California. 

One  of  the  first  evils  that  challenged  the  attention  of  California's 
civic-minded  newcomers  in  the  early  years  of  the  century  was  corrup- 
tion in  city  politics.  The  prosecution  of  San  Francisco's  "City  Hall 
graft  ring"  led  the  way  in  a  series  of  exposures  of  municipal  scandals 
that  introduced  the  muckraking  era  in  California.  From  1906  to 
1908  the  whole  State  followed  with  eager  interest  the  prosecutions 
of  political  boss  Abraham  Ruef,  Mayor  Eugene  Schmitz,  and  Patrick 
Calhoun,  United  Railroads  head,  pushed  by  Fremont  Older,  Rudolph 
Spreckels,  and  James  D.  Phelan;  attorneys  Francis  J.  Heney  and 
Hiram  Johnson ;  and  detective  William  Burns.  In  Los  Angeles  the 
reform  movement  was  taken  up  in  1909  when  the  editor  of  the  Herald, 
T.  R.  Gibbon,  accused  Mayor  A.  C.  Harper  and  his  associates  of 
enriching  themselves  through  forcing  owners  of  vice  dens  to  buy  stock 
in  fictitious  sugar  companies  by  promising  police  protection.  The 
municipal  clean-up  campaign,  soon  joined  by  the  editors  of  the  Evening 
Express  and  various  citizens'  committees,  succeeded  in  defeating  Harper 
in  the  next  election. 

In  State  politics  the  battle  against  control  by  corporation  lobbyists, 
fought  so  ardently  in  the  1870*3,  was  still  to  be  won.  As  early  as 
1905-06,  resolutions  demanding  Government  ownership  of  railroads 
were  passed  at  Bakersfield  and  Fresno,  aimed  against  the  Southern 
Pacific.  The  demand  for  public  ownership  was  linked  with  demands 
for  other  reforms.  The  Independence  League,  a  group  of  liberal  Demo- 
crats meeting  in  Oakland  in  September  1906,  came  out  for  equal 
suffrage,  the  eight-hour  working  day,  and  State  arbitration  of  indus- 
trial disputes,  as  well  as  for  public  ownership.  At  the  same  time  a 
demand  for  direct  primary  legislation  to  reform  the  election  laws  was 
arising  out  of  charges  of  fraud  at  the  State  party  conventions.  When 
a  new  economic  depression  shook  the  whole  financial  and  business 
structure  of  the  State  in  1907,  the  reform  movement  gathered  sudden 
strength. 

The  outcome  was  a  political  revolt  which  took  form  in  a  coalition 
of  liberal  Republicans,  organized  in  Oakland  in  August  1907  as  the 
Lincoln-Roosevelt  League.  It  proposed  to  give  the  people  of  the  State 
a  direct  voice  in  government  by  freeing  the  Republican  Party  from 
domination  by  "Vested  Interests."  Its  platform  included  such  planks 
as  the  direct  primary,  popular  election  of  Senators,  and  institution  of 
the  initiative,  referendum,  and  recall.  It  promised  to  elect  "a  free, 


62        CALIFORNIA 

honest,  and  capable  legislature,  truly  representative  of  the  common 
interests  of  the  people  of  California."  As  leading  newspapers  through- 
out the  State  swung  to  the  support  of  the  Lincoln-Roosevelt  League, 
it  rallied  enough  votes  in  1908  to  elect  a  legislature  which  passed  a 
direct  primary  law,  soon  ratified  by  the  people.  When  it  gained  control 
of  the  Republican  Party  in  1910  by  electing  its  candidates  to  nearly 
every  State  and  Congressional  office,  the  State  was  shaken  by  a  political 
upheaval. 

The  Lincoln-Roosevelt  League's  candidate  for  Governor,  Hiram 
Johnson,  took  office  in  1911.  The  new  legislature  which  convened  at 
the  same  time  fulfilled  its  platform  promises  by  approving  a  long  series 
of  legislative  reforms.  The  22  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of 
1879,  which  it  adopted  and  the  people  ratified,  included  provisions  for 
woman  suffrage,  a  new  railroad  commission,  the  initiative,  referendum, 
and  recall,  and  workingmen's  compensation  for  industrial  accidents. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  called  its  enactments  "the  most  comprehensive 
programme  of  constructive  legislation  ever  passed  at  a  single  session 
of  an  American  legislature."  When  the  Roosevelt  Republicans  bolted 
the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1912,  they  nominated  Hiram 
Johnson  as  Theodore  Roosevelt's  running  mate  on  the  progressive  "Bull 
Moose"  ticket,  which  carried  the  State  in  the  national  elections. 

A  concession  to  anti-Japanese  agitation  was  the  1911  legislature's 
alien  land  law.  It  was  supplemented  in  1913  by  the  Webb  Act,  for- 
bidding aliens  ineligible  to  citizenship  to  own  agricultural  land  in  the 
State,  which  the  legislature  passed  over  President  Woodrow  Wilson's 
protests.  The  Japanese  evaded  its  operation  by  forming  land  corpora- 
tions or  by  transferring  ownership  to  their  American-born  children,  but 
the  hue  and  cry  forced  enactment  in  1920  of  the  Asiatic  Land  Law, 
forbidding  such  evasions.  Despite  Japan's  protests,  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  upheld  in  1923  the  constitutionality  of  the  Webb  Act. 
And  in  1924  Congress  revised  the  immigration  law  to  exclude  Japanese. 

The  reform  wave  continued  into  the  early  years  of  the  World  War. 
In  December  1913  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee,  announc- 
ing that  it  foresaw  no  hope  of  progress  within  the  Republican  Party, 
recommended  the  formation  of  the  Progressive  Party.  The  new  party, 
formally  launched  on  December  6  of  that  year,  attracted  a  mass  of 
former  Republican  voters.  In  the  elections  of  November  1914,  when 
Hiram  Johnson  was  returned  to  office,  the  Progressives  won  more 
decisively  than  in  any  previous  election.  But  in  1916,  the  year  in 
which  Johnson  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  the  bitter  feud  between 
Republicans  and  Progressives  gave  California  to  Woodrow  Wilson  by 
the  narrow — and  history-making — margin  of  3,773  votes. 

Already  California  had  embarked  on  the  feverish  expansionist 
period  of  the  World  War  boom  years,  as  wages,  industrial  output,  and 


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Agriculture 


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HARVESTING  TOMATOES  IN  SACRAMENTO  VALLEY 


MIGRATORY  WORKERS  WEIGHING  PEAS 


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YOUNG  COTTON  PICKER 


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CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR    CENTURIES      63 

the  number  of  wage  earners  and  industrial  plants  soared  dizzily. 
Between  1910  and  1920  the  assessed  value  of  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty doubled.  The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  in  1914,  celebrated 
the  following  year  by  the  Panama-California  Exposition  at  San  Diego 
and  the  Panama-Pacific  International  Exposition  at  San  Francisco, 
seemed  to  promise  unlimited  growth  of  California's  maritime  trade. 
The  reform  movement  was  soon  forgotten.  In  southern  California 
the  unexpected  plea  of  guilty  by  J.  B.  and  J.  J.  McNamara,  on  trial 
in  1911  for  the  dynamiting  of  the  Times  building,  had  crushed  the 
labor  movement  and  turned  the  tide  of  a  municipal  election  against 
the  socialist  candidate.  When  the  bombing  of  San  Francisco's  Pre- 
paredness Day  parade  July  22,  1916,  was  followed  by  the  swift  arrest 
of  labor  organizers  Thomas  Mooney  and  Warren  K.  Billings,  the 
voices  raised  in  protest  were  drowned  out  by  the  clamor  of  war-era 
patriots.  The  period  of  repression  continued  into  early  post-war  years, 
when  the  newly  passed  criminal  syndicalism  law  was  invoked  against 
members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  and  other  nonconformists. 

The  westward  moving  hordes  of  forty-nine  were  as  nothing  to  the 
new  influx  of  settlers  whom  California  welcomed  in  the  1920*5,  as 
prosperity,  unrestrained,  reached  giddy  heights.  The  high-pressure 
efforts  of  boosters  and  promoters  were  devoted  to  making  prosperity 
and  California  synonymous  in  the  public  mind.  Its  harbors,  its  oil  wells 
and  factories,  its  movie  studios,  its  orange  groves  and  irrigation  projects, 
its  booming  real  estate  subdivisions  all  helped  to  renew  its  association 
in  people's  thoughts  with  the  El  Dorado  of  the  Argonauts.  The  cities 
around  San  Francisco  Bay  advanced  as  maritime  and  manufacturing 
centers  and  the  new  metropolis  of  the  south,  Los  Angeles,  surrounded 
by  fast  expanding  suburbs,  as  a  manufacturing,  oil-refining,  fruit- 
shipping,  and  movie-making  center.  By  1930  the  population  of  Cali- 
fornia had  grown  to  5,677,251 — an  increase  of  65  per  cent  in  10  years, 
greater  than  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union  during  the  same  period. 
The  increase  gave  it  sixth  place  among  the  States  in  population. 

And  again  the  bubble  burst.  The  newcomers  who  had  thronged  in 
by  the  hundreds  of  thousands — the  wage  earners  and  farmers,  the  small 
investors  and  businessmen,  the  elderly  retired  people — found  themselves 
in  the  same  situation  as  those  who  had  come  before  them :  jobless,  their 
savings  exhausted,  their  businesses  bankrupt,  their  farms  foreclosed,  or 
their  investments  wiped  out. 

As  they  had  done  in  the  1900*5  and  earlier  still  in  the  1870*5,  the 
people  turned  to  politics.  Of  the  State-wide  political  movements  that 
began  to  follow  close  on  one  another  throughout  the  I93o's,  the  first 
was  the  EPIC  movement,  which  rallied  around  the  "End  Poverty  in 
California"  (EPIC)  plan  presented  by  Upton  Sinclair  when  he  con- 
sented in  August  1933  to  run  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination  on  the 


64        CALIFORNIA 

Democratic  ticket.  Sinclair's  plan  called  for  the  establishment  of  self- 
sustaining  State  land  colonies  and  the  opening  of  idle  factories,  both 
to  be  operated  on  "production  for  use"  principles  for  the  benefit  of  the 
unemployed  and  to  be  financed  by  State-issued  scrip.  The  plan  called 
also  for  repeal  of  the  State  sales  tax,  exemption  of  small  homes  and 
ranches  from  taxation,  and  for  levying  of  graduated  taxes  on  incomes, 
inheritances,  corporations,  and  unused  lands  and  buildings.  Another 
plank  in  the  EPIC  platform  was  pensions  for  the  aged,  the  physically 
incapacitated,  and  widows  with  dependent  children.  After  the  hottest 
election  campaign  hitherto  waged  in  the  State,  Sinclair  was  defeated 
for  the  governorship  by  a  narrow  margin,  although  EPIC  candidates 
were  elected  to  city  and  Congressional  offices. 

The  people  turned  to  other  movements  which  seemed  to  promise 
a  way  out,  some  of  which,  like  the  EPIC  movement,  spread  into  other 
States.  A  short-lived  one  that  swept  southern  California  was  the 
Utopian  Society,  which  employed  semi-dramatic  rites  to  educate  its 
members  in  social  and  economic  affairs.  The  Townsend  Plan,  devised 
by  an  elderly  Long  Beach  physician,  Dr.  Francis  E.  Townsend,  enlisted 
the  support  of  large  numbers  of  the  State's  more  elderly  citizens  with 
its  proposal  to  promote  business  recovery  by  paying  $200  per  month  to 
each  person  over  60  years  of  age.  In  1938  another  project  for  economic 
recovery,  the  so-called  "Thirty  Dollars  Every  Thursday"  or  "Ham- 
and-Eggs"  plan,  rose  to  prominence,  promising  to  pay  aged  persons 
$30  weekly  in  State  warrants,  financed  by  a  2^  tax  on  all  sales. 

California  Bound — IQ3Q:  On  the  highways  leading  into  California 
there  appeared  in  the  late  I93o's,  among  the  long  lines  of  streamlined 
automobiles,  more  antiquated  vehicles.  Like  the  covered  wagons  of 
earlier  days  they  carried  all  their  owners'  worldly  goods:  those 
elemental  necessities  that  change  but  little  in  80  years — pots,  pans,  bed- 
ding, basins,  washtubs.  These  latter-day  prairie  schooners,  like  their 
predecessors,  stopped  for  the  night  at  wayside  camps,  where  the  in- 
formality of  hardships  loosened  tongues.  Once  again  campfires  burned 
along  western  trails — but  the  stories  told  around  them  resembled  not  at 
all  the  stories  of  the  earlier  pioneers.  "The  dust  was  drifted  high  as 
the  window  sills."  "The  cattle  died  a-lookin'  at  you."  "Wouldn't  a 
blade  of  grass  grow  anywhere  in  the  valley." 

Over  the  spirits  of  the  starving  migrants  the  desolation  they  had 
seen  lay  heavy — until  they  remembered  that  they  were  going  to  Cali- 
fornia. That  horizon  was  a  bright  one,  for  they  were  sure  that  in  a 
State  which  supplies  nearly  half  the  Nation's  fresh  fruit  and  a  third 
of  its  truck  crops  there  would  be  a  place  for  them  among  the  pickers. 
What  few  of  them  had  learned  was  that  earlier  immigrants — Japanese, 
Mexicans,  Filipinos — had  swarmed  so  thickly  over  the  fertile  acres 
that  wages  never  rose  above  the  standard  accepted  by  coolie  and  peon 


CALIFORNIA'S    LAST    FOUR    CENTURIES      65 

labor.  Or  that  they  would  have  to  make  their  homes  in  districts  like 
the  one  where  in  1934  the  National  Labor  Relations  Board  found 
"filth,  squalor,  an  entire  absence  of  sanitation,  and  a  crowding  of 
human  beings  into  totally  inadequate  tents  or  crude  structures  built  of 
boards,  weeds,  and  anything  that  was  found  at  hand  to  give  a  pitiful 
semblance  of  a  home  at  its  worst."  For  these  workers  the  workmen's 
compensation  law  failed  to  operate,  the  State's  minimum  wage  law  for 
women  and  minors  was  ignored,  medical  aid  was  denied  unless  death 
was  imminent,  and  labor  contractors  took  an  exorbitant  percentage 
of  wages — wages  which  averaged,  in  1935,  but  $289  per  family,  in- 
cluding the  income  of  all  its  members.  Such  were  the  conditions  that 
awaited  97,642  Dust  Bowl  migrants  in  1936  and  104,976  in  the 
following  year.  In  1938  they  were  arriving  at  the  rate  of  10,000  a 
month.  Their  coming  served  to  bring  to  people's  consciousness  the  long 
unsolved  problem  of  how  to  feed,  clothe,  and  shelter  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  homeless  farm  workers  who  follow  the  crops  over  the 
State. 

When  the  people  of  California  went  to  the  polls  in  November 
1938,  the  surge  of  protest  and  demands  for  reform  that  had  swept  the 
State  throughout  the  I93o's  came  to  a  climax.  They  elected  a  new 
Governor,  Culbert  L.  Olson — the  first  Democrat  to  hold  the  office 
since  the  Republican  Party  had  captured  it  43  years  before.  During 
those  four  decades,  California's  period  of  expansion  had  run  its  course. 
At  the  end  of  the  1930'$,  Calif ornians  could  look  forward  neither  to 
the  opening  up  of  new  lands  nor,  probably,  to  the  discovery  of  new 
resources.  The  dramatic  influx  of  fortune  seekers,  following  in  suc- 
cessive waves  as  boom  succeeded  boom,  has  subsided.  What  lies  ahead 
is  an  intensive  struggle  to  solve  the  social  and  economic  problems  which 
are  the  inevitable  heritage  of  California's  four  centuries  of  development. 


Riches  From  the  Soil 


WITHIN  the  rock  wall  formed  by  California's  two  great  moun- 
tain ranges  lies  the  long  level  stretch  of  the  Sacramento-San 
Joaquin    or    Central    Valley — the    "Long    Valley,"    as   John 
Steinbeck  has  named  it — called  the  world's  most  fertile  growing  region, 
which   contains  about   two-thirds   of   the   State's   30,000,000  acres   of 
agricultural  lands.     Other  major  growing  areas  are  the  coastal  valleys, 
the  intensely  developed  farm  area  south  of  the  Tehachapis,  center  of 
the   citrus   industry,    and   the   arid    but    potentially   highly   productive 
desert  region  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  State,  which  includes 
Imperial  Valley. 

The  wide  range  of  topography,  soil,  and  climate  makes  it  possible 
to  produce  every  species  of  temperate  zone  and  subtropical  fruit,  vege- 
table, and  field  crop  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  Pears  grow  on 
the  cool  mountain  slopes  to  the  north ;  asparagus,  celery,  beans,  onions, 
and  rice  in  the  black  soil  of  the  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  delta  area; 
lettuce  in  Salinas  Valley,  called  "the  Valley  of  Green  Gold" ;  grapes  for 
dry  wines  on  the  sunny  foothills  of  Napa  and  Sonoma  Counties ;  prunes 
— most  of  America's  supply — in  the  sheltered  orchards  of  Santa  Clara 
Valley;  table,  wine  and  raisin  grapes,  peaches,  apricots,  plums,  olives, 
and  a  fabulous  yield  of  cotton  in  the  brown  silted  loam  of  San  Joaquin 
Valley;  oranges,  lemons,  limes,  pomegranates,  figs,  avocados,  loquats, 
guavas,  almonds,  and  walnuts  to  the  south ;  dates  far  out  in  the  desert 
to  the  southeast  beyond  Indio. 

The  State  is  ideally  adapted  to  the  modern,  industrialized,  mass- 
production  type  of  specialized  intensive  farming.  The  dominant  unit 

66 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL        67 

in  the  agricultural  pattern  is  the  large-scale,  mechanized,  irrigated 
"ranch,"  operated  with  the  precision  of  a  Ford  factory,  employing  hun- 
dreds of  workers  and  turning  out  specialized  crops  for  eastern  and 
foreign  markets  or  for  California's  $174,000,000  fruit  and  vegetable 
canning  and  preserving  industry. 

A  typical  large-scale  fruit  ranch  in  the  extreme  southern  end  of  San 
Joaquin  Valley — 6,000  acres  devoted  exclusively  to  the  production  of 
"green"  or  fresh  fruit — ships  more  than  two  dozen  carloads  of  peaches, 
plums,  and  grapes  daily  at  the  peak  season  and  employs  2,500  men  and 
women  in  orchards,  vineyards,  and  packing  sheds.  Hidden  by  the 
gentle,  scarcely  perceptible  swell  of  the  plain  is  the  heart  of  the  ranch : 
the  cluster  of  administrative  buildings,  the  white  staff  bungalows  on  a 
miniature  Main  Street  with  gay  little  gardens  and  tennis  courts,  the 
packing-sheds  and  refrigeration  plant  and  railroad  siding,  the  school- 
house  and  store.  Beyond  lie  the  separate  labor  camps  for  American, 
Mexican,  Filipino  and  Japanese  workers. 

The  elaborate  irrigation  system  is  equipped  with  18  pumps,  run  by 
125-  to  25O-horsepower  deepwell  turbines.  They  draw  the  ranch's 
water  supply  from  subterranean  springs,  fed  by  melting  snow  in  the 
mountains.  Farm  machinery  includes  15  caterpillar  tractors,  43  trucks 
and  trailers,  over  50  company-owned  automobiles,  and  22  mules — appar- 
ently still  indispensable  to  farming  even  in  this  ultra-modern  form. 
The  carpenter  shop  puts  together  a  reserve  supply  of  300,000  crates 
before  the  season  opens ;  60,000  crates  can  be  stored  in  the  refrigerating 
plant  when  they  are  packed  with  fruit. 

Ranch  personnel  includes  the  ranch  manager,  his  assistants  and  office 
stafr,  a  physician,  an  electrician,  a  blacksmith  and  five  assistants,  a  cook 
and  1 1  assistants  for  the  single  men's  cook  houses.  The  labor  force 
of  men  and  women  engaged  in  irrigating,  tractor  driving,  and  picking, 
packing,  and  shipping  fruit  ranges  from  700  at  the  lowest  point  in 
December  to  2,500  at  the  highest  in  the  summer,  averaging  2,200  from 
April  through  December.  At  peak  season,  in  the  packing  sheds 
alone,  450  workers  pack  plums  and  about  325  pack  grapes.  The  con- 
veyor system  is  used  from  the  time  the  crated  fruit  is  brought  in  on 
trucks  for  sorting  and  packing  until  the  finished,  boxed,  scientifically 
pre-cooled  product  glides  out  on  the  belt  to  the  refrigerator  cars,  wait- 
ing on  the  siding  of  the  ranch's  special  branch  line. 

Agriculture  is  the  basic  industry  of  the  State,  occupying  a  key  posi- 
tion in  its  economic  structure.  Its  income  far  outstrips  the  combined 
income  of  oil  and  mining,  and  its  production  cost  more  than  triples  that 
of  the  motion  picture  industry.  In  addition,  more  than  a  fourth  of  the 
total  value  of  products  from  manufacturing  industries  is  in  industries 
directly  allied  to  agriculture,  such  as  milling,  canning,  packing,  and 
preserving.  In  1937,  California  was  second  only  to  Texas  in  gross 


68        CALIFORNIA 

farm  income.  It  produces  nearly  one-half  of  the  country's  fresh  fruit 
output,  about  95  percent  of  its  dried  fruit,  a  third  of  its  truck  crops, 
and  nearly  a  third  of  its  canned  fruits  and  vegetables.  California  holds 
first  place  in  many  of  the  country's  most  important  fruit  and  truck 
crops  and  some  field  crops.  In  many  crops,  such  as  lemons,  dates,  figs, 
and  olives,  the  State  has  a  monopoly  of  commercial  production. 

Farm  production  in  California  rose  over  120  percent  in  the  period 
1909  to  1936.  This  expansion  has  been  accomplished,  with  practically 
no  accompanying  expansion  in  acreage  for  the  last  50  years,  by  intensive 
cultivation.  Since  about  1885,  the  tendency  has  been  to  concentrate  on 
increasing  output,  with  an  accompanying  expenditure  of  money  and 
labor  per  acre  which  today  has  reached  a  point  probably  unequalled 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.  The  huge  outlays  for  power,  irrigation, 
water  rights,  fertilizer,  machinery,  labor,  and  transportation  have  neces- 
sarily developed  California's  intensive  agriculture  into  an  extremely 
complex  industrial  and  commercial  enterprise,  far  removed  from  the 
simplicities  of  farming  in  the  familiar  sense  of  the  word. 

The  old  family-size  farm,  run  by  the  farmer  and  his  family  and  a 
few  hired  hands,  is  steadily  declining  in  importance  and  in  number. 
Those  that  remain  are  increasingly  operated,  not  as  self-sufficing  family 
units,  but  as  commercial  enterprises,  imitating  on  a  miniature  scale  the 
big  "outdoor  factories."  Many  are  direct  adjuncts  of  fruit  and  vege- 
table packing  corporations,  for  which  they  produce  selected  crops 
according  to  company  specifications  under  supervision  of  the  company's 
fieldmen  and,  in  many  cases,  with  funds  advanced  by  the  company. 

Among  the  small  submarginal  farm  units  are  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  little  farms,  often  worked  on  a  part-time  basis,  which  are  as  charac- 
teristic a  feature  of  the  California  scene  as  the  great  thousand-acre 
ranches,  especially  in  the  south  around  Los  Angeles.  Many  of  these 
are  run  by  retired  business  and  professional  men,  or  midwestern  farmers 
attracted  to  California  from  more  austere  territory. 

Two  percent  of  California  farms  control  one-fourth  of  the  acreage, 
nearly  one-third  of  the  crop  value,  and  pay  more  than  one-third  of  the 
bill  for  hired  labor.  "Of  all  farms  in  the  United  States  whose  product 
is  valued  at  $30,000  or  above,"  according  to  Paul  Taylor,  University 
of  California  authority,  "nearly  37  percent  are  found  in  our  own  state. 
California  has  within  its  borders  30  percent  of  the  large-scale  cotton 
farms  of  the  country,  41  percent  of  the  large-scale  dairy  farms,  44 
percent  of  the  large-scale  general  farms,  53  percent  of  the  large-scale 
poultry  farms,  60  percent  of  the  large-scale  fruit  farms  of  the  United 
States." 

The  growth  of  the  two  extremes,  very  large  and  very  small  farms, 
progressively  eliminating  the  middle  farmer,  has  been  promoted  by  the 
high  and  steadily  rising  value  of  land  to  over  twice  the  United  States 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL      69 

average.  Other  major  factors  are  the  high  costs  of  land  development 
and  labor  in  intensive  cultivation  of  fruit  and  truck  crops. 

The  bulk  of  farm  work  in  California  today  is  performed,  not  by  the 
independent  farmer,  but  by  a  vast  army  of  some  200,000  wage  earners,, 
most  of  them  migrant  laborers.  According  to  a  recent  study,  three- 
fifths  of  those  engaged  in  agriculture  in  1936  were  wage-earners,  as 
against  less  than  half  in  1920.  The  big  landowners,  following  the 
railroads  in  scouring  the  world  for  sources  of  cheap  labor,  imported  in 
succession  Chinese,  Japanese,  Hindus,  Mexicans,  and  Filipinos  to  do 
field  work.  Today  the  ranks  of  migratory  workers  also  include  refugees 
from  Dust  Bowl  areas. 

This  great  mass  of  landless  field  and  shed  workers  constitutes  a 
major  social  problem  in  the  State.  Under  the  system  of  intense  crop 
specialization  steady  employment  for  most  of  the  year  is  an  impossibility ; 
labor  requirements  fall  from  an  estimated  peak  of  198,349  in  September 
to  46,448  in  January.  Since  huge  areas  are  devoted  to  a  single  crop, 
employment  begins  and  ceases  simultaneously  throughout  the  whole 
region.  Migrants  stream  Up  and  down  the  valleys,  covering  hundreds  of 
miles  from  Imperial  Valley  to  the  coast  valleys,  to  San  Joaquin  Valley 
and  the  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  delta,  and  back  to  Imperial  Valley — 
homeless,  cut  off  from  stable  rural  communities,  existing  continuously 
near  the  hunger  line. 

An  effective  approach  to  the  migrant  problem  is  now  being  made,  for 
the  first  time  in  California  history,  by  the  Federal  Government.  Its 
Farm  Security  Administration  is  aiding  the  Dust  Bowl  exiles  through 
the  series  of  camps  extending  from  Brawley,  in  the  Imperial  Valley,  to 
Marysville,  in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  through  food  grants  made  to 
workers  in  danger  of  starvation  between  crops ;  and  through  the  recently 
organized  Agricultural  Workers  Health  and  Medical  Association, 
which  utilizes  existing  medical  apparatus  in  agricultural  counties. 

Friars  as  Farmers:  The  large-scale  pattern  for  agriculture  was  set 
in  the  opening  days  of  California  agriculture  by  the  Spanish-Mexican 
mission  and  rancho.  The  mission  padres  used  their  Indian  neophytes 
to  cultivate  large  tracts  of  desert  land,  and  experimented  boldly  with  a 
variety  of  vegetables  and  fruits.  Today  mission  olives  and  grapes, 
planted  150  years  ago  by  the  Spanish  padres,  are  still  among  the  most 
favored  varieties  of  these  fruits.  From  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury until  the  secularization  of  the  missions  (1834-37),  mission  agri- 
culture developed  with  amazing  rapidity.  A  maximum  Indian  labor 
force  of  20,000  to  30,000  was  said  to  have  been  reached  in  1804.  In 
1834,  according  to  the  historian,  Duflot  de  Mofras,  the  21  missions 
existing  in  California  territory  had  under  cultivation  a  total  of  70,000 
hectares  (a  hectare  equals  2.471  acres)  of  wheat,  corn,  barley,  and 
beans  and  possessed  242,000  cattle,  65,000  horses,  and  321,500  sheep. 


7O        CALIFORNIA 

When  the  Spanish  monarchy  under  King  Carlos  III  occupied  Alta 
California  in  1769,  only  usufructuary  title  of  various  grades  was 
granted  to  individuals,  since  absolute  title  in  all  lands  was  vested  in 
the  king.  Theoretically  the  Indians  were  recognized  as  natural  owners 
of  lands  sufficient  for  their  subsistence,  and  the  missions,  therefore,  held 
the  vast  grants  ceded  them  in  trust  for  their  Indian  wards.  Few  large 
grants  were  made  under  the  Spanish  regime  except  to  missions,  for  the 
padres  strenuously  opposed  secular  grants.  When  Mexico  proclaimed 
her  independence  from  Spain  in  1823,  only  20  secular  grants  existed  in 
California.  Ten  years  later  the  number  increased  to  about  50  and  by 
1845,  to  700  or  800. 

The  padres'  bitter  opposition  to  Mexican  secession  from  Spain  rose 
to  a  climax  when  the  Mexican  Congress  issued  its  decree  of  August  17, 
1833,  ordering  the  division  of  mission  properties  in  Alta  California. 
With  the  Indians  deprived  of  most  of  the  land  that  was  theirs,  the 
rancheros  assumed  prominence  in  the  State's  agricultural  development. 

Cattle  on  the  Range:  The  era  of  the  Spanish-Mexican  land  grant 
was  a  purely  pastoral  period.  The  cattle  ranch  with  its  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  wild  range  land  was  the  dominant  form,  farming  being 
conducted  only  to  raise  sufficient  produce  for  the  immediate  needs  of 
the  individual  ranch.  Cattle  were  raised  largely  for  their  hides  and 
tallow,  the  principal  export  articles,  which  the  rancheros  exchanged 
with  the  Yankee  traders  for  flour  and  various  luxury  and  other  manu- 
factured articles.  For  half  a  century  California  was  considered  a  major 
source  of  tallow  and  hides. 

The  bigger  rancheros  lived  like  feudal  lords  with  scores  of  retainers 
and  servants.  Their  vast  herds,  roaming  the  valleys  and  foothills,  were 
rounded  up  yearly  at  rodeo  season  and  driven  into  home  pastures.  Don 
Manuel  Nieto,  recipient  in  1784  of  the  second  grant  given  in  California, 
sixteen  square  leagues  (71,016  acres)  including  the  site  of  Long  Beach, 
ran  100,000  head  of  cattle  on  his  tract.  Don  Jose  Domingo  Peralta, 
owner  of  the  Rancho  Canada  del  Corte  de  Madera,  in  Santa  Clara 
Valley,  had  his  private  embarcadero,  chapel,  bull  ring,  and  fleet  of  boats 
to  transport  his  hides  and  tallow.  On  a  rancho  in  the  San  Luis  Obispo 
district,  there  was  said  to  be  a  room  filled  with  baskets  of  silver  and  gold 
and  huge  chests  brought  by  galleon  from  China  stuffed  with  rare  silken 
shawls,  satins,  laces,  embroideries,  and  jewels. 

The  American  conquest  opened  a  new  market  for  agricultural 
products  even  before  the  discovery  of  gold.  The  period  is  graphically 
described  in  the  diary  of  John  Sutter,  the  great  adventurer-agriculturist 
and  first  white  man  to  settle  the  interior,  who  combined  a  longing  to 
live  in  the  grand  style  with  an  intensely  practical  passion  for  farming. 
In  California  Sutter  achieved  all  his  dreams,  raising  fine  crops  and 
cattle  on  the  immense  grant  he  received  from  Governor  Alvarado — 22 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL        71 

square  leagues  (97,648  acres)  including  the  present  site  of  Sacramento. 
He  ruled  his  domain,  called  New  Helvetia  for  his  native  Switzerland, 
in  the  manner  of  an  independent  fortified  kingdom  "with  24  pieces  of 
ordnance  available,"  until  the  discovery  of  gold  on  his  land  ruined 
instead  of  enriched  him. 

"I  found  a  good  market  for  my  products  among  the  new-comers 
and  the  people  in  the  Bay  district"  Sutter  wrote  of  the  period  immedi- 
ately following  the  American  occupation.  "Agriculture  increased  until 
I  had  several  hundred  men  working  in  the  harvest  fields,  and  to  feed 
them  I  had  to  kill  four  or  sometimes  five  oxen  daily.  I  could  raise 
40,000  bushels  of  wheat  without  trouble,  reap  the  crops  with  sickles, 
thrash  it  with  bones,  and  winnow  it  in  the  wind.  There  were  thirty 
plows  running  with  fresh  oxen  every  morning.  The  Russians  were 
the  chief  customers  for  my  agricultural  products.  I  had  at  the  time 
twelve  thousand  head  of  cattle,  two  thousand  horses  and  mules,  between 
ten  and  fifteen  thousand  sheep,  and  a  thousand  hogs.  My  best  days 
were  just  before  the  discovery  of  gold." 

The  wave  of  wild  speculation,  rising  in  the  wake  of  discovery  of 
gold  in  1849,  affected  agriculture  along  with  every  other  phase  of  Cali- 
fornia life.  A  huge  new  population  had  to  be  fed — 93,000  in  1850  as 
against  15,000  in  1848.  Gold  was  plentiful,  meat  and  vegetables  scarce. 
Prices  reached  astronomical  heights.  The  return  from  150  acres  planted 
to  onions,  tomatoes,  and  potatoes  near  San  Jose  is  said  to  have  been 
$200,000  in  one  season.  Near  Sacramento  four  men  made  $40,000 
from  1 6  acres  of  potatoes.  The  price  of  cattle  rose  from  $6  a  head  in 
1846  to  $300  a  head  by  the  close  of  1849,  with  sales  as  high  as  $500  a 
head  recorded  in  Sacramento.  Stock  raising,  like  every  other  phase  of 
activity  in  California,  went  through  an  artificial  forced  growth. 

When  the  gold  rush  passed  its  crest,  agriculture  began  to  take  over 
the  dominant  role  in  the  economic  life  of  the  State  as  thousands  of  ex- 
miners  settled  on  the  land  or  wrent  to  work  on  the  big  cattle  or  wheat 
ranches.  The  number  of  miners  in  the  State  rose  from  57,797  to 
82,573  in  the  fifties;  the  number  of  farmers  rose  from  1,486  to  20,836. 

The  stock  raising  industry  advanced  rapidly  as  measures  were  taken 
to  improve  the  breed  of  cattle,  previously  bred  for  hide  and  tallow,  in 
order  to  suit  them  for  eating  and  dairy  purposes.  Spanish  cattle  were 
interbred  with  American  stock  which  settlers  drove  hundreds  of  miles 
across  the  plains.  Stock  raising  had  reached  its  highest  point  when  the 
great  drought  of  1862  hit  the  "cow  country"  that  stretched  from  the 
Monterey  area  to  San  Diego,  burning  up  thousands  of  acres  of  range 
land,  killing  over  a  million  cattle  and  horses,  ruining  and  driving  off 
the  land  thousands  of  ranchers.  The  drought  delivered  the  death  blow 
to  the  Mexican  cattlemen,  whose  California  grants,  already  insecure, 


72        CALIFORNIA 

now  passed  almost  entirely  into  the  hands  of  Americans,  largely  land 
speculators. 

The  forced  sales  of  those  years,  when  land  prices  fell  to  from  25  to 
50  cents  an  acre,  precipitated  the  first  genuine  California  land  boom. 
A  syndicate  of  San  Francisco  financiers,  incorporated  as  the  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Bernardino  Land  Company,  bought  up  Don  Abel  Steam's 
rancho  of  200,000  acres  south  of  the  Tehachapis,  placed  it  on  the 
market  in  1868  in  tracts  of  40  acres  and  up,  and  put  on  a  high-pressure 
advertising  campaign  that  brought  in  a  flood  of  buyers  from  the  East 
and  the  North.  As  land  values  rose,  the  syndicate  cleaned  up  a 
$2,000,000  profit.  In  the  late  sixties  and  the  seventies  the  railroads 
received  immense  land  grants  from  the  Government — the  Central 
Pacific  alone  received  1,349,000  acres — and  brought  in  settlers  by  the 
thousand  with  similar  boom  methods. 

The  public  domain  in  California  was  rapidly  disappearing.  The 
Pacific  Rural  Press  showed  in  1875  that  45  men  held  4,000,000  acres 
of  land.  The  struggle  against  absentee  ownership  and  the  evils  of 
landlordism  became  a  major  political  concern,  and  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1879  stressed  the  need  for  legislation  curbing  the  great 
land  companies  and  railroads.  The  California  State  Grange,  today  an 
important  organization  of  the  family-farm  type  of  farmer,  was  formed 
as  a  protective  organization  against  the  big  interests  that  were  becoming 
the  decisive  influence  in  agriculture.  In  the  seventies,  at  the  peak  of  its 
early  growth,  the  Grange  demanded  a  Government  curb  on  grain 
speculation;  taxation  of  uncultivated  land  held  for  speculation  at  the 
same  rate  as  cultivated  land;  Government  control  of  irrigation,  then 
in  its  beginnings;  and  railroad  freight  rates. 

The  Epoch  of  Wheat:  In  the  1870'$  California  became  the  second 
wheat  State  in  the  Union.  In  addition  to  the  sudden  decline  in  stock 
raising,  after  the  great  drought,  there  were  other  basic  causes  for  the 
rapid  rise  of  wheat.  Rates  for  shipment  by  water  were  low.  Wheat 
was  a  staple  commodity  in  international  trade,  and  it  could  be  shipped 
long  distances  without  deterioration.  The  huge  bonanza  wheat  farms, 
celebrated  by  Frank  Norris  in  The  Octopus,  became  the  outstanding 
feature  of  the  eighties.  The  Central  Valley  became  a  world  granary. 
On  these  wheat  ranches  the  process  of  mechanization,  which  has  played 
such  an  important  role  in  California's  trend  towards  large-scale  farm- 
ing, was  first  developed. 

This  era  was  short-lived,  however.  Although  wheat,  barley,  and 
other  extensive  crops  continued  increasing  in  value  up  to  1919,  fruit, 
vegetables,  and  other  intensive  crops  had  begun  to  supplant  them  in 
importance  by  the  turn  of  the  century.  The  exorbitant  railroad  freight 
rates  which  raised  land  prices  and  cut  wheat  profits,  the  competition  of 
new  grain  fields  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  Russia,  and  the  rapid 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL        73 

growth  of  population  were  factors  in  forcing  all  farmers  to  raise  crops 
promising  higher  returns  from  a  given  area.  The  development  of 
irrigation  projects,  begun  in  1872  along  the  San  Joaquin  and  Kings 
Rivers  and  rapidly  pushed  after  1885,  spurred  the  change  from  ex- 
tensive farming.  Meanwhile  the  construction  of  new  railroad  lines  and 
introduction  of  the  refrigerator  car  facilitated  transportation  of  fruit 
and  vegetables. 

Mass  Production  in  the  Orchard:  Although  the  accomplishments 
of  mission  agriculture  had  pointed  the  way,  the  real  development  of 
present-day  California  farming  began  with  the  conscious  efforts  of  the 
"fruit  pioneers"  of  the  early  American  period.  Many  of  the  early 
settlers  who  sailed  around  the  Horn  or  toiled  across  the  plains  showed 
their  deep  faith  in  the  brave  new  land  by  bringing  along  seeds  and  slips 
and  even  trees  from  their  former  homes.  In  more  recent  years  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has  sent  its  men  to  scour  four 
continents  in  search  of  valuable  fruits  and  plants  adapted  to  growing 
conditions  in  the  State. 

The  work  of  Luther  Burbank  contributed  materially  to  the  agri- 
cultural pre-eminence  of  intensive  fruit  growing  in  the  State.  When 
as  a  young  man  Burbank  arrived  in  1875  from  Worcester,  Massachu- 
setts, to  carry  on  his  experimental  work  in  California,  he  wrote  of  the 
Sonoma  Valley:  "I  firmly  believe  from  what  I  have  seen  that  it  is 
the  chosen  spot  of  all  this  earth  as  far  as  nature  is  concerned.  ...  I 
cannot  describe  it!  I  almost  have  to  cry  for  joy  when  I  look  upon  the 
lovely  valley  from  the  hillsides."  Among  the  new  plant  varieties  which 
he  originated  were  60  varieties  of  plums  and  prunes,  the  result  of  40 
years  of  experimentation.  He  also  introduced  important  varieties  of 
peaches,  nectarines,  quinces,  and  apples,  and  his  experimentation  with 
berries  resulted  in  the  origination  and  introduction  of  10  new  varieties. 
In  addition  to  the  famous  Burbank  potato,  he  introduced  varieties  of 
asparagus,  tomato,  squash,  and  corn. 

The  establishment  of  orange  growing  on  a  commercial  basis  drew 
the  attention  of  farmers  all  over  the  country  to  the  financial  possibilities 
of  irrigated  intensive  fruit  growing  in  California.  The  exotic  picture 
of  orange  groves  set  in  hot  valleys  surrounded  by  snow-capped  moun- 
tains, of  trees  with  their  glossy  green  foliage  hung  heavily  with  golden 
globes,  fitted  into  the  California  legend,  caught  men's  imaginations 
almost  as  strongly  as  the  gold  of  '49,  and  brought  California  before 
the  Nation  as  an  agricultural  Eldorado. 

The  first  orange  grove  was  set  out  at  the  San  Gabriel  Mission 
near  Los  Angeles  in  1804,  although  the  orange  had  been  introduced 
into  California  about  1770  and  was  reported  as  flourishing  at  Mission 
Buena  Ventura  in  1792.  The  first  commercial  grove  was  planted  in 
1841  by  the  Kentucky  trapper,  William  Wolf  skill,  with  trees  from  the 


74        CALIFORNIA 

San  Gabriel  Mission;  his  success  stimulated  a  number  of  other  farmers 
to  experiment  with  the  friut.  The  present  great  citrus  industry  was 
mainly  developed  from  two  seedless  orange  trees,  sent  to  the  pioneer 
Eliza  C.  Tibbetts  at  the  newly  established  Riverside  farming  colony, 
by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  in  1873.  The  trees  belonged 
to  the  "Washington  Navel"  variety,  originally  imported  from  Bahia  in 
Brazil.  The  introduction  of  the  navel  orange  by  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture  initiated  an  industry  which  today  has  about  250,000 
acres  planted  with  20,000,000  bearing  trees,  netting  the  greatest  income 
of  any  one  crop  in  the  State  (see  TOUR  2d).  Lemon  growing,  too, 
was  gradually  developed  to  a  point  where  it  could  meet  European 
competition ;  today  the  lemon  crop  is  fifth  among  all  crops  in  farm  value. 

As  completion  of  railroad  connections  opened  eastern  markets, 
feverish  agriculturists  pulled  up  flourishing  and  highly  profitable 
orchards  and  vineyards  and  planted  expensive  orange  trees  in  their 
stead.  Speculators  preyed  on  inexperienced  and  unorganized  growers 
with  disastrous  results,  which  soon  pointed  to  the  urgent  necessity  of 
some  type  of  regulative  action.  The  first  significant  step  towards  the 
organization  of  packing,  shipping,  and  marketing  cooperatives  was  made 
in  Los  Angeles  in  1893;  tw°  years  later  it  was  succeeded  by  the  South- 
ern California  Fruit  Exchange.  This  organization,  broadened  in  1905 
to  include  the  whole  State,  was  the  forerunner  of  the  widespread 
network  of  marketing  cooperatives  today  covering  most  major  branches 
of  agriculture. 

Californians  not  only  drink  a  lot  of  wine — almost  seven  times  as 
much  per  capita  as  other  people  in  the  United  States — they  also  produce 
58  percent  of  the  wine  consumed  in  the  country  and  93  percent  of  the 
Nation's  grapes — $43,108,000  worth,  covering  a  half-million  acres. 
Viticulture  is  second  only  to  orange  growing  in  the  State's  agricul- 
tural economy.  The  wine  industry  of  the  State,  including  the  grape- 
growing  and  wine-making  divisions,  has  an  investment  of  some 
$420,000,000  in  vineyards,  plant,  building,  and  wine  inventories  and  is 
estimated  to  employ,  directly  and  indirectly,  125,000  persons. 

The  Franciscans  set  out  the  first  California  vineyard  at  Mision 
San  Diego  de  Alcala  about  1770.  Each  of  the  missions  had  its  vineyard 
and  its  winery.  The  industry  in  its  later  developments  was  pioneered 
by  vineyardists  and  wine  producers  from  France,  Italy,  Hungary,  and 
Germany.  The  noted  Hungarian  viticulturist,  Agoston  Haraszthy, 
brought  cuttings  of  the  Muscat  Alexandria  grape  in  1851,  founded 
California's  huge  raisin-growing  industry,  introduced  the  Zinfandel 
red  wine  grape,  and  later  imported  200,000  vine  cuttings  including  all 
the  most  important  European  varieties.  The  finest  dry  wines  come 
from  the  coast  area,  especially  Sonoma,  Napa,  and  Alameda  Counties: 
the  Pinot  of  Burgundy,  Cabernet  of  Gironde,  Riesling  and  Traminer  of 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL        75 

the  Rhine  and  Moselle.  Sweet  fortified  wines  come  from  great  vine- 
yards of  the  Lodi  area,  from  the  Fresno  area,  and  from  San  Bernardino 
County,  where  the  5OO-acre  Guasti  vineyard,  largest  in  the  western 
world,  is  planted  on  land  reclaimed  from  the  desert.  The  Fresno 
grape-growing  region  has  a  combined  area  of  almost  250,000  acres 
planted  in  raisin,  table,  and  wine  grapes;  about  160,000  acres  are  in 
raisins  alone. 

Peaches  had  grown  in  California  from  early  mission  days,  but  it  was 
the  trees,  seeds,  and  seedlings  brought  in  by  settlers  from  the  East  that 
laid  the  basis  for  the  present  great  industry  which  today  supplies  98 
percent  of  the  country's  canned  peach  crop,  all  of  its  dried  peaches, 
and  a  fresh  fruit  crop  exceeded  only  by  Georgia.  Although  peaches 
are  produced  on  uplands  and  plains  in  most  parts  of  the  State,  the  most 
concentrated  production  is  in  the  "peach  bowl"  of  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
which  accounts  for  36  percent  of  the  entire  crop. 

Santa  Clara  County  is  the  largest  dried  fruit  packing  and  fruit  can- 
ning center  of  the  world.  The  Santa  Clara  Valley  grows  70,000  acres 
of  prunes,  producing  over  40  percent  of  California's  total  crop,  and 
20,000  acres  of  apricots.  Fifty  percent  of  California's  fancy  canned 
fruit  is  packed  in  the  valley,  and  30  percent  of  its  general  canned  fruit, 
amounting  to  over  72,000,000  quart  cans. 

Among  California's  more  exotic  products  are  olives,  dates,  and 
avocados — all,  except  avocados,  monopoly  crops.  The  gray-green  olive 
groves  are  scattered  over  the  State  from  the  Mexican  border  almost  up 
to  Mount  Shasta  in  the  north.  Among  leading  varieties  are  the  Mission 
from  Mexico,  the  large  Manzillo  and  Sevillano  from  Spain,  the  Asca- 
lano  from  Italy.  The  production  of  dates,  practically  all  grown  within 
a  25-mile  radius  from  Indio,  where  the  California  Date  Growers  Asso- 
ciation processes  most  of  the  crop,  was  3,580  short  tons  in  1937  valued 
at  $430,000.  In  order  to  find  the  best  varieties  of  avocado  for  com- 
mercial cultivation  in  California  and  Florida,  the  Office  for  Foreign 
Plant  Introduction  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  spent  nine 
years  exploring  the  avocado  districts  of  Mexico  and  South  and  Central 
America.  In  1927  California  had  690  bearing  acres;  in  1935,  8,564 
acres. 

Walnuts,  leading  nut  crop,  occupied  134,638  acres  in  1937  and 
produced  a  crop  valued  at  $9,975,OOO.  Two-thirds  of  the  State  acreage 
is  in  southern  California.  The  California  Walnut  Growers  Associa- 
tion, to  which  90  percent  of  the  growers  belong,  has  central  warehouses 
where  the  nuts  are  scientifically  treated,  handled,  and  marketed. 

Field,  Farm,  and  Vegetable  Garden:  California  typically  combines 
age-old  methods  of  cultivating  its  "stoop"  crops — as  fieldhands  classify 
truck  and  field  crops  that  need  intensive  hand  cultivation — with  the 
most  modern  machine  farming  technique.  The  airplane  seeding  of  rice 


76        CALIFORNIA 

fields  was  first  tried  in  the  Sacramento  area,  where  over  90  percent  of 
the  California  crop  is  raised.  Pilots  flying  within  25  feet  of  the  ground, 
plant  in  5  minutes  eight  loo-pound  sacks  of  rice.  From  30  to  40 
acres  can  be  planted  in  an  hour.  Before  seeding  in  early  spring,  tractor- 
drawn  fleets  of  giant  gang  plows  and  scrapers  construct  the  levees 
around  the  rice  fields.  For  five  months  after  seeding,  levees  are  used  to 
maintain  water  on  the  field  at  a  level  of  6  inches  in  depth.  Nine  gallons 
of  water  per  minute  must  be  pumped  to  each  acre.  In  October  big 
threshers  harvest  the  crop. 

The  development  of  California's  extensive  dairy  industry  has  been 
largely  dependent  on  the  State's  high  production  of  tame  hay.  The 
value  of  the  tame  hay  crop  in  1937  was  $53,112,000,  topped  only  by 
the  value  of  the  orange  crop.  This  figure  includes  $39,351,000  for 
alfalfa,  which  flourishes  even  in  semi-arid  districts.  In  the  areas  where 
alfalfa  is  grown  as  an  irrigated  crop,  it  yields  up  to  seven  and  eight 
cuttings  a  year;  sometimes  there  is  a  new  crop  every  30  days.  In  the 
old  days,  settlers  coming  around  the  Horn  found  the  dark  green  alfalfa 
fields  of  Chile  so  attractive  that  they  took  along  cargoes  of  hay  and 
seed.  Henry  Miller,  landowner  and  cattle  rancher,  who  is  said  to 
have  boasted  that  he  could  drive  his  herds  from  Oregon  to  Mexico  on 
his  own  land,  initiated  California's  commercial  production  of  alfalfa 
in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  sending  to  Chile  in  the  seventies  for  ship- 
ments of  the  seed.  His  alfalfa  holdings  became  the  largest  in  the 
United  States. 

Cotton  in  this  State,  largely  a  speculative  crop,  has  been  subject  to 
booms  like  those  that  formerly  plagued  the  citrus  industry.  The  1937 
crop  was  the  largest  in  California  history — 738,000  bales  valued  at 
almost  $32,000,000.  The  average  yield  was  570  pounds  per  acre,  as 
against  the  United  States  average  for  the  same  year  of  266.9  pounds 
per  acre.  Cotton  became  an  important  crop  in  1917,  when  representa- 
tives of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  were  sent  to  California  to 
experiment  in  production  of  the  tough-fibred  type  of  cotton  urgently 
needed  for  tire  fabric  and  airplane  wing  coverings.  The  State's  cotton 
production  is  only  about  two  percent  of  the  national  total,  but  the  crop 
is  significant  for  its  concentration  on  a  single  quality  variety,  Alcala, 
rare  and  in  great  demand  in  this  country. 

The  development  of  the  "lettuce  bowls"  in  the  Imperial  Valley 
and  Salinas- Watsonville  areas  has  come  almost  entirely  since  the  World 
War.  Effective  advertising,  new  health  and  diet  concepts  stimulated 
the  demand,  and  the  rise  of  lettuce  from  a  small  truck  crop  to  a  mass- 
produced  commodity  within  the  past  few  years  has  been  spectacular. 
A  large  part  of  the  lettuce  crop  is  produced  by  "migratory"  farming. 
In  J937,  102,500  acres  produced  lettuce  valued  at  $23,230,000,  highest 


RICHES     FROM     THE     SOIL        77 

of  any  truck  crop.  It  is  exceeded  in  acreage  among  truck  crops  only 
by  tomatoes. 

Big  capital  investment  also  has  gone  into  asparagus  growing,  center- 
ing in  the  delta  area,  which  has  always  been  cultivated  largely  by 
Oriental  contract  labor.  While  the  fertile  peat  soil  produces  rich  crops, 
the  cost  of  reclaiming  the  land  and  maintaining  levees  and  drainage 
systems  is  too  large  for  the  average  farmer  to  bear.  A  number  of  the 
great  holdings,  sometimes  including  whole  islands,  have  remained  undi- 
vided from  early  days.  Asparagus  in  1937  was  third  among  truck 
crops  in  size  of  acreage  (67,260  acres)  and  farm  value  ($9,146,000). 

The  harvesting  of  peas,  done  entirely  by  hand,  employs  big  labor 
forces — 20,000  pickers  at  peak  season.  California  has  over  a  half  of 
the  country's  pea  acreage  and  has  led  in  carload  shipments  since  1927. 
California  is  exceeded  only  by  Colorado  in  sugar  beet  production  and 
exceeds  it  in  production  per  acre.  The  1936  acreage — 140,000  acres — 
almost  tripled  the  1929  acreage.  Beet  farming,  an  adjunct  of  the  sugar 
factories,  is  usualy  carried  on  near  the  plants,  because  the  bulkiness  of 
the  beets  involves  high  costs  in  transportation.  It  requires  an  excep- 
tionally large  amount  of  hand  labor,  most  of  which  is  done  by  Mexi- 
cans and  Filipinos,  at  Government-fixed  wage  standards  under  the 
sugar  beet  program.  Artichokes,  introduced  into  the  United  States 
by  the  Italians  of  California  and  the  French  of  Louisiana,  are  grown 
today  in  the  fog-moistened  coastal  strip  extending  from  Marina  on 
the  north  to  San  Luis  Obispo  on  the  south. 

Although  the  days  when  stock  raising  was  the  heart  of  California's 
life  have  long  since  passed,  great  flocks  and  herds  still  roam  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Coast  Range  and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  high  mountain  valleys 
in  the  north,  and  the  range  land  in  the  far  south.  The  value  of  the 
annual  cattle,  sheep,  and  hog  production  runs  into  impressive  figures — 
about  $135,000,000,  or  roughly  $45,000,000  more  than  the  total  truck 
crop.  In  1937  California  had  2,298,000  cattle,  820,000  hogs,  and 
3,600,000  sheep  and  lambs.  It  was  third  among  the  States  in  wool 
production  with  28,901,000  pounds  shorn.  In  poultry  it  ranked  sixth 
(June  1938)  in  total  numbers  and  seventh  in  value  of  products;  in 
egg  production  it  ranked  second. 

Growers'  Organizations:  Farm  organizations  formed  by  California 
growers,  stockraisers,  and  dairymen  fall  into  three  main  categories, 
overlapping  in  function  and  membership.  The  first  includes  organiza- 
tions such  as  the  Grange,  the  Farm  Bureau  Federation,  the  Farmers 
Educational  and  Cooperative  Union,  and  Associated  Farmers,  Inc., 
embracing  growers  engaged  in  all  branches  of  agriculture  in  one  organi- 
zation ;  the  second,  the  marketing  cooperatives  such  as  the  Citrus  Grow- 
ers Exchange,  and  the  Prune  and  Apricot  Growers  Association,  and 
the  California  Walnut  Growers  Association;  and  the  third,  organiza- 


78        CALIFORNIA 

tions  such  as  the  Wool  Growers  and  Cattlemen's  Association,  organized 
on  the  basis  of  a  single  industry. 

The  California  Farm  Bureau,  organized  in  1913,  has  done  effective 
work  in  advising  growers  on  technical  questions  involved  in  farming — 
fertilizers,  soil,  irrigation,  and  stockbreeding ;  it  collaborates  with  the 
Agricultural  Adjustment  Administration  and  other  governmental  agen- 
cies. The  Farm  Bureau  also  concerns  itself  with  labor  relations  in 
agriculture  and  carries  on  legislative  activities  on  a  State  and  national 
scale.  Membership  in  the  State  is  about  25,000  in  43  counties. 

The  Farmers  Educational  and  Cooperative  Union,  powerful  in  the 
middle  west,  is  comparatively  small  in  this  State,  centering  around 
Santa  Clara  County.  The  Grange — or,  to  give  its  full  title,  The 
Patrons  of  Husbandry — tends  to  represent  family  rather  than  com- 
mercial farming  in  this  State.  A  fraternal  and  social  organization 
with  ties  to  the  consumers'  cooperative  movement,  it  admits  farmers' 
wives  and  children  to  membership.  It  has  played  an  important  his- 
torical role  in  California  in  pushing  through  measures  of  benefit  to 
the  rural  population. 

The  marketing  cooperatives,  of  which  California  has  about  450 
with  a  membership  of  some  80,000,  are  primarily  business  organiza- 
tions seeking  efficient  control  of  produce,  closely  allied  in  their  func- 
tioning to  the  State  agricultural  prorate  commissions.  With  main 
emphasis  on  price,  shipping  and  marketing  problems,  they  also  operate 
processing  plants  for  their  members,  maintain  purchasing  services,  and 
carry  on  scientific  research  to  improve  quality  of  production.  The 
California  Fruit  Growers  Exchange,  oldest  of  the  cooperatives  and 
typical  of  them  all,  has  about  13,500  members,  comprising  about  210 
local  packing  associations  grouped  in  26  district  exchanges.  It  handles 
over  75  percent  of  the  State's  citrus  crop,  selling  75,000  to  100,000 
cars  of  fruit  in  a  normal  crop  year  for  about  $125,000,000.  In  addi- 
tion, it  manufactures  by-products  such  as  citric  acid  and  pectin,  pur- 
chases supplies  in  volume  for  its  membership,  supplies  lumber  for  crates 
from  its  own  lumber  properties,  provides  growers  with  the  latest  tech- 
nical information  on  citrus  culture,  enforces  grade  regulations  in  ship- 
ping fruit,  using  X-ray  machines  to  inspect  the  crated  product.  It 
is  responsible  for  the  Nation-wide  advertising  campaigns  which  have 
attempted  to  make  the  California  orange — more  than  gold,  or  oil,  or 
movies — register  unmistakably  as  the  State's  own  peculiar  symbol. 


Industry  and  Finance 


FOR  HALF  a  century  the  first  outposts  of  Spanish  rule,  the  mis- 
sions, were  the  centers  of  economic  life  in  California's  shut-in 
feudal  world.  They  grew  into  industrial  institutions,  each  with 
its  weaving  room,  blacksmith  shop,  tannery,  wine  press,  and  ware- 
houses. The  Indian  neophytes,  held  in  subjection  by  the  energetic,  prac- 
tical Franciscan  friars,  learned  to  tan  leather,  weave  coarse  cloth,  bake 
bricks  and  pottery,  make  soap  and  candles,  and  grind  corn.  When 
the  missions  were  secularized  (1834-37),  however,  their  industrial 
activities  disappeared  rapidly  as  the  skilled  neophytes,  now  free  but 
most  of  them  robbed  of  their  land  rights,  either  worked  on  the  ranches 
or  took  to  the  wilds. 

Hardly  had  secularization  been  accomplished  when  the  1840*5  her- 
alded an  economic  revolution.  Canny,  ambitious  foreigners,  most  of 
them  Americans,  pushed  into  the  sleepy  province.  They  harnessed  the 
streams  to  run  the  wheels  of  gristmills  and  sawmills  that  soon  sup- 
planted the  household  metates  (mortars)  and  the  crude  mule-  and  ox- 
power  mills  of  the  Calif ornians.  In  1843  an  American  trapper,  Stephen 
Smith,  set  up  California's  first  steam  gristmill  and  sawmill  at  Bodega. 
John  Augustus  Sutter,  a  Swiss  emigrant,  built  a  flour  mill,  set  up  a 
distillery,  and  began  the  weaving  of  coarse  woolen  blankets  at  his 
colony  of  New  Helvetia  (now  Sacramento).  On  the  eve  of  the 
American  conquest,  according  to  Thomas  O.  Larkin,  United  States 
Consul,  California  was  exporting  enormous  amounts  of  lumber,  soap 
and  brandy. 

The  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  recognizing  the  American  con- 

79 


8O        CALIFORNIA 

quest,  had  not  yet  been  signed  when  gold  was  discovered  in  the  tail- 
race  of  Sutter's  sawmill  at  Coloma.  Although  a  small  scale  gold  rush 
had  sprung  up  in  the  San  Fernando  Hills  back  of  Los  Angeles  six 
years  earlier,  the  enormous  riches  of  the  California  Hills  had  remained 
unsuspected.  Virtually  every  enterprise  but  mining  now  stopped. 
Larkin  later  wrote:  "Every  blacksmith,  carpenter,  and  lawyer  is  leav- 
ing; brick-yards,  saw-mills,  and  ranches  are  left  perfectly  alone."  An- 
other writer  reported:  "Every  bowl,  warming  pan,  and  piggin  has 
gone  to  the  mines.  Everything  in  short  that  has  a  scoop  in  it  that  will 
hold  sand  and  water.  All  the  iron  has  been  worked  up  into  crowbars, 
pick  axes  and  spades." 

During  the  first  three  years  of  the  rush,  placer  miners  took  out 
the  surface  "pay  dirt"  from  the  "diggin's"  with  pick,  shovel,  crowbar, 
and  tin  pan.  Other  contrivances  replaced  the  pan :  the  washing  rocker 
or  "cradle,"  a  criblike  wooden  box  mounted  on  rockers,  with  a  "riddle" 
or  sieve;  the  "Long  Tom,"  a  wooden  trough  with  a  riddle  at  one  end 
over  a  riffle  box;  and  the  "board-sluice,"  a  long  open  flume  with 
riffle-bars  across  the  bottom.  Even  with  such  primitive  tools  as  these, 
fabulous  amounts  of  gold  were  mined — in  1849,  approximately  $10,- 
000,000  worth;  in  1850,  more  than  $41,000,000;  and  in  1852,  the  year 
of  largest  production,  more  than  $81,000,000. 

The  demand  for  money  far  outstripped  the  supply.  Californians 
scorned  paper  money.  Gold  dust,  a  "pinch"  to  the  dollar,  substituted 
for  currency.  Silver  coins  of  many  nations  crept  into  circulation: 
Mexican  dollars,  German  marks,  French  5-franc  pieces.  Private  assay- 
ers  coined  gold  pieces  of  widely  varying  denominations  for  profit.  Not 
until  April  1854,  when  the  new  San  Francisco  mint  began  operations, 
did  Government  minted  coins  circulate  in  needed  quantities. 

Merchants  received  gold  dust  and  specie  for  safe-keeping  in  their 
vaults;  soon  they  were  buying  and  selling  gold,  loaning  funds,  dealing 
in  exchange.  Stephen  A.  Wright  opened  his  "Miners'  Bank"  in  San 
Francisco  late  in  1848,  Naglee  and  Sinton  their  "Exchange  and  De- 
posit Office,"  and  the  Rothschilds  of  London  their  San  Francisco  branch 
early  in  1849.  The  Wells  Fargo  Bank  and  Union  Trust  Company 
of  today,  founded  as  an  express  company,  entered  banking  in  1852. 
By  the  close  of  1853,  San  Francisco  had  nineteen  banks,  carrying  on 
business  in  cramped  offices  and  shacks.  Few  of  these,  however,  sur- 
vived the  depression  following  the  bank  panic  of  Black  Friday,  Febru- 
ary 23,  1855.  For  nearly  a  decade  afterwards,  banking  continued  to 
be  marked  by  instability. 

As  the  "flush  days"  of  mining  drew  to  a  close,  machines  began  to 
replace  men.  In  1851  the  first  mill  for  crushing  quartz  was  erected  in 
Grass  Valley,  Yuba  County;  by  1857,  more  than  150  quartz  mills  had 
been  built  for  working  the  lode.  In  1852  placer  mining  was  revolu- 


INDUSTRY     AND     FINANCE        8l 

tionized  when  hydraulic  methods  were  introduced  at  American  Hill 
in  Nevada  County.  By  the  seventies,  millions  of  tons  of  gold  bearing 
sand  had  been  washed  down  under  powerful  jets  of  water  and  flushed 
into  the  Yuba  and  Feather  Rivers.  The  destruction  of  valley  farm 
lands  by  the  debris  precipitated  a  struggle  between  farmers  and  miners 
which  finally  led  to  prohibition  of  hydraulic  mining  by  injunction  in 
1880. 

Mining  remained  the  chief  industry  throughout  the  first  decade 
of  the  American  regime,  absorbing  almost  60  percent  of  the  inhabitants. 
After  1859,  however,  the  annual  output  of  gold  began  to  decrease, 
falling  to  $18,000,000  by  1870.  Meanwhile,  a  population  increase 
from  92,597  in  1850  to  379,994  a  decade  later,  gave  manufacturing  its 
first  great  impetus. 

By  the  winter  of  1849-50  San  Francisco  had  grown  into  a  lively 
manufacturing  center  of  shipbuilding  yards,  foundries,  flour  mills,  and 
workshops.  To  supply  tools  and  machinery  for  the  mines,  Donahue 
Brothers  established  their  foundry  (later  the  Union  Iron  Works)  in 
1849;  other  foundries  were  soon  opened.  The  wool  of  California's 
sheep  was  utilized  in  the  weaving  of  cloth;  the  hides  of  its  cattle 
in  the  tanning  of  leather.  A  sugar  refinery,  using  raw  sugar  from 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  was  established  on  the  Bay  in  1860.  In  that 
year  there  were  close  to  a  hundred  gristmills  throughout  the  State, 
while  about  three  times  as  many  sawmills  were  making  lumber  of  its 
ponderosa  pine,  its  redwood,  and  Douglas  fir.  The  gold  mines  still 
held  first  place  in  1860,  with  a  $45,000,000  production,  but  man- 
ufactures assumed  growing  importance,  with  an  output  valued  at 
$24,000,000. 

During  the  middle  i86o's  a  prospecting  mania  swept  the  State, 
recalling  the  feverish  "flush  "days."  Prospectors  wandered  into  Cali- 
fornia's most  isolated  regions,  hunting  for  gold,  copper,  silver,  quick- 
silver. So  many  amazing  discoveries  were  reported  that  a  thousand 
new  companies  began  to  peddle  mining  stock.  Frenzied  financiers  ex- 
tended their  efforts  to  a  new  field,  oil  wells.  From  Humboldt  County 
to  San  Diego,  wildcat  wells  were  drilled  as  more  than  60  companies 
entered  the  field.  The  San  Francisco  Bulletin  reported  that  from 
40,000  to  50,000  gallons  of  oil  had  been  produced  in  1865.  But  the 
bubble  soon  burst.  The  wildcat  mining  companies  began  to  collapse 
and  by  the  end  of  the  decade  the  oil  companies,  too,  wound  up  in  prac- 
tical failure  when  their  product  was  pronounced  of  no  value. 

None  the  less,  the  growth  of  industry  continued.  When  the  Civil 
War  interrupted  normal  communications,  goods  once  imported  from 
the  Atlantic  Seaboard,  shoes  and  clothing,  chemicals  and  drugs,  fur- 
niture, iron  and  steel,  distilled  liquors,  soaps  and  candles,  and  tobacco 
were  produced  within  the  State.  As  cities  grew,  gas  plants,  planing 


82        CALIFORNIA 

mills,  foundries,  brick  and  pottery  works  were  built,  and  banking  insti- 
tutions sprang  up.  Four  years  after  the  legislature  had  provided  for 
incorporation  of  Savings  and  Loan  Societies  in  1862,  there  were  five 
savings  banks  with  total  deposits  of  $8,650,000.  In  southern  Cali- 
fornia, remote  from  the  gold  fields  of  the  populous  north,  I.  W.  Hell- 
man  in  1865  hung  up  his  sign,  "I.  W.  Hellman,  Banker";  three  years 
later  Alvinza  Hayward  and  Company  opened,  with  a  capitalization  of 
$100,000. 

Even  after  two  decades  of  industrial  development,  California  was 
not  yet  a  manufacturing  State  in  1870.  Industry  still  labored  under 
some  of  its  original  handicaps:  lack  of  fuel  for  power,  of  facilities 
for  transporting  goods  to  markets,  of  an  adequate  banking  and  credit 
system.  A  further  setback  was  the  financial  panic  of  1875,  which 
followed  the  eastern  panic  of  two  years  before,  and  was  itself  aggra- 
vated by  the  collapse  of  wild  speculation  in  mining  stocks.  It  broke 
with  startling  suddenness  when  the  Bank  of  California,  a  financial 
power  since  1864,  closed  its  doors  because  of  the  speculations  of  its 
president,  William  C.  Ralston.  Banks  collapsed  throughout  the  State; 
in  Los  Angeles  all  closed,  two  permanently. 

A  widespread  demand  for  Government  regulation  of  banking  forced 
the  legislature  in  1878  to  pass  the  Banking  Act,  under  which  "a  board 
of  three  bank  commissioners  was  appointed  with  power  to  call  for 
statements  from  the  banks,  make  examinations  of  their  affairs,  regulate 
the  conduct  of  their  business,  and  to  close  insolvent  concerns."  Of  the 
84  banks  then  in  existence,  five  were  forced  into  liquidation.  In  spite 
of  this  temporary  slump,  bank  deposits  by  1890  had  grown  to  $230,- 
000,000,  representing  an  88  percent  increase  in  10  years,  while  the 
number  of  banks  increased  from  120  to  232. 

Industrial  expansion  kept  pace  with  banking.  The  growth  of  agri- 
culture called  for  farm  implement  and  wagon  factories  and  for  mills 
and  factories  to  process  its  goods  for  market.  The  influx  of  inhabi- 
tants during  the  Great  Boom  of  1887-88  widened  the  local  market, 
furnished  needed  capital,  and  increased  the  labor  supply.  By  1890 
the  number  of  manufacturing  establishments  was  nearly  twice  that  of 
1870,  the  value  of  manufactured  products  more  than  three  times  as 
great,  and  the  capital  invested  nearly  four  times  as  great. 

The  Nation-wide  panic  of  1893  rocked  industry  and  banking  to 
their  foundations  once  more.  On  June  14,  the  Riverside  Banking 
Company  crashed.  Two  banks  closed  in  San  Francisco,  four  in  Los 
Angeles,  and  several  others  throughout  the  State.  After  1898,  as  the 
business  trend  turned  upward  again,  banking  resources  were  more  than 
doubled.  But  again  in  1907,  as  another  national  depression  hit  Cali- 
fornia, bank  failures  shook  the  State.  One  consequence  was  the  Bank 


INDUSTRY     AND     FINANCE         83 

Act  of  1909,  imposing  more  stringent  regulations,  which  brought  greater 
stability  to  California  banking. 

Industrial  production,  meanwhile,  had  risen.  By  1899  California 
had  4,997  manufacturing  establishments,  representing  an  estimated  cap- 
ital investment  of  $175,000,000,  which  produced  goods  valued  at 
$257,000,000.  The  chief  industries  were,  in  the  order  of  their  im- 
portance, sugar  and  molasses  refineries,  meat-packing  plants,  lumber 
mills  and  brickyards,  flour  and  gristmills,  fruit  and  vegetable  can- 
neries, foundries  and  machine  shops.  Manufacturing  had  far  outgrown 
mining,  which  produced  $29,313,460  of  mineral  products  in  1899. 
Handicapped  by  lack  of  fuel,  it  was  still  little  more  than  an  adjunct 
to  agriculture.  But  by  this  time  manufacturing  had  begun  to  draw 
upon  new  resources  of  power — petroleum  and  hydroelectric  energy. 

In  1893  E.  L.  Doheny  and  C.  A.  Canfield  sank  a  shaft  with  pick, 
shovel  and  windlass  on  a  plot  of  ground  at  the  corner  of  Patton  and 
West  State  Streets  in  Los  Angeles.  A  little  oil  oozed  up,  the  first 
trickle  from  a  vast  reservoir  which  numberless  derricks  in  the  Los 
Angeles  field  would  soon  begin  to  drain.  Years  before,  the  early  Span- 
ish settlers,  whose  cattle  sometimes  got  mired  in  surface  oil  pools,  had 
plastered  the  sticky  brea  (Sp.,  tar)  on  the  roofs  of  their  adobe  houses. 
As  early  as  1855  or  1856,  Andres  Pico  had  distilled  small  quantities 
of  oil  for  use  at  Mission  San  Fernando.  Wildcat  companies  were 
drilling  wells  throughout  the  State  in  the  i86o's.  In  1874  the  Cali- 
fornia Star  Oil  Company  established  the  first  refinery  neai  Newhall. 
During  the  next  decade  fields  were  being  worked  in  the  Puente  Hills, 
Whittier,  Summerland,  Newhall,  Ventura,  and  Los  Gatos  districts. 
By  1888  annual  production  had  risen  to  690,000  barrels.  The  Coalinga, 
McKittrick,  and  Midway-Sunset  fields  in  the  San  Joaquin  Basin  were 
producing  by  1890  or  1891,  the  Los  Angeles-Salt  Lake  field  by  1893. 
Production  had  risen  in  1900  to  4,319,950  barrels  and  this  was  but  a 
fraction  of  the  yearly  output  to  follow. 

In  1882  George  Chaffey  began  to  operate  a  small  power  plant  near 
Etiwanda.  When  the  San  Antonio  Light  and  Power  Company  was 
formed,  just  a  decade  later,  to  transmit  electricity  from  its  power 
station  in  San  Antonio  Canyon  near  Pomona,  only  two  other  commer- 
cial plants,  one  in  Oregon  and  the  other  in  Colorado,  were  producing 
hydroelectric  power.  A  year  later  the  Redlands  Electric  and  Power 
Company  was  operating  its  plant  on  Mill  Creek  in  the  San  Bernardino 
Mountains.  By  1900  the  hydroelectric  industry,  grown  to  a  producing 
capacity  of  30,500  kilowatt  hours,  was  developing  speedily  to  meet  the 
demands  for  electricity  of  railroad,  mine,  factory,  home,  and  farm. 

The  new  century  saw  a  marked  increase  in  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  the  State.  The  value  of  manufactured  products  increased 
nearly  tenfold  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  from  the  $257,000,000 


4        CALIFORNIA 

of  1899  to  $2,443,000,000  in  1925.  During  the  World  War  period  of 
forced  expansion,  industrial  output  rose  170  percent  in  value  and  after 
the  abrupt  decline  of  post-war  deflation,  industrial  growth  continued 
rapidly.  From  1919  to  1925  the  increase  in  value  of  manufactured 
products  was  1.5  percent  for  the  country  as  a  whole  but  28  percent  for 
California.  Industry,  as  it  expanded,  became  more  evenly  distributed. 
Los  Angeles,  like  San  Francisco,  became  a  foremost  manufacturing 
center ;  Oakland,  Richmond,  San  Jose,  Berkeley,  and  Fresno  outstripped 
Sacramento,  their  former  leader. 

The  State's  industrial  output  soared  to  a  total  value  of  more  than 
three  billion  dollars  in  1929.  After  an  abrupt  drop  to  less  than  two 
billion  in  the  following  two-year  period,  it  has  risen  somewhat,  though 
not  to  its  1929  level.  If  the  cost  of  motion  picture  production  (prior 
to  1933  included  in  computations  of  the  total  value  of  industrial  output) 
is  added  to  the  value  of  other  manufactured  products  for  1935,  the 
total  is  very  close  to  that  of  a  decade  earlier.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  because  films  are  rented,  not  sold,  production  costs  are 
not  a  measure  of  the  value  of  output.  With  a  production  of  $265,- 
385,925  in  1935,  petroleum  refining  stood  at  the  top  of  eighteen 
manufacturing  industries  whose  products  were  valued  at  more  than 
$25,000,000.  Fruit  and  vegetable  processing  totaled  $174,011,865  for 
that  year  and  both  meat  packing  and  the  automotive  industry,  more 
than  $120,000,000. 

Oil  production  has  been  first  among  the  State's  industries  since 
1919.  The  era  of  greatest  productivity  began  in  1920,  with  the  open- 
ing of  such  fields  as  Huntington  Beach,  Santa  Fe  Springs,  and  Signal 
Hill.  From  1920  to  1926  California  produced  1,300,000,000  barrels, 
more  oil  than  in  all  its  previous  history.  During  this  boom  period  the 
industry  had  more  than  its  share  of  unscrupulous  promoters  and  in 
1927,  the  year  of  the  startling  Julian  Petroleum  Corporation  scandal 
in  Los  Angeles,  the  department  of  natural  resources  took  over  State 
regulation  of  oil  production.  Today  in  the  oil  fields  that  dot  Los 
Angeles,  Ventura,  Kern,  Fresno,  Orange,  and  Santa  Barbara  Counties, 
the  passerby  may  see  enormous  forests  of  oil  derricks  sucking  black  gold 
from  the  earth  night  and  day.  In  1937  production  was  238,521,000 
barrels.  In  the  same  year  production  of  natural  gas,  in  daily  consump- 
tion of  which  the  State  leads  the  nation,  was  357,420,000,000  cubic 
feet. 

Second  in  value  of  production  among  California's  industries  are  its 
fruit  and  vegetable  canneries,  which  in  1937  produced  a  fruit  and 
vegetable  pack  of  almost  60,000,000  cases,  thirty  percent  of  the  Na- 
tion's total  output.  To  supply  its  demands,  the  manufacture  of  tin 
cans  and  tinware  has  itself  risen  to  seventh  place  among  the  State's 
industries.  An  important  branch  of  fruit  and  vegetable  processing  is 


INDUSTRY     AND     FINANCE        85 

the  dried  fruit  business,  largely  conducted  by  co-operative  organiza- 
tions whose  advertising  efforts  have  made  California  brands  familiar 
throughout  the  world.  The  sea  food  canning  industry,  centered  chiefly 
in  Monterey,  San  Diego,  and  Los  Angeles,  leads  the  world  in  com- 
mercial production  of  tuna  fish.  Another  industry,  wine  making,  rep- 
resenting an  estimated  investment  of  $350,000,000,  shipped  nearly 
60,000,000  gallons  in  1937.  The  meat-packing  industry  utilizes  ship- 
ments from  other  States  as  well  as  California's  supply  of  livestock. 

California's  importance  as  an  automobile  market  (in  1937  there 
were  2,484,653  automobiles  registered)  has  influenced  eastern  manu- 
facturers in  opening  branch  factories  within  the  State.  A  flourishing 
allied  industry,  motor  vehicle  bodies  and  parts,  was  responsible  for  an 
output  valued  at  $19, 155,337  in  1935,  while  manufacture  of  rubber 
tires  and  inner  tubes  took  tenth  place  among  all  industries.  In  air- 
craft manufacture  the  output  for  1935  was  valued  at  $15,883,918;  by 
the  end  of  1937  a  single  manufacturer  reported  net  sales  in  excess  of 
$20,000,000. 

Metal  products  and  machine  production  have  become  increasingly 
important  in  the  industrial  life  of  the  State.  Pig  iron  from  Utah  has 
largely  supplanted  scrap  and  pig  iron  from  England  or  Belgium  as 
raw  material.  Southern  California's  iron  deposits,  smelted  with  coke 
from  Utah  and  Colorado,  promise  to  furnish  another  source  of  supply. 

Except  for  redwood,  production  of  lumber  is  far  less  than  that 
needed.  Much  of  the  material  imported  (in  1937  a  billion  feet)  is 
timber  which  California  mills  convert  into  lumber.  The  total  output 
of  the  lumber  products  industries,  including  saw-  and  planing-mills, 
box  factories  and  furniture  plants,  was  valued  at  $97,386,559  in  1935- 

Before  the  turn  of  the  century  mining  had  fallen  behind  manu- 
factures in  value  of  output,  though  it  continued  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  State's  economic  life.  The  value  of  mineral  output  for 
1936  (excluding  petroleum)  was  $227,539,942.  In  gold  output  the 
State  still  leads  the  Nation.  A  total  of  1,174,578  ounces  of  gold  were 
mined  in  1937,  the  greatest  amount  since  1861.  Between  1900  and 
1915  dredging  displaced  other  methods  in  placer  mining.  Huge  chain- 
bucket  dredgers  worked  their  way  down  the  shallow  rivers,  creating 
their  own  channels  as  they  went.  The  gravel  was  scooped  from  the 
river  bed  to  the  deck  of  the  dredger,  washed  in  revolving  screens, 
and  the  gold  particles  captured  on  gold  saving  tables  supplied  with 
rifHes,  or  in  short  sluices.  Since  the  World  War  machine  worked 
quartz  mines  have  been  a  chief  source  of  supply;  the  gold  is  reclaimed 
by  amalgamation  or  by  cyaniding.  Forty  counties  produce  gold,  60 
percent  from  lode  mines,  40  percent  from  placers,  but  the  Grass  Valley 
and  Nevada  City  district  is  by  far  the  outstanding  center  of  production. 

Of  the  State's  58  commercial  minerals,  silver  is  next  in  importance 


86        CALIFORNIA 

to  gold;  2,103,799  fine  ounces,  valued  at  $1,629,392  were  produced 
in  1936.  Copper  production,  centering  in  Trinity  County,  was  10,- 
502,000  pounds,  valued  at  $1,270,742;  lead  production,  centering  in 
Inyo  County,  was  2,372,000  pounds,  valued  at  $139,948.  Most  of  the 
borax  mined  in  the  United  States  comes  from  Inyo,  Kern,  and  San 
Bernardino  Counties,  and  the  greatest  United  States  production  of 
sodium  bicarbonate  is  from  Searles  Lake  in  San  Bernardino  County. 
The  State's  producing  quicksilver  mines,  numbering  54  in  1937,  pro- 
vide a  large  portion  of  the  world  supply.  Tungsten  is  produced  at 
Atolia  in  San  Bernardino  County;  magnesite,  in  Stanislaus  and  Santa 
Clara  Counties.  Building  materials  account  for  approximately  $50,- 
000,000  of  the  total  value  of  mineral  output. 

California  today  ranks  third  among  the  States  in  the  production 
of  electricity.  The  hydroelectric  industry  generated  30,500  kilowatt 
hours  in  1900  and  8,365,205,000  in  1937.  Steam  heat  and  internal 
combustion  added  1,266,974,000  kilowatt  hours  to  the  total  produc- 
tion within  the  State  for  that  year.  California  also  consumes  electricity 
generated  at  Boulder  Dam,  carried  by  high-power  transmission  lines 
•operating  at  287,500  volts  over  a  distance  of  266  miles. 

From  1900  to  1917  the  State's  banking  resources  accumulated  stead- 
ily, advancing  from  $384,785,000  to  $1,682,000,000,  while  the  number 
of  banks  increased  from  269  to  718.  The  post-war  era  witnessed  the 
emergence  of  powerful  financial  institutions  through  bank  mergers, 
the  establishment  of  branch  banking  on  a  wide  scale,  and  the  impor- 
tation of  capital  from  the  East.  In  1927  banking  resources  were 
$3,833,957,000,  an  increase  of  128  percent  for  the  decade  following 
1917.  In  1928  the  Bank  of  Italy  (now  the  bank  of  America)  had 
become  the  fifth  largest  in  the  country,  with  279  branches  throughout 
the  State.  The  growth  of  the  banking  system  was  paralleled  by  the 
growth  of  banking  and  loan  companies,  whose  assets  increased  100 
percent  from  1895  to  1920  and  400  percent  from  1920  to  1927. 
California  shared  with  other  States  the  debacle  of  bank  failures  that 
came  with  the  depression.  The  banks  recovered  gradually  from  this 
setback  until  in  1937  their  resources  were  greater  than  they  had  been 
a  decade  earlier. 

Following  1929,  California's  industrial  graph,  here  as  elsewhere  in 
the  Nation,  fell  in  a  dizzy  curve.  After  an  upturn  from  1935  to 
I937>  during  which  period  the  losses  of  1930-1935  were  partially  offset, 
the  trend  headed  downward  during  the  latter  part  of  1937.  Agricul- 
ture remains  (1939)  the  dominant  factor  in  the  economy  of  the  State, 
but  manufacturing  runs  a  close  second,  and  far  outdistances  mining; 
it  contributes  one-third  to  the  State's  yearly  income.  Despite  all  re- 
verses, California  still  holds  its  position  of  eighth  manufacturing  State 
in  the  Union. 


From  Clipper  Skip  to  Clipper  Plane 


•f  |  V 


OO  SWIFT  arrives  as  tardy  as  too  slow"  might  have  been 
the  motto  in  Spanish  California.  The  pack  mules  of  the 
padres  ambled  from  one  mission  to  another.  The  horses  of 
the  rancheros  might  gallop  fast  enough  in  a  round-up,  but  not  in  going 
from  ranch  to  town.  There  was  no  reason  for  speed  nor  was  speed 
possible  in  a  carreta  (cart),  squeaking  with  its  ponderous  wheels  of 
solid  oak  over  roads  little  more  than  trails.  Soldier-couriers  carried  the 
mail  along  the  Camino  Real  (king's  highway)  from  San  Francisco  to 
San  Diego  and  continued  along  their  slow,  hot,  dry  way  to  Loreto  in 
Lower  California,  whence  letters  went  across  the  gulf  of  San  Bias  and 
on  to  Mexico  City. 

Trade  was  no  less  leisurely.  Although  the  Spanish  government 
prohibited  trade  with  other  than  Spanish  ships,  American  and  British 
ships  successfully  smuggled  their  goods  into  California  long  before  the 
Mexican  government  removed  this  restriction.  Californians  needed  too 
many  products  to  resist  the  temptation  of  dealing  with  smugglers,  while 
the  profits  which  awaited  the  Yankee  sea  captains  from  trading  their 
manufactured  wares  for  seal  and  sea  otter  pelts,  hides,  tallow,  and  lum- 
ber were  enough  to  induce  them  to  risk  capture  of  their  ships  and  confis- 
cation of  their  cargoes.  Their  illicit  trade  grew  to  the  point  where  a  hide 
came  to  be  called  a  "California  bank  note,"  substituting  for  money  as 
the  common  medium  of  exchange. 

When  gold  was  discovered  in  1848  the  sudden  mass  movement 
taxed  intercoastal  transportation  facilities  to  the  utmost.  By  March 
1849,  17,000  persons  had  sailed  from  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast  cities  for 

87 


88        CALIFORNIA 

California;  in  the  same  year  fully  35,000  traveled  the  tortuous  overland 
routes.  With  such  mushroom  growth  came  an  extraordinary  demand 
for  goods,  so  that  freight  rates  rose  to  $50  and  even  $60  a  ton.  The 
Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  established  when  the  gold  rush 
began,  speeded  construction  of  its  three  i,ooo-ton  steamers  for  the 
New  York-to-San  Francisco  run.  The  first  of  these,  the  California, 
arrived  at  San  Francisco  February  28,  1849,  laden  to  the  water's  edge 
with  400  Argonauts  taken  aboard  at  Panama.  The  company  rapidly 
built  up  a  combined  Atlantic  and  Pacific  fleet  of  29  steamships.  Aided 
by  the  Panama  Railroad  and  a  government  subsidy  for  carrying  mail, 
it  did  an  enormous  business,  bringing  some  175,000  passengers  to  Cali- 
fornia and  taking  back  $200,000,000  in  gold  within  ten  years. 

The  New  England  shipbuilders,  too,  rose  to  the  emergency.  Soon 
that  most  beautiful  of  sailing  ships,  "the  knife-edged  clipper  with  her 
ruffled  spar,"  was  cutting  the  sailing  time  around  the  Horn  to  little 
more  than  three  months.  The  Flying  Cloud  and  the  Andrew  Jackson 
made  the  trip  in  89  days.  All  this  record-breaking  bustle  meant  enor- 
mous profits  to  the  owners.  In  one  passage  the  Samuel  Russell,  carry- 
ing a  i2OO-ton  cargo,  earned  a  gross  revenue  of  $72,000,  or  more  than 
the  cost  of  building  the  ship. 

From  San  Francisco,  travelers  continued  by  horseback  or  steamer 
to  the  mines.  The  first  river  steamer  to  make  regular  runs  from  San 
Francisco  to  Sacramento  was  a  little  launch  named  the  Pioneer,  im- 
ported in  sections  on  the  deck  of  a  sailing  ship,  which  began  puffing  and 
blowing  up  the  river  in  the  summer  of  1849.  A  number  of  other 
vessels  of  not  too  great  draft  were  pressed  into  service  on  the  Sacra- 
mento and  San  Joaquin,  where  rivalry  for  speed  led  sometimes  to  forc- 
ing of  the  boilers  and  terrific  explosions.  Since  there  were  not  enough 
steamers  of  light  draft  to  handle  the  traffic,  the  high  fares — 2  ounces 
of  gold  or  its  cash  equivalent — and  the  freight  rates  of  $50  per  ton 
from  San  Francisco  to  Sacramento  led  the  owners  of  medium-sized 
sailing  vessels  to  attempt  the  trip.  Once  the  master  had  got  his  craft 
out  of  the  tangle  of  shipping  in  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco,  the  bay 
breezes  made  the  passage  up  through  San  Pablo  and  Suisun  Bays  easy 
enough.  If  his  destination  was  Stockton,  he  could  still  count  on  a 
little  breeze,  his  chief  trouble  being  to  keep  to  the  main  channel  through 
a  circuitous  course  in  the  San  Joaquin  delta.  But  if  he  began  to  sail 
up  the  Sacramento,  his  troubles  were  manifold,  as  Captain  Coffin  of 
the  Sophronia  complained  in  his  account  of  "fifteen  days'  labour,  boiling 
and  roasting"  en  route  to  Sacramento.  The  river  banks  were  "so  over- 
grown with  oaks  and  sycamores  that  we  lay  becalmed.  .  .  .  The  only 
way  to  advance  was  to  warp  and  tie."  Before  a  year  was  out,  however, 
several  steamers  suitable  for  the  river  run  had  made  the  trip  around 
the  Horn  or  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  The  most  famous  of 


FROM     CLIPPER     SHIP     TO     CLIPPER     PLANE        89 

these  was  the  Senator,  of  which  it  was  later  said  that  she  carried 
enough  gold  to  sink  her  had  it  been  carried  all  in  one  load. 

From  Stockton,  Sacramento  and  Marysville,  focal  points  on  the 
river  routes,  carreta,  calash,  and  spring  wagon  carried  men  and  sup- 
plies to  an  ever  growing  number  of  new  mining  camps.  Driven  by 
Mexican  arrieros  (mule  drivers),  each  animal  with  a  load  of  300 
pounds,  mule  teams  set  out  not  only  with  bacon  and  beans  and  shovels, 
but  with  plows,  barrels  of  whisky,  pianos,  and  printing  presses.  Later, 
as  roads  took  the  place  of  trails,  the  stage  coach  and  the  heavy  freighter 
were  pressed  into  service.  The  first  Concord  Coach  reached  California 
in  1850.  With  its  steer-hide  springs,  its  stout  ash  spokes,  its  landscaped 
panels,  and  damask-lined  curtains,  it  was,  by  comparison  with  the 
carreta,  a  model  of  beauty  and  comfort. 

In  June  1851  there  were  but  34  post  offices  in  all  California.  With 
gold  or  high  wages  beckoning,  no  one  would  carry  the  mail  at  Gov- 
ernment pay;  hence  the  rise  of  the  expressman  who  carried  mail 
independently  from  San  Francisco,  Sacramento,  or  Stockton,  charging 
at  first  the  fantastic  price  of  $4  a  letter.  If  the  post  rider  was  shrewd, 
he  presently  became  a  treasure  carrier,  or  even  a  banker — if  he  could 
get  hold  of  a  safe.  Within  another  year  the  business  of  carrying  gold 
from  the  mines  had  attracted  a  number  of  far-sighted  Easterners.  The 
Adams  Express  Company  established  itself,  and  in  May  1852,  Wells, 
Fargo  and  Company  announced,  "We  are  now  prepared  to  forward 
gold  dust,  bullion,  specie,  packages,  parcels,  and  freight  to  and  from 
New  York  and  San  Francisco,  thence  to  Sacramento,  Marysville,  Ne- 
vada, Shasta,  Stockton,  Sonora,  and  all  the  principal  towns  of  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon." 

In  1858  Congress  gave  the  Butterfield  Overland  Mail  an  annual 
subsidy  of  $600,000.  Their  stages  went  across  the  old  Santa  Fe 
Trail  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  Joseph  in  23  days.  When  the  Civil 
War  interrupted  service  on  the  Butterfield  line,  the  stages  used  the 
middle  or  California  trail  route  via  Colfax  and  Truckee,  across  the 
Nevada  desert  to  Salt  Lake  City.  Stages  also  ran  north  to  the  mines 
in  Trinity  and  Shasta  Counties  and  across  the  Siskiyous  into  Oregon. 
In  1862  the  discovery  of  the  rich  Comstock  silver  mines  in  Nevada 
brought  about  a  kind  of  reversal  of  the  emigrant  trail.  As  a  rival 
to  the  California  Route,  a  toll  road  was  built  from  Placerville  over 
the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  down  the  steep  drop  to  Tahoe  Val- 
ley and  thence  into  Nevada.  Over  it  ran  the  stages  of  the  Pioneer 
Line. 

Far  swifter  than  the  best  stages  were  the  riders  of  the  Pony  Ex- 
press, who  for  a  brief  period  carried  a  fast  mail  service  from  Missouri 
to  California  each  week.  Riding  a  horse  bred  for  the  race  track,  car- 
rying no  arms,  even  wearing  clothes  and  boots  as  light  as  possible,  the 


90        CALIFORNIA 

rider  sped  across  some  1,900  miles  in  eight  days.  With  the  opening 
of  telegraph  service  across  the  continent  in  1861,  the  Pony  Express 
was  discontinued,  but  it  had  already  blazed  the  way  for  the  first  trans- 
continental railroad. 

In  striking  contrast  was  another  brief  experiment.  In  1852  Jeffer- 
son Davis  urged,  in  Congress,  the  use  of  the  camel  on  the  Great  Ameri- 
can Desert.  The  California  press  became  naively  eloquent.  Why  not 
"a  dromedary  express  to  carry  the  fast  mail"  ?  Congress  made  a  small 
appropriation  and  two  caravans  of  camels  were  shipped  to  Texas.  Some 
of  these  or  their  offspring  eventually  reached  California  and  the  Army 
used  them  between  Fort  Tejon  and  Los  Angeles.  Unfortunately  the 
camels  frightened  horses  and  mules.  The  teamsters  and  mule  skinners 
and  vaqueros  swore  in  two  languages  that  they  would  have  no  trek 
with  these  strange  beasts.  The  Army  drivers  could  not  pack  or  man- 
age the  camels  properly  and  were  unwilling  to  learn.  In  the  end  the 
camels  were  auctioned  off:  some  to  end  their  days  in  circuses,  others 
to  carry  salt  to  the  Comstock  mines,  still  others  to  be  set  adrift  on 
the  desert. 

California's  first  railroad  was  the  modest  little  Sacramento  Valley 
line  which  in  1856  began  running  east  22  miles  from  the  capital  to 
Folsom,  reducing  considerably  the  time  to  the  mines.  It  had  a  wood- 
burning  locomotive,  as  did  the  line  which  joined  San  Francisco  and 
San  Jose  in  1864.  In  Southern  California,  over  a  line  from  Los 
Angeles  to  Wilmington,  ran  a  vainglorious  black  and  gold  locomo- 
tive called  the  San  Gabriel,  alongside  of  which  the  vaqueros  used  to 
race,  shouting  at  it  derisively  and  profanely  in  Spanish. 

As  early  as  1836  there  had  been  talk  of  a  transcontinental  railroad, 
but  partisan  rivalry  over  the  slavery  question  between  North  and  South 
held  up  action  by  Congress  until  1862.  In  that  year  Theodore  Judah, 
who  had  been  chief  engineer  for  the  Sacramento  Valley  Railroad  and 
agent  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Convention  in  Washington,  returned  to 
California  to  announce  that  he  had  found  a  practicable  railway  route 
across  the  Sierra  Nevada.  His  enthusiasm  and  vision  were  such  that 
he  was  able  to  fire  the  imaginations  of  four  wealthy,  hard-headed 
Sacramento  merchants:  Leland  Stanford,  a  grocer,  Charles  Crocker,  a 
dry-goods  man,  and  Collis  Huntington  and  Mark  Hopkins,  partners 
in  a  hardware  establishment.  These  became  the  "Big  Four." 

In  1863  the  Union  Pacific  began  to  build  west  from  Omaha,  the 
Central  Pacific  east  from  Sacramento.  Men  were  scarce;  money  was 
short ;  labor  troubles  halted  construction  until  Crocker  imported  Chinese 
coolies.  There  were  no  power  tools  in  the  i86o's  and  no  explosives 
but  black  powder.  With  pick  and  shovel,  steel  and  jack,  the  crews 
dug  and  blasted  through  the  granite  of  the  Sierras.  It  became  a  race 
with  the  Union  Pacific  which  ended  in  May  1869  at  Promontory,  in 


FROM     CLIPPER     SHIP     TO     CLIPPER     PLANE        QI 

Utah,  where  Stanford  drove  in  the  golden  spike.  The  Southern  Pacific 
completed  its  line  to  Los  Angeles  in  1876  and  a  year  later  to  Texas 
tidewater,  connecting  southern  California  directly  with  the  South  and 
East. 

The  first  coach  trains  to  cross  the  continent,  for  all  their  red  plush 
and  polished  brass,  were  none  too  comfortable.  In  winter  a  stove  at 
one  end  of  the  coach  gave  very  uneven  heat,  and  in  summer  there  was 
no  ventilation  without  dust  and  cinders.  However,  the  coaches  were 
palaces  on  wheels  compared  to  the  emigrant  trains  that  brought  to 
the  west  the  hopeful  tide  of  Europe's  poor.  The  discomfort  and 
squalor  of  these  trains  was  described  in  detail  by  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son in  The  Amateur  Emigrant.  Provisions  for  sanitation  were  quite 
inadequate;  the  journey  long.  "Haste,"  we  learn  from  this  account, 
"is  not  a  foible  of  the  emigrant  train.  It  gets  through  on  suffrance, 
running  the  gauntlet  among  its  more  considerable  brethren." 

The  enthusiasm  which  had  greeted  the  Southern  Pacific  in  1869 
fell  to  a  low  ebb  in  the  eighties,  when  this  railroad  and  the  Santa  Fe 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company 
and  formed  the  Transcontinental  Association  with  the  purpose  of 
keeping  up  freight  rates.  The  farmers  and  businessmen  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  State  complained  bitterly  at  paying  rates  which  were 
not  only  high  but  also  fluctuating.  The  board  of  railroad  commis- 
sioners, controlled  by  the  railways,  refused  relief;  it  permitted  tariffs 
which  were  grossly  discriminative.  The  struggle  between  the  Southern 
Pacific  and  the  farmers  was  long  and  bitter,  leading  even  to  bloodshed 
in  Tulare  County. 

Also  chafing  under  the  burden  of  the  freight  rates  charged  by  the 
Transcontinental  Association,  San  Francisco  merchants  in  1891  or- 
ganized the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Steamship  Line  with  six  steamers  de- 
signed to  compete  with  the  Pacific  Mail.  In  the  same  period  business- 
men of  the  interior  towns  and  cities  joined  San  Franciscans  in  form- 
ing the  Merchants'  Traffic  Association.  The  new  organization,  besides 
sponsoring  the  new  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Steamship  Line,  enabled  the 
Panama  Railway  Company  to  establish  a  competitive  line  between  New 
York  and  San  Francisco  via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  It  was  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  building  in  1895-6  of  the  San  Francisco  and  San 
Joaquin  Valley  Railroad  from  Stockton  to  Bakersfield. 

On  the  coast  line  from  San  Francisco  to  Los  Angeles,  the  Southern 
Pacific  did  not  complete  the  section  between  Lompoc  and  Santa  Bar- 
bara until  1901,  and  the  Northwestern  Pacific  road  to  Eureka  was 
not  completed  until  1914.  Even  with  these  lines  constructed  there 
were  (and  still  are)  a  number  of  fair  sized  towns  which  have  never 
been  served  by  any  railroad.  In  addition  to  these,  many  places  pop- 


92        CALIFORNIA 

ular  for  vacations — the  Geysers,  Tassajara  Springs,  even  Yosemite 
until  1907 — could  be  reached  only  by  coach  and  six. 

The  coast  country,  inaccessible  by  both  sea  and  land,  has  remained 
largely  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  State.  Santa  Monica,  Santa  Bar- 
bara, Port  San  Luis,  Monterey,  Drake's  Bay,  Fort  Bragg — none  of 
these  has  deep  water  facilities  or  even  very  safe  anchorage  in  stormy 
weather.  Indeed,  apart  from  the  superb  bay  of  San  Francisco,  only 
San  Diego  and  Eureka  have  good  natural  harbors.  To  overcome  the 
lack  of  safe  anchorages  along  the  rocky  coast,  shippers  have  resorted 
to  the  ingenious  device  of  the  "high  line,"  lowering  their  goods  with 
block  and  tackle  over  hawsers  strung  from  the  cliffs  to  waiting  ves- 
sels offshore.  Up  and  down  the  northern  coast  are  lumber  towns 
where  lumber  has  been  shipped  in  this  fashion  since  the  1870*8. 

For  years  Los  Angeles  was  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  an  ade- 
quate harbor.  The  final  selection  of  San  Pedro  ended  the  long  "Free 
Harbor  Fight"  between  the  people  of  Los  Angeles  and  the  Southern 
Pacific,  which  had  greatly  favored  the  plan  for  a  harbor  at  Santa 
Monica.  The  choice  also  greatly  benefited  the  new  San  Pedro,  Los 
Angeles  and  Salt  Lake  Railroad,  which  followed  the  old  Mormon 
trail  across  southern  Nevada  to  its  western  terminus  at  San  Pedro. 
San  Pedro's  open  bay,  protected  only  on  the  west  by  a  headland, 
seemed  not  too  promising  until  the  completion  in  1910  of  an  11,000- 
foot  breakwater  protecting  the  outer  harbor  and  the  excavation  of 
a  spacious  inner  harbor  from  shallow  tidal  areas.  In  1937  it  was 
the  terminal  for  165  steamship  lines  and  three  transcontinental  rail- 
roads reaching  coastwise,  intercoastal,  and  foreign  markets. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  intercoastal  vessels,  tramp 
steamers,  naval  craft,  luxury  liners  in  round-the-world  service — all 
have  made  California  harbors  regular  ports  of  call.  Today  the  flags 
of  every  maritime  nation  flutter  in  the  winds.  During  the  first  quarter 
of  the  century  San  Francisco's  foreign  commerce  increased  fourfold, 
while  traffic  in  cargo  destined  to  the  region  west  of  the  Rockies,  for 
which  both  San  Francisco  and  Oakland  harbors  are  particularly  de- 
signed, swelled  the  volume  of  trade.  During  the  1920*8,  growing  fleets 
of  lumber  freighters  and  oil  tankers  passed  in  and  out  of  Los  Angeles 
harbor  until  it  became  one  of  the  greatest  lumber-importing  and  oil- 
exporting  harbors.  In  1937  the  Los  Angeles- Long  Beach  tonnage  was 
21,208,681,  valued  at  $925,451,543;  the  San  Francisco  tonnage 
28,812,967,  valued  at  $1,209,641,226. 

The  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  Rivers  were  almost  ruined  for 
navigation  by  silting  up  with  the  debris  from  hydraulic  mining  along 
their  tributaries  until  legislation  halted  the  destruction.  Only  by  per- 
sistent dredging  were  they  kept  open  for  small  steamboats.  Though 
floods  still  fill  these  rivers  with  silt,  much  of  the  fruit  and  vegetables 


FROM     CLIPPER     SHIP     TO     CLIPPER     PLANE        93 

shipped  from  the  interior  goes  by  water  from  Sacramento  and  Stockton. 
The  Stockton  harbor  has  been  deepened  sufficiently  to  accommodate 
the  largest  ocean-going  freighters.  Today  California's  river-borne  com- 
merce reaches  an  annual  total  of  over  2,000,000  tons  of  freight,  ex- 
ceeded in  value  only  by  the  trade  on  the  Mississippi,  Columbia,  and 
Hudson  River  systems.  The  Shasta  Dam,  now  (1939)  under  con- 
struction near  Kennet  in  Shasta  County,  will  keep  the  flow  of  the 
Sacramento  relatively  uniform  throughout  the  year,  once  more  permit- 
ting navigation  to  Red  Bluff  as  in  the  steamboating  days  of  the  iSso's. 

The  ferryboats  which  for  so  many  years  have  been  as  much  a 
feature  of  San  Francisco  Bay  as  the  islands  of  Yerba  Buena,  Angel, 
and  Alcatraz,  had  as  their  forerunner  a  whale  boat  named  by  some 
flight  of  the  imagination  the  Pirouette.  In  1851  she  began  running 
as  a  ferry  to  San  Antonio  (now  East  Oakland)  with  a  tariff  of  $i 
per  person,  $3  per  horse,  $3  per  wagon,  $5  per  two-horse  wagon,  $3 
per  head  of  meat  cattle,  $i  per  sheep,  and  $i  per  hog.  The  appear- 
ance of  competitors  cut  these  rates  in  half  within  a  few  years.  The 
ferries,  which  eventually  achieved  the  luxurious  air  of  great  floating 
palaces,  continued  to  serve  the  Bay  until  completion  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco-Oakland Bay  Bridge  in  November  1936  and  the  Golden  Gate 
Bridge  in  May  1937.  As  traffic  poured  across  the  two  bridges,  the 
ferry  lines,  one  by  one,  began  gradually  to  suspend  service.  A  few 
are  still  running. 

The  development  of  urban  and  interurban  street  railways  began 
in  1 86 1,  when  San  Francisco  acquired  its  first  street  cars,  drawn  by 
horses  whose  hoofs  clattered  loudly  over  the  basalt  paving  blocks  of 
the  streets.  In  one  street  they  continued  their  anachronistic  clatter 
until  1913.  When  people  began  to  build  homes  on  the  steep  hills,  up 
which  the  streets  of  San  Francisco  climb  without  compromise,  a  trans- 
portation problem  arose.  It  was  ingeniously  solved  by  Andrew  Halla- 
die,  who  in  1873  produced  the  first  cable-drawn  street  cars  in  the 
world.  The  cable  car  has  continued  to  accommodate  the  people  of 
San  Francisco,  arousing  mingled  delight  and  distrust  in  the  hearts  of 
visitors. 

In  1863  trains  ran  from  the  ferry  wharf  into  the  center  of  Oak- 
land. Now  an  electric  interurban  system,  utilizing  the  San  Francisco- 
Oakland  Bay  Bridge,  connects  San  Francisco  with  Oakland,  Alameda, 
and  Berkeley.  An  extensive  network  of  urban  and  interurban  lines 
dispatches  3,700  trains  daily  in  and  out  of  Los  Angeles  over  1,200 
miles  of  track,  serving  45  cities  and  towns. 

In  California,  as  elsewhere,  the  automobile  led  to  improvement  in 
roads.  The  counties  had  for  many  years  kept  up  a  few  good  mac- 
adamized roads  but  the  general  condition  of  roads  was  lamentable 
until  the  legislature  created,  in  1909,  the  California  Highway  Com- 


94        CALIFORNIA 

mission  with  full  authority  over  the  construction  of  a  great  system  of 
highways.  In  adopting  both  the  motor  bus  and  the  motor  truck  Cali- 
fornia was  a  pioneer  State,  since  many  communities  had  either  not 
been  reached  at  all  or  had  been  inadequately  served  by  the  railroads. 
By  1915  trucking  had  become  one  of  the  important  means  of  transpor- 
tation, particularly  of  farm  and  dairy  produce.  Its  growth  created 
a  further  demand  for  better  roads  which  the  State  met.  At  present 
(I939)  trucks  carry  70  percent  of  the  total  intrastate  business.  In 
November  1937  California  had  some  40,000  freight  trucks  in  opera- 
tion. They  ranged  from  old  Fords  carrying  supplies  into  the  Sierra 
Nevada  camps  to  lO-ton  tractors  and  trailers  costing  over  $10,000. 

The  considerable  distance  from  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles  to 
other  centers  of  population  has  made  California  an  important  State 
in  the  short  but  dramatic  history  of  the  airplane.  In  1883  John  J. 
Montgomery,  professor  of  physics  at  the  University  of  Santa  Clara, 
built  a  glider  which  soared  some  600  feet,  but  this  was  only  one  of 
many  abortive  attempts  to  fly  in  heavier-than-air  craft.  Among  the 
memorable  pioneer  flights  with  which  California  has  been  associated 
were  Silas  Christofrerson's  first  non-stop  flight  from  San  Francisco 
to  Los  Angeles  in  1914;  Lindbergh's  preliminary  flight  from  San  Diego 
to  New  York  in  1927;  the  first  non-stop  flight  over  the  Pacific  to 
Hawaii  by  Lts.  Maitland  and  Hegenberger  in  1927;  and  the  7,800- 
mile  flight  from  Oakland  to  Australia  by  way  of  Hawaii  and  the 
Pacific  Islands  of  Kingsford-Smith,  Ulm,  and  Lyon  in  1928.  From 
the  California  shore  the  Pacific  was  first  bridged  commercially  by 
air.  Climaxing  six  years  of  intensive  preparation  by  the  Pan-American 
Airway  system,  the  world's  first  trans-Pacific  commercial  service  opened 
in  October  1936,  when  the  "China  Clipper"  made  a  round-trip  pas- 
senger flight  between  San  Francisco  and  Manila.  In  July  1937  tne 
"Philippine  Clipper,"  arriving  at  Cavite  Bay,  Manila,  completed  the 
first  1,000,000  miles  of  commercial  flight  over  the  big  water.  At 
the  end  of  1937  California  had  72  airports  and  133  landing  fields.  The 
airplane  has  come  to  be  taken  as  much  for  granted  as  were  the  pack 
mule,  the  ox-cart,  the  stage  coach,  and  the  wood-burning  locomotive  in 
their  day. 


JVorkingmen 


"  '  •  ^HERE  is  no  state  in  the  Union,  no  place  on  earth,  where  labor 
is  so  honored  and  so  well  rewarded,"  David  C.  Broderick 

-•-  told  the  United  States  Senate  in  his  maiden  speech  in  1858, 
"no  time  and  place  since  the  Almighty  doomed  the  sons  of  Adam  to 
toil,  where  the  curse,  if  it  be  a  curse,  rests  so  lightly  as  now  upon 
the  people  of  California." 

The  vigorous  independence  of  the  pioneer  has  persisted  until  present 
times  as  a  characteristic  of  the  State's  labor  movement.  Of  the  men 
who  had  the  hardihood  to  make  the  long  westward  trek  in  Gold 
Rush  days,  many  were  skilled  workingmen  from  trades  in  which  unions 
were  being  organized.  Among  the  European-born  immigrants  were 
English  Chartists,  Irish  nationalists,  French  and  German  political  exiles 
of  1848 — men  schooled  in  the  labor  movement,  in  struggles  for  na- 
tional independence,  or  for  democratic  liberties.  In  the  new-born 
camps  and  towns  of  California,  they  found  no  feudal  tradition  to 
influence  social  relationships.  To  people  who  saw  men  in  overalls  win 
or  lose  fortunes  overnight,  there  was  no  place  for  concepts  of  the 
superiority  or  special  privileges  of  the  wealthy. 

The  State's  labor  movement  began  in  its  first  big  city,  San  Fran- 
cisco, since  early  days  the  trade-union  center  of  California  and,  until 
later  years,  of  the  whole  region  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
second  great  metropolitan  center,  Los  Angeles,  remained  an  open-shop 
stronghold  for  half  a  century,  the  lower  labor  standards  of  its  compet- 
ing industries  threatening  the  gains  won  by  labor  in  the  north.  But, 
as  Los  Angeles  outstripped  San  Francisco  in  population,  the  disparity 

95 


96        CALIFORNIA 

between  labor  conditions  in  the  two  cities  began  to  diminish,  for  San 
Francisco  trade  unionists  came  to  realize  that  labor  in  the  north  could 
hold  its  gains  only  with  the  aid  of  labor  in  the  south.  During  the 
1930*8  the  organized  labor  movements  of  both  cities  began  to  pool 
their  strength  in  an  effort  to  overcome  the  sharp  contrast  between 
urban  and  rural  working  conditions  and  attempted  to  organize  the 
vast  numbers  of  underprivileged  migratory  workers  in  the  State's  domi- 
nant industry,  agriculture. 

The  swift  tempo  of  San  Francisco's  growth  from  village  to  metrop- 
olis characterized  the  development  of  its  labor  movement.  The  printers 
organized  in  1850;  teamsters,  draymen,  lightermen,  riggers  and  steve- 
dores in  1851;  bakers  and  bricklayers  in  1852;  calkers,  carpenters, 
plasterers,  brickmasons,  blacksmiths,  and  shipwrights  in  1853;  and 
musicians  in  1856.  Although  most  of  these  organizations  had  to  make 
several  starts  before  they  achieved  stability,  they  gained  better  work- 
ing conditions  for  their  members,  kept  wages  balanced  with  the  wildly 
rocketing  cost  of  living,  and  launched  the  movement  for  progressive 
labor  legislation.  Of  the  labor  laws  pushed  through  in  two  decades, 
1850-70,  by  these  infant  labor  unions,  the  most  important  were  pro- 
visions for  payment  of  wages,  a  mechanics'  lien,  and  an  eight-hour 
day.  In  no  other  city  in  the  country,  it  is  said,  did  so  many  workers 
enjoy  the  eight-hour  day  as  in  San  Francisco  during  these  years. 

The  outstanding  labor  struggle  of  the  i86o's,  the  molders'  and 
boilermakers'  strike  of  1864,  was  conducted  along  lines  typical  of  those 
spacious  days.  The  strikers  were  opposed  by  a  newly  formed  iron- 
works employers'  association,  which  threatened  to  levy  a  fine  of  $1,000 
on  the  first  employer  to  grant  the  strikers'  demands.  The  association 
wired  Portland,  New  York,  Boston,  and  Providence  for  strikebreakers 
and  paid  their  fare  West.  When  the  strikebreakers  arrived  at  Panama, 
however,  they  were  greeted  by  a  delegation  of  representatives  from  the 
striking  unions  and  the  San  Francisco  Trades  Union,  the  city's  first 
central  labor  body.  All  arrived  at  San  Francisco  on  friendly  terms  as 
fellow  union  members. 

The  organization  of  the  first  effective  State  federated  labor  body, 
the  Mechanics'  State  Council,  was  the  labor  movement's  defense  against 
employers'  opposition  to  the  eight-hour  day.  Forming  the  "Ten  Hour 
League"  (1867)  to  counter  labor's  "Eight  Hour  League,"  the  employ- 
ers, following  the  shipowners'  action  in  discharging  all  who  worked 
on  the  eight-hour  basis  on  the  chief  steamship  lines,  pledged  themselves 
to  hire  no  one  for  less  than  a  ten-hour  day.  "By  so  doing,"  they 
stated,  "we  believe  that  we  are  working  for  the  best  interest  of  the 
journeymen  mechanics  as  well  as  for  the  best  interests  of  the  city  and 
state  at  large."  The  Mechanics'  State  Council,  organized  in  the  Los 
Angeles  as  well  as  the  San  Francisco  area,  responded  by  affiliating 


WORKINGMEN        97 

with  the  National  Labor  Union,  America's  first  great  national  labor 
federation. 

An  era  of  comparative  protection  for  labor  came  abruptly  to  its 
end  with  completion  of  the  first  transcontinental  railroad  in  1869. 
Labor,  hard  hit  by  the  falling  wages  and  the  rising  unemployment 
of  the  depression-ridden  decade  that  followed,  began  to  lay  the  blame 
for  its  misfortunes  on  the  thousands  of  Chinese  coolie  railroad  workers 
suddenly  turned  loose  on  the  labor  market.  For  the  next  two  decades 
the  campaign  against  the  use  of  Chinese  labor,  pushed  to  the  limit  by 
politicians  and  demagogues,  diverted  the  energies  of  the  trade  union 
movement.  But  labor's  fear  of  being  reduced  to  servitude  was  well 
founded.  Still  fresh  in  men's  minds  was  the  struggle  against  the  efforts 
of  pro-slavery  officials  and  landowners  to  introduce  slavery  to  Cali- 
fornia; this  had  first  been  brought  to  the  fore  in  1852  when  railroad 
and  landowning  interests  were  prevented,  by  protest  meetings  of  miners' 
and  city  workers,  from  forcing  a  law  permitting  importation  of  con- 
tract labor  through  the  legislature.  The  anti-Chinese  movement,  al- 
though accompanied  by  racial  discrimination  which  gave  rise  to  out- 
breaks of  brutal  violence,  was  primarily  based  on  economic  interest.  In 
ever  greater  numbers  the  Chinese  were  taking  over  work  in  the  fields, 
in  the  service  trades,  in  the  light  manufacturing  industries~~until  by 
1872  they  comprised  half  of  all  the  factory  workers  in  San  Francisco. 
The  wages  paid  them  were  far  below  wages  of  American  workers.  And 
when  Americans  refused  to  have  their  wages  lowered  to  the  pay  levels 
of  the  Chinese,  employers  threatened  to  hire  Chinese  workers  instead. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  builders  of  the  Central  Pacific  had  threatened 
to  hire  American  workers  when  Chinese  construction  hands  struck 
against  $30  monthly  for  a  1 2-hour  day  (1867). 

"The  Chinese  Must  Go!"  was  the  slogan  that  carried  Dennis 
Kearney,  one  of  the  most  widely  known  figures  in  the  early  California 
labor  movement,  to  prominence.  Until  he  appeared  on  the  scene  in 
1877  as  a  saviour  of  the  masses,  he  had  been  vociferously  anti-labor. 
Joining  the  "law  and  order"  group  formed  by  nervous  businessmen 
in  July  1877  when  rioters  roamed  the  city  denouncing  Chinese  and 
capitalists,  he  suddenly  left  it  to  lead  the  rioters.  Refused  admission 
to  the  Workingmen's  Party  of  the  United  States,  he  set  up  in  October 
1877  a  rival  organization,  the  Workingmen's  Party  of  California.  At 
Sunday  afternoon  meetings  of  workers  and  unemployed  on  vacant  sand 
lots,  where  he  delivered  incendiary  speeches,  his  favorite  pose  was  with 
a  noosed  rope  in  his  hand.  This  he  declared  was  his  platform.  He 
was  jailed  for  advising  every  man  "to  own  a  musket  and  a  hundred 
rounds  of  ammunition"  but  was  soon  released.  Eventually,  as  oppo- 
sition arose  within  the  Workingmen's  Party,  an  investigating  committee 
charged  him  with  being  a  "dictator  .  .  .  more  than  suspected  of  selling 


98        CALIFORNIA 

out  to  the  enemy" — the  enemy  in  this  case  being  railroad  and  banking 
interests.  Discredited,  Kearney  went  back  to  the  draying  business  he 
had  left  and  devoted  himself  to  getting  rich. 

The  man  who  headed  the  opposition  to  Kearney,  Frank  Roney, 
remained  an  outstanding  figure  in  the  State's  labor  movement  long 
after  Kearney's  retirement.  Active  as  a  young  man  in  the  movement 
for  Irish  independence,  he  had  emigrated  to  the  United  States  to  be- 
come a  national  figure  in  the  iron  molder's  union.  He  arrived  in  San 
Francisco  in  1875,  wrote  the  constitution  and  platform  of  the  Work- 
ingmen's  Party,  and  soon  took  his  place  as  a  leader  in  the  labor  organi- 
zation drive  of  the  i88o's.  Following  the  disappearance  of  the 
Workingmen's  Party  from  the  political  scene,  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  Federated  Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  later 
the  San  Francisco  Central  Labor  Council.  To  Roney  was  entrusted 
the  job  of  organizing  the  seamen  of  the  port  of  San  Prancisco,  twice 
previously  attempted  with  no  more  than  short-lived  success. 

In  what  was  known  as  the  world's  worst  shanghaiing  port,  the 
Seamen's  Protective  Association,  headed  by  Roney  as  president,  took 
up  the  fight  against  wages  so  low  and  shipboard  conditions  so  brutal 
that  crews  could  be  filled  only  by  kidnapping.  The  association  faced 
the  opposition  of  shipowners,  crimps,  and  underworld  elements  who 
preyed  on  sailors.  During  one  meeting  held  in  1880,  according  to 
the  union's  minute  book,  "there  were  constant  interruptions  by  the 
boarding-house  sharks  and  their  whiskey-brought  bummers,  going  even 
so  far  as  to  throw  valuable  eggs,  that  did  not  have  time  to  get  the 
proper  age  and  odor,  at  the  agitators;  but  they  made  a  bad  failure, 
for  the  superior  intelligence  and  calmness  of  the  speakers  entirely  dis- 
comforted their  enemies."  The  union  fought  for  seamen's  civil  rights 
by  preferring  charges  against  brutal  ships'  officers  in  Federal  courts. 
It  won  the  backing  of  progressive  San  Franciscans,  chief  among  them 
Henry  George,  single-tax  proponent,  editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Post, 
and  a  consistent  supporter  of  the  labor  movement.  The  fight  to  im- 
prove seamen's  working  conditions  was  extended  into  the  legislative 
field  when  Roney  drew  up  and  presented  to  Congress  two  laws,  one 
embodying  the  union's  demand  for  punishment  of  brutal  officers  and 
the  other  specifying  that  two-thirds  of  the  crew  of  every  American 
vessel  should  be  American  citizens.  The  legislative  struggle  was  later 
taken  up  and  carried  on  for  some  thirty  years  by  Andrew  Furuseth, 
as  secretary  of  the  Sailors'  Union  of  the  Pacific  and  (from  1908)  of 
the  International  Seamen's  Union  of  America. 

As  a  result  of  the  struggle  against  a  sharp  wage  cut  in  1885  a 
stable  organization,  the  Coast  Seamen's  Union,  was  at  last  set  up  with 
the  aid  of  officers  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  then  at  the  peak  of  its 
growth  in  California,  and  Socialists  from  the  International  Working- 


WORKINGMEN        99 

men's  Association,  of  whom  five  served  on  the  union's  original  advisory 
committee.  The  union  halted  the  drive  for  wage  cuts,  organized 
branches  at  leading  ports  up  and  down  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  launched 
(1887)  the  Coast  Seamen  s  Journal,  for  years  the  Coast's  most  impor- 
tant labor  paper.  In  1891  the  Coast  Seamen's  Union  and  the  deep-sea 
steamship  sailors'  union  dropped  their  jurisdictional  differences  and 
merged  as  the  present  Sailors'  Union  of  the  Pacific. 

Following  organization  of  the  seamen,  the  waterfront  unions  be- 
came an  important  factor  in  San  Francisco's  labor  movement,  for 
longshoremen,  ship  calkers,  pile  drivers,  and  other  waterfront  workers 
had  already  been  organized  for  a  period  of  years.  Feeling  a  bond  of 
common  interest,  the  maritime  unions  made  repeated  efforts  to  achieve 
joint  organization.  The  Wharf  and  Wave  Federation  (1888),  the 
City  Front  Labor  Council  (1891),  and  the  Waterfront  Federation 
(1914-1923)  were  predecessors  of  the  present  Maritime  Federation  of 
the  Pacific. 

The  City  Front  Federation  of  1901,  reputed  to  have  been  the 
strongest  trade  federation  in  the  country  at  the  time,  grew  out  of  the 
intense  organizational  drive  in  all  crafts  that  accompanied  the  great 
industrial  boom  at  the  turn  of  the  century.  During  the  two  decades 
that  followed  its  organization,  the  trade  union  movement  grew  at  such 
a  pace  that  San  Francisco  took  first  place  among  the  unionized  cities 
of  the  United  States.  But  labor's  gains  were  not  achieved  without 
opposition.  To  meet  what  they  considered  the  threat  of  union  domi- 
nation, employers  organized  on  a  broader  and  more  effective  basis  than 
in  the  past.  A  complicated  and  tense  situation  developed,  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  building  trades  strike  of  1900  and  the  City  Front 
Federation  strike  of  1901.  The  successful  conclusion  of  the  building 
trades  strike  was  followed  by  organization  of  the  Building  Trades 
Council,  which  became  the  most  powerful  factor  in  the  labor  move- 
ment. The  City  Front  Federation  strike,  in  which  the  waterfront 
unions  went  out  in  support  of  locked-out  teamsters,  was  bitterly  fought 
because  both  labor  and  employers  knew  that  the  question  of  establish- 
ing the  open  shop  in  San  Francisco  was  at  stake.  Although  the  unions 
partially  lost  the  strike,  they  checked  the  open-shop  drive  and  survived. 

Out  of  the  City  Front  Federation  strike  grew  the  Union  Labor 
Party,  supported  by  the  San  Francisco  Central  Labor  Council  because 
of  its  resentment  over  Mayor  James  D.  Phelan's  use  of  police  to 
protect  strikebreakers  brought  into  the  city.  The  Union  Labor  Party's 
candidate  for  mayor,  Eugene  Schmitz,  was  elected  in  1902  to  succeed 
Phelan.  The  story  of  how  an  alleged  alliance  of  politicians,  utilities, 
and  vice  interests  won  control  of  the  party  has  been  told  by  Fremont 
Older,  editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin,  who  helped  lead  the 
reform  movement  that  culminated  in  the  graft  prosecutions  initiated 


IOO        CALIFORNIA 

against  Schmitz,  Abraham  Ruef,  and  a  long  list  of  municipal  office- 
holders in  1906.  Older's  story  deals,  too,  with  the  activities  of  Patrick 
Calhoun,  political  boss  and  United  Railroads  head,  who,  it  is  said,  pre- 
cipitated the  1907  traction  strike  in  an  effort  to  halt  the  prosecution,  by 
diverting  public  attention.  Having  aroused  public  indignation  against 
labor,  on  the  ground  that  the  strike  was  holding  up  reconstruction  of 
the  earthquake-wrecked  city,  Calhoun  melodramatically  broke  the 
strike.  Those  in  control  of  the  Union  Labor  Party  had  by  this  time 
been  denounced  by  the  San  Francisco  Central  Labor  Council  in  an 
emphatic  statement  published  May  30,  1906,  which  said,  in  part:  "We 
declare  every  corruptionist,  briber  and  bribed,  should  be  prosecuted  and 
punished  according  to  law  and  hereby  pledge  our  cooperation  to  that 
end."  In  the  end  Calhoun  was  brought  to  trial,  but  acquitted. 

Despite  the  rapid  growth  of  the  labor  movement  in  San  Francisco, 
Los  Angeles  remained  largely  a  non-union  town.  The  employers  of 
San  Francisco  had  stated  flatly  that  unless  the  unions  acted  to  level 
competition  with  the  south  by  organizing  Los  Angeles  they  would 
begin  a  new  drive  for  open-shop  conditions  in  the  Bay  area.  Taking 
up  the  challenge,  labor  sent  a  corps  of  organizers  south  in  June  1910. 
In  Los  Angeles  the  Founders  and  Employers  Association  was  refusing 
to  meet  with  union  representatives  of  some  1,200  workers  idle  in  a 
metal-trades  lockout  covering  all  plants  in  the  city.  The  International 
Molders  Union  sent  its  national  organizer,  George  Gunray,  to  aid 
the  Los  Angeles  drive.  As  the  organizing  drive  got  underway,  the  pub- 
lic began  to  develop  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  unionism. 

And  then  occurred  the  disaster  that  for  many  years  was  to  delay 
labor  organization  in  Los  Angeles.  At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
October  I,  1910,  an  explosion  shattered  the  plant  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Times,  owned  by  General  Gray  Otis,  leader  of  the  city's  anti-union 
forces.  Twenty-one  of  the  workers  in  the  building  were  killed  and 
many  injured. 

Intense  excitement  followed  and  while  the  Labor  Council,  investi- 
gating, announced  that  the  explosion  had  been  a  gas  explosion,  the 
police,  the  grand  jury,  the  Mayor's  committee,  civic  bodies,  the  City 
Council,  also  investigating,  declared  that  the  explosion  had  been  caused 
by  dynamite.  Otis  offered  a  reward  of  $300,000  for  the  finding  of 
those  responsible.  Three  groups  of  detectives  began  the  search. 

On  April  14,  1911,  James  B.  McNamara  and  Ortie  McManigal 
were  arrested  in  Detroit  by  the  detective  William  J.  Burns.  Ortie 
McManigal  in  a  confession  implicated,  among  others,  James  Mc- 
Namara's  brother  John  J.  McNamara,  Secretary  of  the  International 
Association  of  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union.  J.  J. 
McNamara  was  arrested  on  April  22  in  Indianapolis.  The  Me- 


WORKINGMEN        IOI 

Namaras  were  taken  to  the  Los  Angeles  jail  and  held;  McManigal 
was  taken  along  as  prosecution  witness. 

Labor,  convinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  McNamaras,  rose  to  their 
defense.  According  to  Perlman  and  Taft  (History  of  Labor  in  the 
United  States  1896-1932,  Volume  IV)  "Los  Angeles  was  at  the  time 
the  battlefield  of  several  simultaneous  labor  wars.  .  .  .  The  explosion 
in  the  morning  of  October  i,  1910  .  .  .  came  as  a  climax  in  these  hard 
fought  battles."  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  raised  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollar  fund,  and  the  famous  advocate,  Clarence  Darrow, 
was  retained  to  defend  the  men. 

The  trial  dragged  on  slowly  with  labor — still  certain  of  the  men's 
innocence — engaged  in  a  veritable  crusade.  But  Clarence  Darrow 
apparently  became  convinced  of  the  great  strength  of  the  State's  case. 
Through  the  journalist  Lincoln  Stefrens,  he  began  to  negotiate  with 
the  authorities.  In  retrospect,  Steffens  wrote  in  his  autobiography  that 
his  newspaper  report  of  the  case  "began  by  saying  that  both  capital  and 
labor  had  pleaded  guilty,  and  showed  that  the  McNamaras  had  made 
no  confession  which  involved  other  persons  but  had  entered  into  an 
agreement  by  which,  without  force,  the  labor  problem  was  to  be  re- 
considered in  the  most  anti-labor  city  in  America." 

The  details  of  the  agreement  made  with  the  prosecution  have  re- 
mained a  source  of  argument.  According  to  Perlman  and  Taft,  "The 
agreement  with  the  prosecution  stipulated  that  both  brothers  would 
plead  guilty,  and  that  J.  B.  McNamara  would  receive  life  imprison- 
ment but  John  J.  McNamara  a  less  severe  sentence,  and  that  all  other 
prosecutions  would  be  dropped."  Influential  people  of  Los  Angeles 
and  the  court  officers  were  won  over,  and  so  finally  were  the  Mc- 
Namaras. On  December  i,  1911,  Attorney  Darrow  rose  in  court  and 
stated  that  his  clients  wished  to  change  their  plea  from  "not  guilty"  to 
"guilty  as  charged."  Four  days  later  James  B.  McNamara  was 
sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  and  John  J.  McNamara  to  a  term  of 
15  years.  In  passing  sentence  the  judge  verbally  castigated  the  men: 
which  action,  it  is  alleged,  was  against  the  agreement.  Later  that  part 
of  the  stipulation  concerned  with  the  prosecution  of  others  was  also 
disregarded. 

The  decade  that  followed  saw  a  rapid  growth  in  the  influence  on 
California's  labor  movement  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World, 
central  organizing  agency  in  Northwest  logging  camps  and  Midwest 
wheat  fields,  as  it  began  extending  its  work  to  the  mines,  lumber  camps, 
ports,  and  agricultural  areas  of  the  State.  It  came  into  prominence  in 
California  at  the  time  of  the  Wheatland  hop  field  riots  of  1913,  which 
brought  before  the  Nation  for  the  first  time  the  intolerable  conditions 
of  field  labor  in  the  State  and  prompted  an  investigation  leading  to 
the  first  Government  action  in  cleaning  up  these  conditions.  The 


102        CALIFORNIA 

situation  that  prompted  the  riots  at  the  Wheatland  hop  ranch,  said 
to  belong  to  the  State's  largest  single  employer  of  field  labor  at  the 
time,  was  later  described  by  Carleton  W.  Parker,  executive  secretary 
of  the  State  Commission  of  Immigration  and  Housing:  "Twenty-eight 
hundred  pickers  were  camped  on  a  .treeless  hill  .  .  .  Some  were  in 
tents,  some  in  topless  squares  of  sacking  .  .  .  there  was  no  provision 
for  sanitation,  no  garbage  disposal.  The  temperature  during  the  week 
of  the  riot  remained  near  105  degrees,  and  though  the  wells  were  a 
mile  from  where  the  men,  women  and  children  were  picking  ...  no 
water  was  sent  into  the  fields  ...  It  developed  in  the  state  investiga- 
tion that  the  owner  of  the  ranch  received  half  of  the  net  profit  earned 
by  an  alleged  independent  grocery  store,  which  had  been  given  the 
grocery  concession  and  was  located  in  the  center  of  the  camp  grounds." 
The  overcrowding  of  the  camp  was  found  to  have  been  aggravated  by 
the  fact  that  the  ranch  owner  had  followed  the  common  practice  of 
advertising  for  twrice  the  necessary  number  of  pickers  in  order  to  keep 
down  wage  levels.  In  the  rioting  that  began  when  a  sheriff's  posse 
broke  up  a  protest  meeting,  four  were  killed.  A  week  after  the  riot, 
the  first  act  regulating  California  labor  camps  went  into  effect. 

The  I.  W.  W.  continued  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  labor 
movement  until  the  early  post-war  period.  Among  the  causes  con- 
tributing to  its  decline  were  the  anti-union  drive  and  the  prosecution 
of  many  of  its  members  under  the  State's  newly  passed  criminal  syn- 
dicalism laws.  Its  last  important  appearance  in  the  State  was  in  the 
1923  seamen's  strike  at  San  Pedro,  when  Upton  Sinclair  was  arrested 
for  publicly  reading  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

A  prominent  defender  of  the  two  I.  W.  W.  leaders,  Richard  Ford 
and  Herman  Suhr,  who  were  arrested  in  the  Wheatland  disturbance 
and  convicted  after  a  long-fought  trial,  was  a  young  Irish  member  of 
the  molders'  union,  Thomas  Mooney.  The  leading  part  that  he  played 
in  the  electrical  workers'  strike  of  1913  and  in  the  attempted  organi- 
zation of  United  Railroads  workers  in  1916  also  brought  him  to  the 
fore  in  northern  California  as  an  aggressive  trade  unionist.  He  was 
a  leading  member  of  the  group  that  began  preparing  a  new  organiza- 
tional drive  in  southern  California  to  counter  a  new  open-shop  campaign 
in  the  north  organized  by  employers.  As  such  he  came  particularly  to 
the  attention  of  the  ''law  and  order"  committee  formed  by  the  San 
Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  promote  adoption  of  an  anti- 
picketing  ordinance. 

The  newspaper  files  of  the  period  reveal  the  combination  of  anti- 
union  and  wartime  preparedness  propaganda  in  an  attempt  to  label  as 
disloyal  labor's  determination  to  maintain  its  organizational  lines.  In 
the  tense  atmosphere  of  the  growing  struggle  a  bomb  exploded,  killing 
ten  persons,  on  the  route  of  the  Preparedness  Day  parade  staged  in  San 


WORKINGMEN         IO3 

Francisco  July  22,  1916.  Among  those  arrested  were  Mooney,  his 
wife  Rena,  and  his  friend,  Warren  K.  Billings.  Found  guilty,  Mooney 
was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  and  Billings  to  life  imprisonment.  After 
world-wide  protests,  Governor  William  D.  Stephens,  at  the  behest  of 
President  Woodrow  Wilson,  commuted  Mooney's  sentence  to  life  im- 
prisonment in  November  1918. 

The  case  soon  became  one  of  the  most  celebrated  labor  controversies 
of  modern  times.  In  the  course  of  repeated  State  hearings  and  Federal 
inquiries,  a  picture  of  corruption  was  revealed  that  strengthened  the 
conviction  held  by  many  people  that  the  case  had  been  a  frame-up. 
On  the  basis  of  new  evidence  soon  uncovered,  and  of  confessions  and 
other  evidence  exposing  the  perjury  of  key  prosecution  witnesses,  the 
jurors  who  found  Mooney  guilty  and  the  judge  who  sentenced  him 
publicly  reversed  their  positions.  As  the  years  went  by,  more  and 
more  evidence  indicating  Mooney's  innocence  came  to  light.  In  August 
1928  every  living  person  connected  with  the  prosecution,  except  Dis- 
trict Attorney  Charles  Fickert  and  an  assistant,  recommended  Mooney's 
pardon.  The  trial  judge,  Judge  Griffin,  declared  in  a  public  address 
in  February  1929:  "The  Mooney  case  is  one  of  the  dirtiest  jobs  ever 
put  over  and  I  resent  the  fact  that  my  court  was  used  for  such  a  con- 
temptible piece  of  work."  But  for  22  years,  Mooney  remained  in 
San  Quentin  penitentiary  while  successive  Governors  resisted  appeals 
for  a  pardon.  Throughout  these  years  the  case  was  carried  through 
State  and  Federal  Courts  as  Mooney's  defense  attorneys  asked  for  a 
review  of  new  evidence  and  opening  of  a  new  trial.  Finally  in  Octo- 
ber 1938,  after  lengthy  hearings  in  San  Francisco  before  a  referee,  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  passing  on  the  case  a  second  time,  found 
itself  compelled  on  legal  grounds  to  deny  a  requested  review  of  the 
case.  A  month  later  Culbert  L.  Olson,  who  had  expressed  his  firm 
belief  in  Mooney's  innocence  while  still  a  State  senator,  was  elected 
Governor  of  California.  One  of  his  first  steps  on  taking  office  in 
January  1939  was  to  issue  an  unconditional  pardon. 

In  the  meantime  the  wartime  anti-union  campaign  had  driven  ahead 
to  success,  initiating  a  period  of  open-shop  domination  that  lasted 
throughout  the  1920*8.  It  reached  its  climax  in  1921,  when  the  newly 
formed  Industrial  Association  of  San  Francisco  raised  a  war  chest  of 
$1,250,000  to  break  the  building  trades  strike  of  that  year.  With  the 
collapse  of  the  building  trades  unions,  too  weakened  to  resist  when 
the  Industrial  Association's  wage  board  cut  wages  twice  within  a  year, 
the  strongest  single  force  in  the  labor  movement  of  that  period  was 
rendered  helpless.  At  about  the  same  time,  the  Metal  Trades  Council 
was  defeated,  losing  agreements  it  had  held  with  the  employers  since 
1907.  The  seamen's  unions,  too,  went  down  to  defeat  in  1921.  The 
loss  of  the  dock  strike  of  1919,  called  in  protest  against  alleged  en- 


IO4        CALIFORNIA 

dangerment  of  life  and  limb  by  speed-up  and  excessive  loads,  had 
already  caused  the  collapse  of  the  riggers'  and  stevedores'  union.  In 
the  succeeding  decade,  the  "American  Plan,"  substituting  individual 
for  collective  bargaining,  prevailed  throughout  the  State. 

The  resurgence  of  the  labor  movement  following  enactment  of  the 
National  Industrial  Recovery  Act  in  1933  was  marked  especially  by 
the  outburst  of  latent  protest  against  long-standing  grievances  on  San 
Francisco's  waterfront.  The  conditions  that  prompted  the  1919  strike 
had  continued  under  the  agreement  signed  in  December  1919  between 
the  Waterfront  Employers'  Association  and  the  Longshoremen's  Asso- 
ciation of  the  Pacific,  organized  by  longshore  gang  bosses,  which  long- 
shoremen designated  a  "company"  union,  calling  it  the  Blue  Book 
Union  (for  the  color  of  the  membership  book)  ;  the  agreement  made 
every  dock  worker  who  refused  to  join  ineligible  for  employment.  An- 
other basic  grievance  was  the  "shape-up"  system  of  hiring  from  the 
docks,  which  longshoremen  claimed  forced  them  to  wait  without  com- 
pensation for  hours  at  a  time,  fostered  corrupt  control  of  employment 
by  hiring  agents  from  whom  men  had  to  buy  their  jobs,  and  resulted 
in  some  men  working  24  and  36  hours  and  longer  without  sleep,  while 
others  starved  for  lack  of  work.  As  a  leader  in  protests  against  abuses, 
the  lanky  young  Australian,  Harry  Bridges,  who  had  been  working 
on  the  docks  ever  since  he  had  come  ashore  as  a  sailor  12  years  before, 
was  coming  to  the  fore;  among  longshoremen  he  was  known  as  "Limo 
Harry,"  a  first-class  winch  driver  and  a  man  who  stood  up  for  his 
rights.  Within  a  few  weeks  after  a  charter  had  been  secured  from 
the  International  Longshoremen's  Association  in  September  1933,  about 
90  per  cent  of  the  men  on  the  front  had  joined  the  new  union.  At  a 
coastwise  convention  held  in  the  spring  of  1934,  the  longshoremen  for- 
mulated demands  to  correct  the  abuses  on  the  docks.  When  hear- 
ings led  to  no  definite  result,  they  took  a  strike  vote  on  March  7. 
The  seamen's  unions,  likewise  showing  a  new  vitality,  had  also  been 
refused  when  they  presented  demands  to  the  shipowners.  On  May  15, 
1934,  tney  voted  to  join  the  strike;  and  the  ship  clerks  and  licensed 
officers'  organizations  followed  suit. 

The  killing  of  two  waterfront  picketers  and  the  clubbing  and  gas- 
sing of  a  hundred  others  by  police  on  Thursday,  July  5,  1934 — after- 
wards known  as  "Bloody  Thursday" — was  the  incident  that  swept 
nearly  every  union  in  the  Bay  area  into  the  second  important  general 
strike  up  to  that  time  in  the  Nation's  history.  From  July  17  to  July  19 
stores  closed,  shops  and  factories  shut  down,  and  trucks  and  street  cars 
stopped  running  in  San  Francisco  as  127,000  workers  left  their  jobs. 
The  strike  aroused  the  emphatically  expressed  opposition  of  many  news- 
papers, individuals,  and  organizations  throughout  the  Nation.  The 
NRA  Administrator,  General  Hugh  S.  Johnson,  appeared  on  the  scene 


WORKINGMEN        IO5 

to  denounce  it  in  a  public  address.  On  July  20  the  strikers  began 
returning  to  their  jobs.  The  waterfront  unions,  however,  after  media- 
tion of  the  dispute,  won  agreements  with  the  shipowners  which  still 
serve  as  the  basis  of  labor  relations  in  the  maritime  industry.  They 
were  enabled  to  organize  in  1935  the  Maritime  Federation  of  the 
Pacific,  first  attempt  to  apply  the  principle  of  joint  organization  on  a 
coastwise  basis.  It  now  has  28,000  members,  drawn  from  A.  F.  of  L. 
and  C.  I.  O.  unions,  and  from  unions  in  Canada  and  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  The  strong  public  feeling  aroused  by  the  general  strike  soon 
subsided,  but  not  the  opposition  to  one  of  its  leaders,  Bridges,  long- 
shoremen's president  and  later  C.  I  .O.  Pacific  Coast  director.  It  was 
still  being  expressed  four  years  later  in  a  controversy  involving  the 
United  States  Secretary  of  Labor  over  his  right  (since  he  had  not  yet 
been  naturalized)  to  remain  in  the  country. 

As  the  labor  movement  began  to  advance  again  after  its  long  period 
of  decline,  the  unions  weakened  in  1919-21  gained  renewed  strength, 
while  new  unions  staged  intensive  drives  in  industries  never  before 
organized.  San  Francisco  and  Oakland  recovered  more  than  their  old 
union  strength;  organization  extended  into  Los  Angeles  from  its  port 
at  San  Pedro;  it  reached  even  into  the  inland  valleys  where  the  labor 
movement  had  never  before  made  headway.  Throughout  the  I93o's 
the  labor  movement  has  continued  to  make  steady  gains. 

In  union-minded  San  Francisco,  more  than  120,000  of  whose  in- 
habitants belong  to  labor  unions,  the  principle  of  collective  bargaining 
has  come  to  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of  fact.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
the  port,  where  the  outward  signs  of  the  labor  movement's  flourishing 
condition  are  most  apparent,  longshoremen  swing  along  the  streets  with 
union  buttons  conspicuously  displayed  on  their  white  (union-made) 
caps.  Big  Irish  teamsters  driving  their  trucks  down  to  the  docks  wear 
union  buttons;  so  do  the  Italian  fishermen,  the  taxi  drivers,  streetcar 
conductors  and  motormen,  newsboys  and  bootblacks.  Almost  every 
restaurant,  bar,  barber  shop,  drug  store,  and  laundry  displays  a  union 
sign.  The  A.  F.  of  L.  unions  are  strong  among  teamsters,  streetcar 
employees,  and  workers  in  the  building  trades  and  service  industries, 
including  retail  store  clerks,  hotel  employees,  and  others;  the  C.  I.  O. 
unions,  among  longshoremen,  warehousemen,  newspapermen,  and 
smelter  and  tunnel  workers.  In  recognition  of  labor's  strength,  em- 
ployers have  organized  in  distributors',  waterfront  employers',  hotel 
owners',  and  other  associations  covering  all  the  major  industries.  A 
San  Francisco  Employer's  Council,  organized  in  1938,  announced  a 
desire  for  more  cooperative  relations  with  labor.  A  development  of 
the  same  year,  tried  out  with  much  success  during  a  warehousemen's 
lockout,  was  the  town  meeting,  at  which  employers  and  union  leaders 
presented  their  respective  sides  of  the  dispute  before  a  public  audience. 


106         CALIFORNIA 

As  against  30,000  trade  union  members  in  1933-34,  Los  Angeles 
today  has  200,000.  The  trade  union  movement  had  advanced  despite 
the  continued  open-shop  stand  of  employers,  who  in  1938  pushed 
through  a  drastic  anti-picketing  ordinance.  Although  a  number  of 
industries  remain  largely  unorganized,  the  disparity  between  labor  con- 
ditions in  the  State's  two  larger  cities  no  longer  exists.  A  basic  factor 
in  bringing  about  this  change  was  the  rapid  growth  of  unionization  in 
such  mass  production  industries  as  aircraft,  auto,  rubber,  and  oil.  In- 
tensive organizational  drives  have  been  staged  among  musicians,  team- 
sters, workers  in  the  building  trades,  and  in  the  motion-picture  and 
other  industries.  The  almost  complete  organization  of  all  trades  in 
the  harbor  district,  San  Pedro,  has  given  the  city's  growing  labor  move- 
ment solid  backing.  A  force  to  be  reckoned  with  has  been  the  rise  of 
unions  in  the  motion-picture  industry,  which  number  (1939)  some 
12,000  members.  To  the  surprise  of  many  who  believed  that  movie 
people  would  never  step  out  of  their  make-believe  world,  screen  actors, 
writers,  and  directors  have  come  forward  as  topnotch  trade  union 
members. 

The  most  important  downward  pull  on  California's  labor  standards 
is  exerted  today  by  the  rural  areas,  where  some  200,000  almost  com- 
pletely unorganized  agricultural  workers,  mostly  homeless  migrants, 
live  and  work  under  conditions  generally  recognized  as  sub-standard. 
Of  these  nomadic  workers,  the  majority  are  refugees  from  the  Dust 
Bowl  area,  although  Mexicans  work  in  the  citrus  groves  of  the 
south  and  the  sugar-beet  fields  of  the  north  and  Filipinos  and  Japanese 
in  the  asparagus  and  celery  fields  of  the  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  delta 
region.  Just  as  labor's  weakness  in  the  south  once  threatened  its  gains 
in  the  north,  so  now  its  weakness  in  the  rural  areas  threatens  its  gains 
in  the  cities.  The  sharp  divergence  between  urban  and  rural  labor 
standards  has  begun  to  worry  city  unionists  especially  because  of  the 
dominant  position  in  the  State's  economy  of  its  highly  mechanized 
agriculture,  which  provides  most  of  the  freight  handled  by  both  rail 
and  water  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  raw  material  processed  by 
manufacturing  plants. 

The  sharpest  conflicts  since  the  revival  of  the  West  Coast  labor 
movement  in  1933-34  have  developed  out  of  what  employers  have 
termed  the  "inland  march"  of  city  trade  unions.  To  meet  it,  the 
forces  opposing  unionism  have  systematized  and  extended  their  organi- 
zation. Led  by  the  Associated  Farmers,  Inc.,  representing  the  corpora- 
tive farm  interests  of  the  State,  they  have  induced  a  number  of  the 
valley  towns  to  adopt  anti-picketing  ordinances.  The  Farmers'  Trans- 
portation Association  of  Southern  California,  organized  in  1938  in 
nine  southern  counties  under  the  auspices  of  the  Associated  Farmers, 
has  announced  its  intention  to  maintain  "the  right  of  every  man  to 


WORKINGMEN        IO7 

work  without  being  coerced  into  joining  or  not  joining  a  union" ;  it 
issues  licenses  to  truck  drivers,  after  questioning  them  on  union  affilia- 
tion, only  when  they  have  pledged  to  pick  up  and  deliver  cargoes  un- 
der all  circumstances  except  when  prevented  by  "acts  of  God." 

Labor's  "inland  march"  has  been  blocked  increasingly  often  during 
the  last  decade,  in  rural  and  company  towns  where  trade  unions  lack 
the  support  of  public  opinion  which  they  have  won  in  the  cities,  by 
the  activities  of  vigilante  organizations  that  have  helped  themselves  to 
the  name  of  groups  organized  for  different  purposes  in  the  pioneer 
period.  In  the  1933-34  wave  of  agricultural  strikes,  vigilante  methods 
were  invoked  to  break  the  Imperial  Valley  lettuce  strike  and  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley  cotton  strike,  largest  strike  of  field  workers  in  Cali- 
fornia history.  In  the  1936  Salinas  lettuce  strike,  vigilantism  attained 
proportions  that  shocked  public  opinion  in  the  State  and  Nation.  Again 
in  the  spring  of  1937  vigilante  methods  were  used  to  break  the  Stock- 
ton cannery  strike.  In  April  1938  about  300  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren (members  of  the  International  Mine,  Mill,  and  Smelter  Workers 
Union)  were  driven  by  vigilante  raids  from  their  homes  in  Grass  Val- 
ley and  Nevada  City,  site  of  the  country's  second  largest  gold  mine. 
Under  police  escort  they  returned  to  their  homes,  reopened  their  union 
hall,  and  carried  on. 

When  anti-union  forces  undertook  an  intensive  campaign  to  secure 
adoption  of  a  State-wide  anti-picketing  law  at  the  polls  in  1938,  labor 
unions — both  A.  F.  of  L.  and  C.  I.  O. — saw  their  common  danger, 
recognizing  the  campaign  as  the  prelude  to  a  general  open-shop  drive, 
and  united  to  defeat  it.  The  proposed  law,  known  as  Proposition 
No.  One,  was  considered  by  many  groups  to  be  more  stringent  than 
any  similar  act  since  the  anti-conspiracy  laws  of  Colonial  days.  Com- 
mented the  official  publication  of  the  California  State  Grange:  "Said 
by  its  proponents  to  be  needed  legislation  for  industrial  peace,  this 
initiative  proposition  would  really  take  away  the  constitutional  rights 
of  labor;  it  is  dangerous  because  the  layman  does  not  recognize  the 
fascistic  provisions  hidden  within  the  proposal."  Proposition  No.  One 
became  the  central  issue  in  the  campaign  preceding  the  November  elec- 
tions. A.  F.  of  L.  and  C.  I.  O.  unions,  central  labor  bodies,  maritime 
workers,  teamsters,  steelworkers,  newspapermen,  carpenters,  tunnel 
miners,  movie  stars,  railwaymen,  and  clergymen  joined  in  a  successful 
counter-campaign  which  defeated  the  measure. 

Out  of  the  cooperation  of  A.  F.  of  L.  and  C.  I.  O.  unions  in  this 
campaign,  strengthened  by  the  victory  in  the  elections  of  candidates  for 
public  office  endorsed  by  both,  grew  a  movement  for  unity  of  the  labor 
movement's  two  wings.  In  Stockton  and  in  Sacramento,  joint  labor 
committees  formed  by  A.  F.  of  L.  and  C.  I.  O.  locals  continued  to 
function. 


108        CALIFORNIA 

Another  influence  promoting  the  unification  of  the  labor  movement 
has  been  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  racial  discrimination  that  once 
characterized  it.  The  anti-Chinese  and  anti-Japanese  agitation  that 
kept  American  and  Oriental  workers  apart  has  largely  vanished.  Today 
the  International  Ladies  Garment  Workers  Union,  the  retail  clerks', 
culinary,  and  other  A.  F.  of  L.  unions,  and  all  the  C.  I.  O.  unions  admit 
Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Filipino  workers  to  membership  with  full 
rights,  including  eligibility  to  hold  office.  The  hostility  once  directed 
against  Chinese,  Japanese,  or  Mexican  workers  is  more  apt  to  be 
directed  now  against  native-born  Dust  Bowl  refugees  when  attempts 
are  made  to  use  their  labor  at  wage  rates  that  endanger  general 
California  standards. 

Organized  labor  in  California  shows  a  growing  tendency  to  welcome 
the  help  of  technical  experts  in  dealing  with  the  complex  problems  of 
negotiation  with  employers,  arbitration  cases,  and  presenting  the  union 
point  of  view  to  the  public.  Notable  in  this  field  is  the  work  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  Labor  Bureau,  a  non-profit  service  organization  specializ- 
ing in  economic  counsel  to  labor  unions.  It  has  headquarters  in  San 
Francisco  and  branches  in  other  West  Coast  cities.  The  bureau  repre- 
sents A.  F.  of  L.,  C.  I.  O.,  Railroad  Brotherhood,  and  bona  fide  inde- 
pendent unions. 

The  extension  of  labor's  activities  to  the  political  field  has  enabled 
it  to  report  many  legislative  gains.  California  has  an  old-age  assistance 
law,  an  unemployment  compensation  act,  a  48-hour  maximum  work 
week  law  for  women  workers,  and  an  apprentice  law  (recently  passed). 
The  State  protects  workmen  suffering  from  occupational  diseases.  In 
order  to  protect  and  supplement  such  legislation,  unions  have  begun  to 
participate  in  politics  to  an  increasing  extent. 


Press  and  Radio 


'"""ir^RUE  with  his  rifle,  ready  with  his  pen,  and  quick  at  the  type 
case" — thus  Walter  Colton,  American  alcalde  at  Monterey, 

J»-  described  California's  pioneer  journalist,  Dr.  Robert  Semple, 
a  buckskin-clad  Kentucky  emigrant,  who  stood  6  feet  8  inches  in  his 
stockings.  On  August  15,  1846,  only  a  month  after  the  American  flag 
was  raised  at  Monterey,  Semple  and  Colton  printed  news  of  the  United 
States'  declaration  of  war  on  Mexico  in  the  Calif ornian,  the  first  news- 
paper published  within  the  State.  "A  crowd  was  waiting  when  the 
first  sheet  was  thrown  from  the  press,"  wrote  Colton.  "Never  was 
a  bank  run  upon  harder;  not,  however,  by  people  with  paper  to  get 
specie,  but  exactly  the  reverse."  For  twelve  and  a  half  cents  the  cus- 
tomers got  a  single  sheet  a  little  larger  than  foolscap,  printed  half  in 
English  and  half  in  Spanish. 

A  wooden,  hand-operated  Ramage  press  ran  off  this  first  issue. 
It  had  been  manufactured  in  New  York  about  1800,  shipped  to 
Mexico  City  for  use  in  the  Mexican  government  printing  office,  and 
packed  on  mule-back  to  Monterey  about  1834.  Colton  described  the 
equipment  as  "old  enough  to  be  preserved  as  a  curiosity;  the  mice  had 
burrowed  in  the  balls,  there  were  no  rules,  no  leads,  and  the  types  were 
rusty  and  all  in  pie."  When  he  and  Semple  had  cleaned  the  type, 
cut  rules  and  leads  out  of  a  sheet  of  tin  with  a  jack-knife,  and  hunted 
up  part  of  a  keg  of  ink,  they  were  still  faced  by  their  worst  problem — 
lack  of  paper.  All  that  could  be  found  was  a  small  supply  of  the 
coarse  stuff  used  to  wrap  cigarettes  on  board  a  coastwise  sailing  ship. 
It  had  to  serve. 

109 


IIO        CALIFORNIA 

The  Californian,  after  appearing  intermittently  for  nearly  a  year, 
was  moved,  old  press  and  all,  to  San  Francisco.  There,  on  May  22, 
1847,  the  paper  reappeared  in  competition  with  San  Francisco's  first 
journal,  the  weekly  California  Star,  which  the  Mormon  pioneer,  Samuel 
Brannan,  had  established  on  January  9  of  the  same  year. 

Neither  paper  displayed  any  interest  in  what  was  perhaps  the  biggest 
news  story  in  California  history — James  Marshall's  discovery  of  gold 
at  Coloma.  "Great  chances  here  for  scientific  capitalists,"  wrote  Dr. 
Robert  Semple  in  the  Calif ornian  of  March  15,  1848,  seven  weeks 
after  the  event,  in  a  67-word  paragraph  which  chilled  any  possible 
excitement.  Although  the  rival  Star  occasionally  devoted  its  columns 
to  unenthusiastic  and  somewhat  technical  discussions  of  gold  during  the 
next  few  weeks,  it  was  word-of-mouth  rumors  of  prospectors  having 
"struck  it  rich"  that  convinced  San  Francisco's  unscientific  non-capital- 
ists that  Marshall's  discovery  might  concern  them  too. 

"All  sham — a  superb  (sic)  take-in,  as  was  ever  got  up  to  guzzle 
the  gullible,"  wrote  the  Star's  acting  editor,  E.  C.  Kemble,  on  his 
return  from  a  trip  to  the  mines  in  April.  Unluckily  for  Kemble,  his 
boss,  Sam  Brannon,  who  had  also  gone  out  to  investigate,  appeared  one 
day  on  Portsmouth  Square  flourishing  a  whisky  flask  full  of  gold  dust 
and  shouting,  "Gold!  Gold  from  the  American  Fork!"  Even  the 
most  apathetic  citizens  were  so  fired  by  Brannan's  dramatic  proclama- 
tion that  hundreds  followed  him  back  to  the  mine. 

Before  the  stampede  of  readers — and  even  printers — San  Francisco's 
two  infant  newspapers  were  helpless.  The  Calif  ornian  suspended  pub- 
lication May  29.  Two  days  earlier  the  Star  had  urged  its  readers: 
"Pay  up  before  you  go — everybody  knows  where.  Papers  can  be  for- 
warded to  Sutter's  Fort  with  all  regularity.  But  pay  the  printer,  if 
you  please,  all  you  in  arrears."  On  June  4  it,  too,  ceased  publication, 
and  again  California  was  without  a  single  newspaper. 

The  gold  rush,  however,  far  from  stifling  journalism,  fostered  its 
growth.  By  August  1848  the  Calif  ornian  had  resumed  its  career.  It 
was  bought  the  following  month,  together  with  the  Star,  by  Kemble, 
who  merged  the  two  papers  into  one  which  he  introduced  November 
1 8,  1848,  as  the  Star  and  Calif  ornian,  soon  to  be  renamed  the  Alia 
Calif  ornian.  So  rapid  was  its  growth  that  two  years  later  it  became  a 
daily,  and  soon  its  publishers  were  printing  it  on  a  steam  press.  Enlist- 
ing the  services  of  Mark  Twain  as  a  contributor  and  Bret  Harte  as 
an  editor,  it  became — and  for  more  than  a  generation  continued  to  be — 
one  of  California's  leading  papers. 

Meanwhile  the  creaking  old  Ramage  press  which  had  printed  the 
original  Californian  had  continued  on  its  travels.  Together  with  an 
assortment  of  old  type  and  a  lot  of  Spanish  foolscap,  it  was  shipped 
by  Kemble  up  the  Sacramento  River  to  the  settlement  of  New  Helvetia 


PRESS     AND     RADIO        III 

(now  Sacramento).  It  was  set  up  in  a  makeshift  office  of  adobe,  wood, 
and  cotton  cloth,  and  on  April  28,  1849  ran  off  the  first  weekly 
issue  of  the  Placer  Times,  the  Sacramento  Valley's  pioneer  paper. 
Kemble  soon  lost  his  monopoly  of  the  Sacramento  news  market,  for 
on  April  I,  1850  the  Sacramento  Transcript  appeared  and  on  August  3 
of  the  same  year  the  Settler's  and  Miner  s  Tribune.  After  a  two- 
months  championship  of  the  Squatter's  Association,  however,  the 
Tribune  was  buried  in  Sacramento's  newspaper  graveyard,  the  first 
of  some  70  or  80  short-lived  papers  which  started  and  discontinued 
publication  during  a  period  of  30  years. 

Still  farther  into  the  interior,  the  pioneer  Ramage  press  was  packed 
to  continue  its  newspaper-founding  exploits.  On  July  4,  1850  it  printed 
the  Mother  Lode's  first  paper,  the  Sonora  Herald.  It  went  on  running 
off  news  of  fights  and  gold  until  the  fall  of  1851,  when  it  was  moved  to 
Columbia  to  print  the  Columbia  Star.  In  most  of  the  larger  mining 
towns,  newspapers  were  soon  flourishing.  Within  ten  years  after  the 
discovery  of  gold,  Jackson  and  Marysville  each  had  seven  papers; 
Columbia,  five;  and  Sonora,  Mariposa,  and  San  Andreas,  three.  Nor 
did  all  these  die  with  the  gold  rush.  Auburn's  Placer  Herald  has  been 
issued  ever  since  1852,  and  Downieville's  Mountain  Messenger  since 

1853. 

Even  in  the  sun-baked  adobe  village  of  Los  Angeles,  newspapers 
were  making  a  place  for  themselves.  The  first  paper  was  run  off  May 
17,  1851  on  a  hand  press  brought  around  the  Horn  in  a  windjammer. 
This  was  the  Los  Angeles  Star  or  La  Estrella  de  Los  Angeles,  a  four- 
page  weekly,  printed  half  in  Spanish  and  half  in  English.  So  isolated 
was  the  sleepy  pueblo  that  the  Star's  news,  which  often  appeared  as 
late  as  six  weeks  after  the  event,  was  news  to  nobody  when  it  finally 
saw  print.  The  uncertainties  of  waiting  for  the  mail — once  delivered 
as  late  as  52  days  after  leaving  San  Francisco — so  disgusted  the  editor 
that  eventually  he  gave  up  his  job.  The  publishers  of  the  Southern 
Calif  ornian,  founded  July  20,  1854,  inherited  an  old  font  of  Spanish 
type.  They  struggled  along  with  it,  substituting  two  "V's"  for  the 
missing  letter  "W"  until  a  sailor  who  had  heard  of  their  hardships 
strolled  in  one  day  with  news  of  a  fine  font  of  English  type  which  he 
had  seen  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  (Hawaiian  Islands).  Overjoyed, 
they  solved  their  difficulties  by  sending  for  it.  An  all-Spanish  paper, 
El  Clamor  Publico,  began  competing  for  the  Spanish-speaking  readers 
in  June  1855. 

San  Diego,  too,  was  by  this  time  reading  its  pioneer  paper,  the 
Herald,  established  in  May  1851.  Many  a  chuckle  must  have  escaped 
its  subscribers  when  they  read  the  writings  of  "John  Phoenix,"  as  the 
irrepressible  wag  and  practical  joker,  Lieut.  George  H.  Derby,  called 
himself.  This  young  Army  officer,  assigned  to  the  job  of  diverting 


112        CALIFORNIA 

the  San  Diego  River,  which  was  silting  up  the  bay,  found  San  Diego 
such  a  dreary  hamlet  that  he  began  writing  for  the  Herald  to  relieve 
his  boredom.  Derby  perpetrated  his  most  famous  exploit  when  the 
paper's  editor,  confident  of  the  victory  of  the  Democratic  ticket  he 
had  been  supporting,  entrusted  Derby  with  the  management  of  the 
paper  while  he  spent  a  fortnight  in  San  Francisco.  "John  Phoenix" 
promptly  reversed  the  Herald's  politics.  Not  content  with  attacking 
all  the  candidates  his  editor  had  been  boosting,  he  eloquently  sang  the 
virtues  of  the  rival  Whigs.  His  counter-campaign  was  so  effective  that 
the  Whigs  carried  the  election  in  San  Diego  County  by  a  four-to-three 
majority — although  the  Democrats  managed  to  carry  the  State. 

Within  eight  years  of  the  Calif  ornians  first  appearance,  57  news- 
papers and  periodicals  within  the  State  were  serving  an  average  total 
of  290,000  readers.  The  dreams  of  sudden  riches,  with  which  the 
gold  rush  had  fired  men's  minds  everywhere  had  transformed  Cali- 
fornia into  one  of  the  most  important  news  markets  of  the  world.  Now, 
as  the  scramble  to  lay  hands  on  her  wealth  bred  graft  and  political 
skulduggery,  many  of  California's  newly-born  papers  became  the  mouth- 
pieces of  the  law-and-order  citizenry  and  took  the  lead  in  crusades 
against  corruption.  Their  editors  needed  courage,  for  in  those  turbulent 
days  the  Colt  revolver  was  deemed  mightier  than  the  pen. 

Into  the  turmoil  of  San  Francisco's  early  political  strife  stepped  the 
most  influential  of  the  fighting  editors,  James  King  of  William,  who 
used  that  signature  to  distinguish  himself  from  another  James  King. 
On  October  8,  1855,  he  published  the  first  number  of  his  Daily  Evening 
Bulletin.  He  found  much  to  attack,  for  San  Francisco,  after  the  spas- 
modic outburst  of  indignation  which  brought  into  being  the  Viligance 
Committee  of  1851,  had  slipped  back  into  lawlessness.  King's  editorials 
slashed  mercilessly  at  the  unholy  coalition  of  grafting  officials,  financial 
magnates,  and  gang  leaders  who  were  swindling  the  people  through 
political  power.  These  were  the  forces,  as  King  soon  pointed  out  in 
his  stinging  attacks,  that  maintained  a  reign  of  terror,  encouraging 
robbery  and  murder,  in  order  to  continue  stuffing  ballot  boxes,  fixing 
the  courts,  and  plundering  the  treasury.  Not  hesitating  to  print  names, 
King  boldly  exposed  a  rogue's  gallery  of  public  enemies  in  high  places. 
Within  a  year  the  Bulletin  had  out-stripped  all  other  papers  in  the  city, 
winning  recognition  as  the  foremost  champion  of  the  people's  right. 

The  Bulletin  charged,  on  May  14,  1856,  that  political  boss  James  P. 
Casey  was  an  ex-inmate  of  Sing  Sing  prison  who  "had  stuffed  himself 
through  the  ballot  box  ...  to  the  board  of  supervisors."  On  the  after- 
noon of  the  same  day,  Casey  shot  and  mortally  wounded  King.  With- 
out hesitation  Casey  gave  himself  up  at  the  police  station,  confident  that 
his  friends  would  protect  him.  As  King  lingered  between  life  and 
death,  a  second  Vigilance  Committee,  led  by  some  of  the  active  members 


PRESS     AND     RADIO        113 

of  the  original  committee  of  1851,  was  formed.  When  King  died  on 
May  20,  the  vigilantes  brought  both  Cora,  a  notorious  character,  and 
Casey  before  them  for  trial,  found  them  guilty,  and  hanged  them  both 
at  "Fort  Gunnybags,"  the  vigilantes'  headquarters.  Two  days  later 
King's  funeral  procession  marched  by  the  spot  where  the  bodies  were 
hanging. 

San  Francisco's  other  papers  were  forced  to  take  their  stand  on 
the  most  burning  issue  of  the  day.  The  Alia  Calif  ornians  owners 
tossed  a  half-dollar  to  decide  whether  or  not  to  support  the  Vigilance 
Committee  of  1856.  The  committee  won.  When  the  Herald  decided 
to  oppose  the  vigilantes,  the  merchants  boycotted  it  and  switched  their 
advertisements  to  the  Alia  Calif ornian.  As  a  result,  the  Herald  dwin- 
dled and  died.  A  new  paper  which  stood  for  the  people's  rights  took 
over  some  of  its  readers — the  Morning  Call,  first  published  December  I, 
1856,  by  the  Associated  Practical  Printers,  a  craftsmen's  co-operative. 
Of  all  the  San  Francisco  papers  then  published,  the  Call-Bulletin,  a 
merger  of  the  Call  and  James  King  of  William's  Bulletin,  is  the  only 
one  still  appearing. 

As  vigilante  activity  in  the  north  steadily  drove  gangsters  and 
political  crooks  southward,  Los  Angeles  editors  soon  found  themselves 
confronted  with  problems  long  familiar  to  their  San  Francisco  col- 
leagues. In  the  face  of  the  most  gruesome  local  disorders,  the  Los 
Angeles  newspapermen  displayed  an  astonishing  air  of  sang-froid.  The 
Los  Angeles  Star  in  1855  even  published  an  account  of  a  lynching  before 
the  lynching  happened.  Because  he  wanted  to  put  the  paper  aboard 
the  San  Francisco  steamer  at  10  a.m.,  hours  before  the  affair  was 
scheduled,  a  young  printer-reporter  proceeded  to  write  up  a  first-class 
lynching — even  including  the  condemned  man's  "confession"  on  the 
gallows. 

Since  there  were  40  "legal"  hangings  and  37  impromptu  ones  in 
Los  Angeles  between  1850  and  1870,  newspapers  became  adept  at 
handling  crime  news.  The  following  is  typical  of  their  reporting 
style:  "With  the  exception  of  a  little  legitimate  shooting  affair  last 
Saturday  night,  by  which  some  fellow  had  well-nigh  the  top  of  his 
head  knocked  off,  and  one  or  two  knock-downs  and  drag-outs,  we  have 
had  a  very  peaceful  week  indeed.  Nothing  has  occurred  to  disturb 
the  even  tenor  of  our  way,  and  our  good  people  seem  to  be  given  up 
to  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  delicious  fruits  and  our  unequalled  climate, — 
each  one  literally  under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  reveling  in  fancy's 
flights,  or  luxuriating  among  the  good  things  he  finds  temptingly  at 
hand." 

While  metropolitan  editors  were  dealing  with  lawlessness  and  cor- 
ruption in  the  cities,  one  of  California's  best  known  papers  was  leading 
the  struggles  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  farmers.  The  Sacramento  Bee, 


114        CALIFORNIA 

founded  February  3,  1857,  took  up  the  cudgels  against  land  monopoly 
under  the  editorship  of  James  McClatchy.  When  the  cattle  interests 
were  still  powerful,  the  Bee  began  agitating  for  legislation  to  protect 
farms  against  injury  from  cattle — and  it  won  the  fight.  Though  it 
seemed  hopeless  to  oppose  the  rich  and  influential  mining  interests,  the 
Bee  began  educating  the  people  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  to  fight  for 
defense  of  the  farming  lands  against  threatened  ruin  by  hydraulic 
mining  debris,  a  struggle  that  ended  with  victory  for  the  farmers  in 
the  courts. 

Of  the  important  metropolitan  dailies  published  in  California  today, 
most  were  founded  in  the  two  decades  beginning  with  the  Civil  War 
era.  The  pro-Confederate  Democratic  Press  of  San  Francisco,  estab- 
lished in  1863,  was  so  violently  "secesh"  in  its  sentiments  that  indignant 
Unionists  wrecked  its  plant  and  threw  its  type  out  the  window  follow- 
ing the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  In  order  to  resume  pub- 
lication with  safety  on  June  12,  1865,  it  had  to  change  its  name  to  the 
Daily  Examiner.  The  first  paper  in  San  Francisco  to  publish  the 
news  of  the  assassination  had  made  its  debut  only  three  months  earlier 
as  a  small  sheet  called  the  Dramatic  Chronicle,  "A  Daily  Record  of 
Affairs  Local,  Critical  and  Theatrical,"  written,  printed,  and  dis- 
tributed by  two  youths  of  19  and  17,  Charles  and  M.  H.  de  Young. 
Soon  shedding  the  word  "Dramatic,"  the  Chronicle  appeared  as  a 
daily  after  1868. 

Los  Angeles'  oldest  newspaper  in  point  of  continuous  publication 
made  its  first  appearance  in  1871,  when  a  group  of  five  printers  founded 
the  Evening  Express.  Four  years  later  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
pioneer  publisher,  Colonel  James  M.  Ayers,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Calaveras  Chronicle.  The  rival  Daily  and  Weekly  Herald,  now 
combined  wifh  the  Express  as  the  Herald-Express,  appeared  in  1872; 
and  this  was  followed  in  1873  by  the  four-page  Weekly  Mirror,  which 
was  distributed  free.  The  Daily  Times  made  its  first  appearance  in 
1 88 1,  and  within  a  month  was  taken  over  by  the  Mirror's  publishers, 
who  printed  it  on  a  ramshackle  press  run  by  water  power  from  the 
city  zanja  (ditch).  Whenever  the  pipes  became  clogged  by  fish,  as 
occasionally  happened,  the  press  had  to  be  stopped.  In  August  1882 
a  newcomer  to  Los  Angeles,  Colonel  (later  General)  Harrison  Gray 
Otis,  ex-editor  of  the  Grand  Army  Journal,  took  over  the  management 
of  both  the  Mirror  and  the  Times,  put  his  wife  to  work  as  a  reporter 
and  his  daughters  as  clerks  in  the  business  office,  and  soon  afterward 
merged  the  two  papers  to  found  the  Los  Angeles  Times.  The  day 
after  his  arrival  in  Los  Angeles  in  1884,  Charles  F.  Lummis,  who  had 
made  a  3,507-mile  walking  trip  from  Cincinnati  in  143  days,  con- 
tributing breezy  letters  to  the  Times  en  route,  was  appointed  city  editor. 

The  era  of  modern  journalism  in   California  was   inaugurated   in 


PRESS     AND     RADIO         115 

1887  when  young  William  Randolph  Hearst  took  over  his  father's 
chaste  and  ultra-conservative  San  Francisco  Daily  Examiner,  installed 
some  of  his  college  classmates  on  the  staff,  and  began  to  publish  Cali- 
fornia's first  eight-page  daily.  Introducing  to  the  Pacific  Coast  the 
"human  interest"  style  popularized  by  Joseph  Pulitzer's  World,  the 
Examiner  provided  its  readers  with  sensational  news  of  strikes,  legis- 
lative scandal,  hospital  abuses,  jury  briberies.  Its  reporters  were  as- 
signed to  such  spectacular  stunts  as  testing  the  ferryboats'  life-saving 
devices;  one  of  them  "fell"  overboard,  while  others  stood  by  with  stop 
watches  to  time  the  rescue.  Circulation  boomed,  and  the  Examiner 
became  the  nucleus  of  a  Nation-wide  chain,  which  today  includes  in 
California  the  San  Francisco  Call-Bulletin,  the  Los  Angeles  Examiner 
and  Herald-Express,  and  the  Oakland  Post-Enquirer. 

The  fighting  traditions  of  James  King  of  William  seemed  to  be 
reviving  when  Fremont  Older,  whom  Oswald  Garrison  Villard  called 
"one  of  the  two  first-rate  journalists  of  the  Pacific  Slope,"  became 
editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin  in  1895.  Entering  vigorously  into 
the  struggle  to  oust  the  all-powerful  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Co. 
from  political  control  of  the  State,  Older  became  one  of  the  star  figures 
— along  with  his  famous  fellow-Californian,  Lincoln  Steffens — of  the 
muckraking  era.  In  1906  he  joined  the  campaign  to  expose  the  graft 
ring  headed  by  Mayor  Eugene  E.  Schmitz  and  political  boss  Abraham 
Ruef  which  ruled  from  the  City  Hall.  At  the  height  of  the  campaign, 
when  most  of  the  other  newspapers  were  attacking  the  graft  prosecution 
with  bitter  invective,  Older  waged  his  fight  so  aggressively  in  the 
Bulletin  that  his  enemies  kidnaped  him  and  carried  him  to  Santa 
Barbara.  A  decade  later,  when  he  became  convinced  that  District  At- 
torney Fickert  had  used  perjured  evidence  to  convict  Thomas  J. 
Mooney  and  Warren  K.  Billings  of  the  Preparedness  Day  bombing  in 
1916,  Older  published  an  extra  edition  of  the  Bulletin  with  the  head- 
line: "FICKERT  FRAMED  THE  MOONEY  CASE."  This  was 
the  first  time  that  the  charge  had  been  made  by  any  disinterested  person. 

In  1909  the  Los  Angeles  Herald  began  a  reform  crusade  with  a 
series  of  red-bordered  articles  entitled  "Is  Vice  Protected  in  Los 
Angeles?"  The  movement  thus  initiated,  which  was  soon  joined  by 
the  Los  Angeles  Evening  Express,  the  Fresno  Republican,  the  Sacra- 
mento Bee,  and  the  Oakland  Tribune,  strengthened  a  political  re- 
volt leading  to  formation  of  the  anti-monopolist  Lincoln-Roosevelt 
League.  But  in  Los  Angeles  the  crusade  was  suddenly  swept  into  the 
background  by  the  dynamiting  of  the  Times  building,  on  October  I, 
1910.  J.  B.  McNamara,  secretary  of  the  Structural  Bridge  and  Iron 
Workers,  and  his  brother  were  arrested  and  tried  in  a  long-drawn-out 
court  case  which  ended  in  the  McNamaras'  sudden  and  unexpected 
plea  of  guilty. 


Il6        CALIFORNIA 

Although  labor  disavowed  violence,  Governor  James  N.  Gillett 
said,  "Whether  guilty  or  not,  labor  unionists  will  have  to  be  blamed 
for  the  crime  until  it  is  shown  they  are  not  guilty."  The  San  Fran- 
cisco Daily  News  vehemently  sprang  to  the  defense  of  the  unions.  This 
little  four-page  penny  paper  was  started  in  1903  in  a  shabby  wooden 
house  "south  of  the  slot."  The  equipment  was  of  the  humblest — a 
few  old  chairs  and  tables,  a  decrepit  linotype  machine,  and  a  press 
purchased  from  a  Chinese  newspaper.  From  the  start  it  was  a  working- 
man's  paper,  costing  but  25  cents  a  month.  The  guiding  principle  of 
the  editor,  William  Wasson,  to  "cut  every  item  to  the  bone  but  increase 
the  number  of  items,"  made  the  writing  admirably  succinct.  Greatly 
expanded,  it  became  in  1921  a  part  of  the  Scripps-Howard  national 
chain,  and  is  now  called  the  News.  The  Scripps-Howard  group  in 
California  also  includes  the  San  Diego  Sun. 

Since  the  appearance  of  the  News,  most  California  papers  have 
tended  towards  increasing  conservatism  in  editorial  policy.  The  People's 
World,  youngest  of  California's  141  English-language  dailies,  alone 
carries  on  the  militant  traditions  in  editorial  policy  once  followed  by 
such  papers  as  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin  and  News  and  the  Sacramento 
Bee.  It  was  founded  in  San  Francisco  on  January  i,  1938,  and  at  the 
end  of  its  first  year  it  was  reaching  some  15,000  subscribers.  The 
first  left-wing  daily  newspaper  to  be  published  in  the  West,  it  bears 
on  its  masthead  the  slogan:  "For  Security,  Democracy,  Peace." 

Since  the  earliest  days  of  statehood,  many  of  California's  racial 
minorities  have  published  their  own  papers.  The  oldest  Negro  news- 
paper still  published  in  the  State,  the  California  Eagle,  has  been  ap- 
pearing in  Los  Angeles  since  1879:  there  are  at  present  eight  other 
Negro  papers.  The  first  French  journals,  the  Calif ornien  (1850)  and 
the  Gazette  Republicaine  (1850),  were  followed  by  the  Courrier  du 
Pacifique  (1852),  which  is  still  published  today.  Both  the  first  German 
and  the  first  Italian  paper,  the  California  Demokrat  (1852)  and  the 
Voce  del  Popolo  (1859),  were  founded  in  San  Francisco  and  are  still 
appearing.  San  Francisco's  Chinese  published  the  first  of  many  news- 
papers, the  Gold  Hills  News,  in  1854;  today  (i939)  they  are  publish- 
ing five.  California's  foreign-language  journals  of  today,  of  which 
15  are  dailies,  include  publications  in  Spanish,  Japanese,  Swedish, 
Russian,  Greek,  and  other  languages. 


PRESS     AND     RADIO 


RADIO 


The  first  California  radio  station  to  broadcast  the  human  voice, 
KQW  of  San  Jose,  was  pioneering  for  the  world,  as  well  as  for  Cali- 
fornia, when  it  initiated  in  1912  regular  broadcasts  of  speech  and 
music.  KQW,  operated  by  the  Herrold  Wireless  Laboratories,  had 
begun  its  experiments  in  1909,  broadcasting  from  a  "carpet"  antenna 
— 11,000  feet  of  wire  strung  between  two  seven-story  office  build- 
ings— connected  with  a  crude  arc  transmitter.  Three  years  later  it 
again  took  the  lead  in  the  use  of  radio  as  an  entertainment  medium, 
when  it  began  sending  out  the  songs  and  ukelele  tunes  of  two  high 
school  boys,  Al  and  Clarence  Pearce.  The  Government  license  granted 
KQW  in  1912  was  reputedly  the  first  to  be  issued  for  actual  radio 
telephony.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  in  1938,  the  station 
was  still  on  the  air — as  was  one  of  its  first  "stars,"  Al  Pearce. 

KQW  was  also  a  pioneer  in  developing  the  mechanics  of  radio. 
Dr.  Charles  D.  Herrold's  arc  transmitter,  the  first  improvement  made 
on  Marconi's  equipment,  was  too  high-powered  for  any  microphone 
then  in  use ;  so  Herrold  constructed  a  microphone  by  hooking  six  tele- 
phone transmitter  units  to  a  single  diaphragm.  Using  the  antenna  at 
Mare  Island  near  San  Francisco,  Herrold's  transmitter  established  in 
1913  what  was  at  the  time  a  world's  record  for  long-distance  radio 
transmission,  when  its  broadcast  was  tuned  in  by  the  army  transport 
Sherman,  950  miles  at  sea.  In  the  same  year  two-way  communication 
over  a  distance  of  250  miles  was  established  between  Mare  Island  and 
Point  Arguello.  Visitors  to  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  at  San 
Francisco  in  1915  were  thrilled  at  listening  through  ear  phones  to  music 
broadcast  by  KQW  from  San  Jose.  Soon  afterward,  this  station  estab- 
lished two-way  communication  with  KDN  in  San  Francisco  and  opened 
a  studio  for  the  reception  of  daily  concerts  broadcast  from  the  Fairmont 
Hotel — the  first  such  receiving  studio  in  the  world. 

Californians  have  been  contributing  their  share  of  radio  inventions 
ever  since  the  days  when  crystal  detectors  and  loose-coupler  tuners  com- 
prised radio  receiving  equipment.  The  so-called  "Father  of  Radio," 
Dr.  Lee  de  Forest,  began  experimenting  in  1912,  at  his  laboratory  in 
Palo  Alto,  with  Audion  tube  "cascade"  amplifiers.  His  success  in 
amplifying  signal  strength  led  to  perfection  of  the  amplifying  systems 
used  in  present-day  transmission  and  reception.  Ten  years  later  the 
Magnavox  loudspeaker,  developed  in  Oakland,  introduced  for  the  first 


Il8        CALIFORNIA 

time  the  dynamic  principle  (moving  coil  in  a  magnetic  field)  which 
loudspeakers  on  modern  receiving  sets  still  use. 

By  the  early  I92o's  these  inventions  and  others,  freeing  radio  from 
the  crudeness  that  drew  ridicule  from  early  critics,  had  won  for  program 
producers  an  untold  number  of  ardent  listeners.  New  stations  began 
competing  with  KQW  and  KDN— KUO  (1922),  KPO  (1923),  and 
KJBS  (1925)  in  San  Francisco;  KLX  (1922)  and  KGO  (1924), 
said  to  be  the  "world's  largest  radio  transmitter"  at  the  time,  in  Oak- 
land; KFI  (1922),  KHJ  (1922),  KMTR  (1924),  and  KNX  (1924) 
in  Los  Angeles.  During  these  first  years  a  typical  broadcast  schedule 
for  the  day  began  with  a  weather  report,  followed  by  recorded  music 
alternating  with  more  weather  reports,  and  ended  with  a  final  announce- 
ment about  the  weather. 

Since  1922  many  of  radio's  most  popular  forms  of  entertainment 
have  been  developed  in  California.  The  earliest  "audience  show"  was 
KFRC's  Blue  Monday  Jamboree,  presented  as  an  experiment  to  deter- 
mine how  the  song-and-patter  show  could  be  given  appeal  for  an  air 
audience;  its  variety  technique  is  still  considered  to  have  a  more  pre- 
dictable popularity  than  any  other  type  of  radio  entertainment.  One 
Mans  Family,  inaugurated  on  KGO  in  1932  and  still  broadcast,  was 
the  first  program  to  adapt  radio's  particularly  intimate  facilities  to 
drama  by  using  casual  dialogue,  unhurriedly  delivered,  to  lend  veri- 
similitude to  the  characters.  One  of  the  earliest  of  the  hillbilly  folk 
programs,  Mac's  Haywire  Qrchestry,  was  put  together  by  a  California 
cowboy,  "Mac"  McClintick,  who  assembled  a  quartet  of  guitar,  har- 
monica, fiddle,  and  banjo  ukelele.  The  latter  was  played  by  San 
Francisco's  now  famous  critic,  Joseph  Henry  Jackson,  whose  program 
of  book  reviews,  began  in  1922,  is  the  oldest  sustaining  program  heard 
transcontinental^.  The  first  broadcast  from  an  airplane  was  made  in 
a  Martin  bomber,  loaned  by  the  U.  S.  Army,  over  Crissey  Field,  San 
Francisco.  In  July  1925,  KJBS  pioneered  mobile  short-wave  radio- 
phone transmission  by  relaying  the  band  music  of  California's  Diamond 
Jubilee  celebration.  Broadcasts  from  the  Malolo  in  1931  were  the 
first  regularly  scheduled  programs  from  a  ship  at  sea. 

Since  1933  radio  has  leaned  more  and  more  heavily  on  motion  pic- 
ture personalities,  a  change  that  has  emphasized  the  star  system  in  radio 
entertainment  and  caused  a  westward  shift  in  production.  The  shift 
began  in  1933,  when  Rudy  Vallee  broadcast  from  an  improvised  studio 
on  the  RKO  lot  between  scenes  in  his  first  motion  picture.  Commer- 
cial shows,  though  often  financed,  planned,  and  written  in  the  East, 
are  staged  more  and  more  frequently  in  California — to  the  discomfort 
of  directors  needing  authorization  for  changes  in  the  last  few  frenzied 
moments  of  rehearsals.  The  cost  of  talent  and  production  in  Holly- 


PRESS     AND     RADIO        IIQ 

wood  is  high,  but  many  sponsors  have  found  that  the  extra  expense  is 
justified  by  the  prestige  of  a  Hollywood  "date-line."  The  ultra-modern 
studios  of  Columbia  and  NBC  in  Hollywood,  where  these  shows  are 
staged,  are  among  the  few  places  where  tourists  may  see  motion  picture 
stars  in  person. 

Radio  has  been  used  more  and  more  as  a  medium  by  religious  groups 
in  California,  several  organizations  having  their  own  broadcasting  sta- 
tions. Of  importance  to  the  State's  agriculture  is  the  broadcasting  of 
frost  warnings  and  the  agricultural  programs  sponsored  by  govern- 
mental agencies.  Possibly  the  most  important  practical  application  of 
the  radio  in  California  is  as  an  aid  to  air  navigation.  A  coast  visited 
by  frequent  dense  fogs,  and  mountains  subject  to  violent  storms  consti- 
tute hazards  to  air  travel  that  the  radio  has  helped  to  lessen. 

In  1938  broadcasts  were  transmitted  from  54  California  stations, 
10  of  which  are  affiliated  with  NBC  networks,  4  with  CBS,  n  with 
Mutual-Don  Lee,  and  2  with  Hearst.  Also  within  the  State  are  the 
short-wave  stations  that  handle  all  the  Nation's  transpacific  broad- 
casts to  and  from  Hawaii  and  the  Far  East;  the  75O-acre  Bolinas  sta- 
tion, with  its  46  transmitting  antennas;  and  the  i5OO-acre  Point  Reyes 
station,  with  its  21  directive  receiving  antenna  units. 


The  Movies 


IT  all  began  so  suddenly — decorous  suburban  Hollywood  must  have 
felt  that  a  strange  new  race  had  descended  from  the  sky.  One 
actress  did  alight  from  on  high,  unintentionally.  She  was  Pearl 
White,  heroine  of  thriller  serials,  who  had  been  performing  in  a  "prop" 
balloon  before  the  cameras  when  it  broke  its  moorings.  She  was  rapidly 
drifting  seaward  until  she  pulled  the  rope  that  deflated  it,  landing 
herself — and  so  demonstrating  the  resourcefulness  demanded  of  movie 
actresses  in  1912. 

Hazardous  though  life  might  be  for  performers  in  the  "flickers," 
the  trek  to  Hollywood  had  started.  Any  girl  could  get  a  job  if  she 
would  ride  along  in  the  cab  of  a  runaway  locomotive — any  man  if  he 
could  shoot  a  rabbit  from  the  back  of  a  galloping  horse.  The  next  best 
thing,  in  1912,  was  to  be  very  tall  or  short  or  weigh  300  pounds  or  30 
or,  at  the  very  least,  to  resemble  a  tramp  or  a  colonel  or  a  duchess. 
The  thrillers  of  those  hectic  days  told  their  stories  in  the  main  titles: 
The  Outlaw  and  the  Child,  True  Love  Never  Dies,  Mary's  Stratagem, 
A  Good  Turn,  Her  First  False  Step.  Most  of  them  were  advertised 
as  having  "a  strong  moral  tone."  They  were  expected  to  have,  as  well, 
plenty  of  excitement.  As  a  director  of  the  time  expressed  it:  "Never 
mind  the  acting — we  want  action!" 

The  producers,  working  at  the  same  speed  as  the  characters  in  their 
dramas,  never  stopped  to  build  a  stage  if  they  could  rent  a  barn,  or  a 
dressing  room  if  they  could  buy  a  tent.  Behind  the  flimsy  walls  of 
the  mushroom  studios,  Tom  Mix  and  his  director  were  vying  with 
each  other  to  invent  stunts  dangerous  enough  for  their  thrill-fed  fans. 


120 


THE     MOVIES        121 

Custard  pies  were  flying  between  Mack  Sennett  and  Ford  Sterling. 
Mae  Marsh,  in  a  voluminous  grass  skirt,  was  tempting  Bobby  Herron. 
Hollywood  in  1912 — a  small  town  carnival! 

A  decade  and  a  half  before,  the  cinema  industry  had  got  under  way 
on  the  other  side  of  the  continent  in  New  York,  where  Thomas  Alva 
Edison's  kinetoscope  made  its  first  appearance  on  April  14,  1894. 
The  spectators  dropped  a  nickel  in  the  slot  and  peeped  into  a  cabinet. 
Two  years  later  the  first  modern  screen  projector,  Thomas  Armat's 
vitascope,  liberating  the  moving  images  from  Edison's  peepshow,  began 
its  commercial  career  at  Koster  &  Bial's  music  hall  in  New  York.  To 
curious  spectators  the  vitascope  showed  picture  sequences  of  simple 
incidents:  a  snowstorm  raging  through  a  city,  a  policeman  chasing  a 
hapless  tramp,  a  fire  engine  racing  to  a  midnight  alarm.  Its  audiences 
were  amused,  but  as  soon  as  the  novelty  wore  off,  they  dropped  away. 

An  Edison  cameraman,  Edwin  S.  Porter,  had  an  idea:  the  motion 
picture  should  tell  a  story.  The  overwhelming  success  of  his  first  film, 
The  Life  of  an  American  Fireman,  encouraged  him  to  make  others,  of 
which  The  Great  Train  Robbery,  released  in  1903,  was  the  classic. 
At  first  the  films  were  exhibited  by  itinerant  showmen  on  portable  pro- 
jectors, but  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1905,  the  first  theater  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  showing  of  motion  pictures  opened  in  a  Pittsburgh 
storeroom.  The  price  of  admission  for  the  15-minute  program  was  a 
nickel,  which  gave  rise  to  the  name  "nickelodeon."  Soon  scores  of 
Bijoux,  White  Ways,  Fairylands,  and  Lyrics  appeared  in  eastern  cities. 

As  the  "flickers"  grew  in  popularity  the  chief  producers  found  it 
necessary  to  safeguard  their  claims  to  the  promised  profits.  Since  1897 
Edison  had  been  suing  them  for  pirating  his  patents.  In  defense  they 
formed,  in  January  1909,  the  Motion  Picture  Patents  Company,  soon 
widely  known  as  the  "movie  trust."  Their  airtight  monopoly  was 
threatened,  however,  by  the  small  producers,  exhibitors,  and  exchanges 
excluded  from  the  trust,  who  began  importing  bootleg  equipment  and 
filming  their  pictures  in  obscure  hide-outs.  Against  them  the  trust 
launched  a  battle  of  suits  and  injunctions,  raids  and  riots.  They  fled — 
from  one  loft  to  another,  to  Florida,  to  Cuba,  and  finally,  to  California. 

California  had  been  claimed  for  the  movies  when  William  Selig, 
one  of  the  "patent  pirates"  fought  by  Edison,  skipped  to  Los  Angeles  in 
1908  to  complete  a  film  began  in  his  Chicago  studio.  His  picture,  The 
Count  of  Monte  Cristo,  was  the  first  commercial  film  produced  in  the 
State.  Two  years  passed  before  another  picture  was  made  in  the  West. 
By  that  time,  the  patents  group  were  hounding  the  independent  New 
York  Motion  Picture  Company.  The  flight  of  this  company  to  Los 
Angeles  began  a  westward  movement  of  independents  and,  eventually, 
of  the  trust  companies  themselves.  They  opened  their  studios  in  Los 
Angeles,  Santa  Monica,  Glendale,  and,  finally,  in  Hollywood — where 


122        CALIFORNIA 

David  Horseley's  Nestor  Film  Company  of  New  Jersey  settled  in  the 
autumn  of  1911  to  make  Hollywood's  first  movie  in  a  studio  at  Sunset 
Boulevard  and  Gower  Street. 

The  arrival  of  the  trust  companies  on  the  Coast  brought  the  war 
with  the  independents  to  a  new  battleground — where  the  independents 
found  two  weapons  which  won  them  victory.  The  first  was  the 
"feature"  picture;  the  second  was  the  "star"  system. 

The  "feature"  picture — a  film  of  more  than  one  or  two  reels — was 
revolutionary  in  1912.  While  France,  Italy,  and  Germany  were  experi- 
menting with  the  long  film,  the  monopolistic  Motion  Picture  Patents 
Company,  controlled  by  financiers,  had  limited  American  pictures  to 
two-reel  elementary  treatments  of  elementary  concepts.  There  was 
no  room  in  this  production  scheme  for  artistic  experimentation.  The 
independents,  on  the  other  hand — many  of  whom  had  been  old-clothing, 
jewelry,  and  junk  dealers — proved  to  be  better  showmen. 

Adolph  Zukor  imported  the  first  multi-reel  picture,  Queen  Elizabeth 
made  in  France  in  1911  by  Louis  Mercanton  with  Sarah  Bernhard 
and  Lou  Tellegen.  The  enthusiasm  of  American  audiences  proved  tha 
they  were  ready  for  picture  drama  in  the  grand  style.  While  othe 
European  features  were  being  imported,  American  producers  began 
getting  their  own  long  films  ready  for  the  market.  The  first  gallan 
attempts  included  James  Young's  Cardinal  Wolsey  with  Clara  Kimbal 
Young,  and  D.  W.  Griffith's  Judith  of  Bethulia  with  Blanche  Sweet 
Within  six  years  appeared  other  films  that  critics  still  remember  wit! 
respect:  Griffith's  The  Birth  of  a  Nation,  Broken  Blossoms,  and  Intol 
erance;  Sennett's  Tillies  Punctured  Romance;  Lubitsch's  Carmen 
starring  Pola  Negri;  The  Squawman;  and  Chaplin's  A  Dog's  Life.  In 
The  Birth  of  a  Nation — America's  first  super-feature — Griffith  revolu 
tionized  production  technique,  creating  a  picture  which  attracted  th 
attention  of  the  intelligentsia  to  the  cinema  for  the  first  time  in  thi 
country.  The  picture  rolled  up  an  astounding  box-office  record ;  thougl 
the  validity  of  its  characterization  has  since  been  questioned,  it  still  play 
occasionally  in  the  world's  out-of-the-way  places.  During  this  perioc 
the  trust,  persisting  on  the  whole  with  mass-produced  short  films 
languished. 

As  Zukor,  onetime  furrier,  introduced  the  full  length  picture,  so 
Carl   Laemmle,   onetime  clothing  dealer,   introduced   the   star  system 
The  patents  trust,   pursuing  a   mass   production   policy,   had   paid   the 
screen  player  very  low  wages,  assuming  that  the  public  would  let  him 
remain   as  anonymous  as  a   bookkeeper.      But   Carl   Laemmle,   one   o 
the  trust's  shrewdest  foes,  noted  that  patrons  were  asking  at  the  box 
office  when  "the  cute  little  girl  with  the  curls"  would  appear  again 
and  so  he  hired  the  cute  little  girl  from  Biograph  at  double  her  former 
salary.     She  was  Gladys  Smith — better  known  by  the   name  of  the 


THE     MOVIES        123 

character  she  had  played  in  Biograph  pictures,  "Little  Mary."  As 
Mary  Pickford,  she  was  presently  receiving  $10,000  a  week  in  salary 
and  half  the  profits  on  her  pictures. 

At  about  the  time  the  little  girl  with  the  curls  was  attracting  notice, 
a  young  player  deserted  an  English  music  hall  company  to  work  in 
Mack  Sennett's  Keystone  Comedies  at  $150  a  week.  His  shoes  and 
small  moustache,  his  talent  for  getting  into  pathetically  funny  situa- 
tions, and  his  genius  for  expressing  himself  through  simple  gestures 
soon  made  Charlie  Chaplin  a  universally  beloved  character.  Producers 
scrambled  for  him,  the  successful  bidder  paying  him  $150,000  for  sign- 
ing a  contract  which  guaranteed  him  $10,000  a  week. 

Now  picture  patrons  were  demanding  not  only  feature  pictures, 
but  "stars."  The  names  of  Marguerite  Clarke,  Blanche  Sweet,  Pauline 
Frederick,  Theda  Bara,  William  Farnum,  Tom  Mix,  Anita  Stewart, 
Alice  Joyce,  Earle  Williams,  William  S.  Hart,  Norma  and  Constance 
Talmadge,  Lillian  and  Dorothy  Gish,  Mae  Marsh,  Harold  Lockwood, 
and  May  Allison  went  up  in  marquee  lights.  Many  of  these  players 
came  to  the  films  from  the  shipping  rooms  and  offices  of  large  cities, 
others  from  small  town  beauty  contests  and  midwestern  farms.  Many 
had  no  previous  dramatic  training  of  any  sort,  and  some  never  found 
it  necessary  to  acquire  any.  Some  built  hillside  mansions  with  swim- 
ming pools,  and  Japanese  gardens ;  hired  armies  of  servants,  agents,  and 
secretaries;  gave  parties  which  lasted  for  days,  stirring  the  talk  of  the 
Nation.  Some  saved  their  money,  helped  their  relatives,  and  retired 
wealthy  and  happy;  others  died  early  of  drink  and  drugs;  others  faded 
back  into  obscurity.  All  of  them  in  their  hour  of  glory  were  sent  fan 
mail  by  the  carload  and  mobbed  by  hysterical  crowds  at  docks  and 
railroad  stations. 

The  introduction  of  movie  cycles  accompanied  the  rise  of  movie 
stars.  Traffic  in  Souls  inspired  a  series  of  "daring"  exposes;  The 
Miracle  Man  was  responsible  for  a  cycle  of  heavily  moralistic  pictures; 
The  Spoilers,  for  two-fisted  Northwesterns ;  Passion,  for  costume  films. 
Over  the  Hill  started  a  race  for  the  profits  to  be  made  on  mother  love. 
While  critics  pleaded  for  originality — and  continued  pleading  for  two 
decades — successive  themes  were  milked :  desert  love,  crime,  war,  aero- 
nautics, exploration,  the  private  lives  of  royalty  and  geniuses,  the  gaiety 
of  the  nineties.  The  1930*8  brought  in  cycles  of  adaptations  of  Vic- 
torian novels,  Shakespearean  dramas,  musical  farces,  and  comedies. 

The  years  from  1912  to  1920  passed  without  radical  improvements 
in  mechanical  methods — although  cameramen  perfected  the  dissolve,  the 
fade,  double  exposure,  and  the  close-up — but  not  without  an  important 
change  in  the  industry's  financial  structure.  The  World  War  had 
ended  the  competition  of  European  film  companies,  leaving  the  huge 
and  growing  market  to  the  American  producers.  The  conservative 


124        CALIFORNIA 

patents  trust  let  this  opportunity  escape,  and  the  independents  through 
superior  showmanship  won  by  1930  control  of  the  industry— an  industry 
of  world-wide  proportions  which  had  grown  in  a  single  decade  into 
one  of  the  United  States'  ten  largest. 

The  independent  producers  began  at  once  to  exhibit  imagination" 
and  initiative — as  well  as  partiality  for  the  grandiloquent.  They  en- 
larged the  studios  and  gave  them  ornate  facades.  Dozens  of  new  stages 
were  constructed,  many  vast  enough  to  house  skating  rinks  in  one  end 
and  ballrooms  in  the  other.  Outgrowing  the  informality  of  the  early 
years — when  householders  were  generally  glad  to  lend  their  fishponds 
for  the  swimming  party  in  Mabel  Normand's  latest  farce — they  built 
their  own  sets.  One  producer  erected  a  range  of  lath-and-plaster  moun- 
tains, and  another,  a  canvas  desert  diorama  half-a-mile  in  length,  while 
Paramount  built  a  full-size  steamship  to  lie  forever  at  anchor  on  the 
lot.  Million-dollar  "prop"  and  wardrobe  departments  were  organized. 
Every  studio  amassed  its  library.  One  acquired  a  zoo.  And  each 
opened  a  laboratory  for  developing  a  new  art — that  of  illusion.  Here 
ingenious  craftsmen  built  miniature  models  of  clippers  and  cathedrals, 
painted  foregrounds  on  glass,  engineered  filming  of  underwater  scenes 
on  dry  land  through  a  thin  tank  of  moving  water,  and  discovered  an 
effective  imitation  fog  in  sprayed  mineral  oil.  Studio  staffs  were 
augmented  by  architects,  decorators,  gag  men,  publicity  writers,  script 
girls,  couturiers,  research  directors,  and  technical  experts. 

As  expansion  of  the  industry  attracted  new  thousands  to  Hollywood, 
until  the  crowds  outside  the  casting  offices  overflowed  the  streets  and 
"still  pictures"  overflowed  the  files  inside,  the  studios  formed  the  Cen- 
tral Casting  Bureau.  Within  a  short  time  10,000  would-be  stars  had 
applied.  A  clearing  house  for  extras,  "Central  Casting"  began  filling 
the  studios'  daily  talent  needs.  For  each  registered  applicant  was 
assembled  a  record  of  physical  characteristics — height,  weight,  color  and 
type  of  hair,  color  of  eyes,  and  health;  abilities — driving  a  car,  swim- 
ming, diving,  dancing,  riding;  history — former  residence,  marital  status, 
court  record  (if  any),  income  from  other  sources.  A  complete  inven- 
tory of  the  applicant's  wardrobe  with  the  interviewer's  critical  com- 
ments went  into  the  file,  and  finally  the  answer  to  the  question :  Can  the 
applicant  act  ?  Only  a  few  dozen  were  able  to  make  an  adequate  living. 
In  1928  and  1929,  with  production  at  its  height,  but  194  registered 
extras  worked  two  days  or  more  a  week.  Fifty-four  of  these  were 
women,  whose  incomes  averaged  $14.25  weekly.  The  men  earned 
$14.52  weekly. 

Meanwhile  the  industry's  expenditures,  if  not  the  wages  paid  the 
extras,  were  mounting  dizzily.  Salaries  kept  pace  with  expansion  as 
studio  executives  paid  themselves  up  to  $500,000  a  year  and  their  top 
flight  stars  even  more.  If  Hollywood  in  1912  was  a  carnival,  by  1925. 


&&&8&^&^^^ 


Education 


*&<x&&^^^ 


5HIB 


,.^_:  - 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 


CLASS  IN  GARDENING,  LOS  ANGELES  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


HIGH  SCHOOL  STUDENTS,  LOS  ANGELES 


DOHENY  LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTHERN 
CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 


AVIATION  STUDENTS,  LOS  ANGELES 


MT.  WILSON  OBSERVATORY 


LICK  OBSERVATORY,  NEAR  SAN  JOS1 


4r   .A 


HENRY  E.  HUNTINGTON  LIBRARY,  PADADENA 


ARCADES,  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY,  PALO  ALTO 


EASTER  SUNRISE  SERVICE,  HOLLYWOOD  BOW1 


RACE  TRACK,  SANTA  ANITA 


ALONG  THE  BEACH,  SANTA  CATALINA 


-    *> 


THE     MOVIES         125 

it  resembled  an  extravaganza,  mad  and  merry.  In  one  picture  the  star 
wore  a  $30,000  chinchilla  coat;  since  it  could  never  be  used  again,  of 
course,  the  fur  was  cut  up  and  sewed  on  bathing  suits.  Greta  Garbo 
was  reported  to  be  getting  90,000  fan  letters  every  month. 

Lavish  too  were  the  pictures  of  this  decade  in  conception,  plot,  and 
background.  In  1920  audiences  were  impressed  by  Way  Down  East 
and  in  1921  by  The  Three  Musketeers.  In  the  five  years  following 
they  were  successively  staggered  by  Robin  Hood,  The  Covered  Wagon, 
Scaramouche,  The  Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,  The  Iron  Horse,  The 
Ten  Commandments,  The  Merry  Widow,  Beau  Geste,  and  by  Ben 
Hur,  which  took  three  years  to  film  and  cost  more  than  $4,000,000. 
Producers  hoped  the  public  would  be  staggered.  Actually,  there  were 
dawning  signs  of  boredom.  The  public  was  giving  unanimous  approval 
to  an  unpretentious  little  film  called  Nanook  of  the  North,  to  the  slow- 
paced,  realistic  A  Woman  of  Paris,  and — strangest  of  all — to  the 
German  film  The  Last  Laugh,  a  simple  story  about  the  heartbreak  of 
a  doorman. 

During  these  years  the  producers  were  expanding  in  still  another 
direction,  the  ownership  of  theaters.  Chains  were  organized  and  battles 
fought  for  the  control  of  first-run  houses.  In  an  effort  to  eliminate 
all  competition,  the  producers  bought  hundreds  of  legitimate  theaters 
and  either  dismantled  them  or  remodeled  them  for  screen  showings. 
A  public  that  had  been  devoted  to  its  stock,  its  big  and  small  time 
vaudeville,  and  its  weekly  visits  from  touring  companies  began  making 
its  choice  in  theatrical  entertainment  among  the  productions  of  Uni- 
versal, Paramount,  Fox,  Warner  Brothers,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

The  general  extravagance  required  money,  money  required  bankers, 
bankers  demanded  boards  of  hard-headed  directors.  And  so  it  hap- 
pened that  the  one-time  independents,  grown  powerful  (Adolph  Zukor, 
Carl  Laemmle,  William  Fox,  Sam  Goldwyn,  and  others),  now  found 
themselves  taking  orders  from  Wall  Street.  Under  banker  control 
began  an  effort  to  wed  efficiency  and  showmanship.  Stage  producers 
had  always  recognized  it  as  the  very  essence  of  harlequinade  to  be 
spontaneous,  unpredictable — but  now  Pierrot  was  regimented.  Sharp 
eyes  in  New  York  grew  very  sharp  indeed  when  they  read  that  Erich 
von  Stroheim  kept  5,000  extras  waiting  all  day  in  a  square  while  he 
rehearsed  an  actress  in  the  grand  manner  of  royalty  descending  from  a 
coach.  Over  the  stages  hung  the  smoke  of  the  battle  between  showmen 
and  efficiency  experts. 

In  this  decade  it  was  a  mechanical  invention  that  caused  the  in- 
evitable upheaval.  Agents  of  the  Bell  laboratories  were  knocking  on 
producers'  doors  in  1925  with  a  device  for  synchronizing  the  images  of 
the  projector  with  the  sounds  of  a  talking  machine,  but  with  box  office 
returns  bad  and  getting  worse,  the  picture  executives  shook  their  heads. 


126        CALIFORNIA 

Finally  the  salesmen  took  their  device  to  Warner  Brothers,  a  second- 
string  studio  which  had  fallen  behind  in  the  theater-building  race.  The 
Warners  were  desperately  interested  and,  after  a  demonstration,  hope- 
ful. In  April  1926  they  formed  the  Vitaphone  Corporation  for  sound 
experimentation  and  production.  Don  Juan,  their  first  full-length 
picture  with  recorded  musical  accompaniment,  caused  a  stir.  Soon  after 
the  release  in  1927  of  The  Jazz  Singer,  starring  Al  Jolson,  the  public 
began  to  demand  sound  films. 

By  autumn  of  1929  the  talkie  trend  had  become  a  stampede.  In 
the  scramble  to  revamp  production  methods,  First  National  was  ab- 
sorbed by  Warner  Brothers,  and  William  Fox — himself  a  pioneer  in 
the  talkie  field — was  forced  into  retirement.  Other  major  producers 
survived,  but  not  all  their  studio  personnel.  Writers  and  directors  of 
"silent  days"  were  scrapped  along  with  equipment  and  techniques, 
while  strange  new  faces — song  writers  and  musicians  hustled  out  from 
New  York's  Tin  Pan  Alley — began  appearing  on  the  lots.  Old  acting 
favorites  who  lacked  the  pleasing  voice  which  talkies  demanded  quietly 
disappeared,  and  new  stars  rose  in  their  places. 

From  the  talkie  revolution  the  movie  industry  went  into  the  depres- 
sion of  the  1930*8,  a  crisis  that  affected  mechanical  techniques,  produc- 
tion methods,  financial  structures,  and  even  the  type  of  entertainment. 

In  the  effort  to  attract  depression  audiences,  perfection  of  the  color 
process  was  speeded.  The  Toll  of  the  Sea,  one  of  the  early  experiments 
in  color,  was  filmed  in  1921,  though  not  very  satisfactorily,  since  the 
blues  failed  to  register.  Later  Jack  Warner  had  experimented  with 
color  somewhat  more  successfully  in  The  Desert  Song  and  On  With 
the  Show.  Becky  Sharp,  produced  by  an  affiliate  of  the  Technicolor 
Corporation,  demonstrated  the  possibilities  in  color  movies  but  was  itself 
a  failure.  Use  of  color  is  still  limited  because  of  its  extremely  high 
cost.  The  Technicolor  Corporation,  which  has  a  virtual  monopoly  on 
patents,  controls  use  of  the  color  process  by  leasing  the  $15,000  color 
cameras  and  selling,  developing,  and  printing  color  film.  Production 
of  color  films  is  complicated  by  the  necessity  of  shooting  them  on  three 
negatives.  Besides  the  color  cameras,  a  staff  of  experts  is  required  to 
harmonize  settings  and  costumes  and  plan  lighting.  Actors  must  be 
found  who  are  handsome  even  without  hair  dye,  grease  paint,  eye 
shadow,  and  mascara,  because  the  increased  intensity  of  light  used 
reveals  any  camouflage  in  make-up. 

Walt  Disney,  the  most  outstanding  figure  in  the  development  of  the 
animated  cartoon,  contracted  with  the  corporation  in  1934  to  make  his 
Mickey  Mouse  and  Silly  Symphonies  cartoon  films  in  color.  He  began 
work  the  same  year  on  the  first  feature-length  animated  cartoon,  Snow 
White  and  the  Seven  Dwarfs.  A  new  type  $75,000  camera  was  em- 
ployed to  lend  a  three-dimensional  illusion  to  the  250,000  separate 


THE     MOVIES         127 

paintings  which  went  into  the  making  of  the  film.  Three  years  later, 
when  Snow  White  was  released,  audiences  delighted  in  the  large  sur- 
faces of  rich,  clear  color.  In  no  previous  cartoon  film  had  there  been 
such  successful  treatment  of  running  water,  clouds,  dust,  steam,  and 
the  glint  of  sunlight  on  a  steel  blade.  The  success  of  Snow  White  and 
such  feature  films  as  A  Star  Is  Born  indicates  the  tremendous  strides 
made  in  the  color  medium  during  recent  years. 

The  end  of  the  fourth  decade  finds  the  industry's  use  of  illusion 
developed  to  extraordinary  lengths.  Window  glass  is  generally  made 
of  rock  candy;  stones  of  tar  paper,  balsa  wood,  and  cork;  snow  of 
gypsum  and  bleached  corn  flakes;  icicles  of  fibre  hair  dipped  in  plaster 
of  Paris.  Strawberry  gelatine  is  the  usual  substitute  for  blood.  Since 
about  80  percent  of  all  pictures  are  shot  indoors  on  the  studio  stages, 
the  prop  shop  must  stock  many  sorts  of  artificial  flowers  and  trees. 
(One  studio  has  enough  daisies  to  cover  a  ranch  meadow  and  apple 
blossoms  for  28  trees.)  Each  studio  has  a  library  of  at  least  10,000 
sound  effects  and  the  equipment  for  producing  them.  An  important 
member  of  the  sound  staff  is  the  scream  expert. 

During  the  IQSO'S,  bankers  have  tended  more  and  more  to  leave 
production  details  in  the  hands  of  professional  showmen.  Neverthe- 
less financial  control  has  left  its  mark  on  Hollywood.  Even  the  pro- 
ducers of  "Poverty  Row"  have  junked  the  helter-skelter  production  in 
which  carpenters  doubled  as  gladiators,  leading  ladies  made  their  own 
costumes,  and  one  man  might  finance,  write,  direct,  cut,  and  sell  a 
motion  picture  film.  The  movies  that  reach  the  first-run  houses  today 
are  produced  by  a  streamlined  system  in  which  all  efforts  are  organized 
and  specialized. 

Before  a  film  is  shipped  away  in  its  round  tin  cans,  it  passes  through 
approximately  25  studio  departments.  First  a  staff  writer  takes  the 
story — usually  a  purchased  magazine  story,  novel,  or  play — and  tailors 
it  to  fit  the  stars  assigned  to  the  leading  roles.  After  one  or  many 
"adaptations"  have  been  made,  a  continuity  writer  breaks  down  the 
story  into  scenes,  a  gag  man  may  insert  funny  business,  and  a  dialogue 
expert  snaps  up  the  actors'  lines.  Working  closely  with  the  writers 
are  the  director  and  a  corps  of  research  workers  who  answer  such  ques- 
tions as :  what  kind  of  calling  cards  did  women  use  at  the  period  of  the 
story,  what  sort  of  buttons  did  men  wear  on  their  coats,  what  did  the 
streetcar  transfer  of  the  time  look  like  ? 

Talent  scouts  now  assist  the  casting  office  in  the  search  for  actors. 
Location  scouts  select  settings  for  the  outdoor  scenes,  which  may  be 
found  50  miles  away  or  5,000.  The  music  director  prepares  his  score, 
costume  designers  make  sketches  for  the  dressmakers,  set  designers  fabri- 
cate miniature  sets  for  the  draftsmen  and  carpenters.  The  prop  depart- 
ment, too,  has  its  scouts,  whose  task  is  to  produce  such  unlikely  mer- 


128        CALIFORNIA 

chandise  as  nineteenth-century  velocipedes,  authentic  duplicates  of  the 
Lichtenstein  crown  jewels,  Cleopatra's  tablewear,  or  a  live  boa  con- 
strictor. The  make-up  department  is  studying  the  proposed  lighting 
effects,  the  production  department  is  making  innumerable  charts:  cos- 
tume charts,  weather  charts,  charts  to  indicate  set  and  shooting  sched- 
ules from  the  first  day  to  the  last.  Meanwhile  the  director,  besides 
consulting  with  all  these  assisting  departments,  is  studying  the  hundreds 
of  scenes  in  the  final  script  and  creating  in  his  mind  each  bit  of  action. 

The  average  picture  is  "shot"  in  about  six  weeks.  During  this  time 
a  new  crew  of  workers  joins  the  staff — cameramen,  electricians,  sound 
men,  "grips,"  script  girl,  cutter,  and  technicians  who  produce  mechanical 
effects.  The  picture  is  photographed  not  in  its  proper  sequence  but  in 
whatever  order  is  best  adapted  to  the  actors  and  sets  involved.  Each 
day's  "takes"  are  developed  in  the  laboratory  and  run  through  the  pro- 
jection machine  at  the  close  of  the  day  for  supervisor,  director,  cutter, 
and  assistants  who  pick  the  most  effective.  As  shooting  progresses,  the 
cutter  patches  together  the  chosen  "takes,"  gradually  fitting  in  the 
missing  scenes.  Upon  his  work,  seemingly  mechanical  but  actually 
creative,  largely  depends  the  picture's  "pace." 

When  the  cutter's  work  is  finished  and  approved,  a  print  of  the 
picture  is  taken  into  a  suburban  theater  for  a  "sneak  preview."  Mem- 
bers of  the  production  staff  clock  laughs,  yawns,  fidgeting,  and  other 
audience  reactions,  from  which  the  director  decides  whether  to  add  or 
delete.  Finally,  from  the  miles  of  exposed  negative,  two  master  nega- 
tives are  put  together — one  for  domestic  and  one  for  foreign  showings. 
The  prints  shipped  to  the  theaters  are  made  from  these. 

The  studio  lots  of  today  combine  the  efficiency  of  the  factory  with 
the  irrationality  of  the  theater.  A  small  town  in  itself,  each  studio  has 
its  network  of  paved  streets,  lined  with  stucco  buildings  that  house  the 
various  departments— the  huge  stages,  the  prop  warehouses,  the  car- 
penter and  machine  shops.  In  the  shadow  of  a  planing  mill  may  stand 
a  star's  "quaint"  dressing  room,  and  behind  the  barnlike  structure  that 
houses  the  wardrobe,  a  piece  of  Venice,  complete  with  canal,  gondolas, 
and  flower-strewn  balconies. 

Perfection  of  mechanical  technique  and  streamlining  of  picture  pro- 
duction are  two  of  the  industry's  answers  to  depression  problems. 
Anothe-r  answer  has  been  the  general  improvement  in  the  quality  of 
entertainment. 

Some  producers,  believing  that  audiences  wanted  to  forget  their 
troubles,  gave  them  farces ;  others  became  aware  of  a  plea,  grown  more 
insistent,  for  realism.  "Authentic,"  "natural,"  "unexaggerated" — dur- 
ing the  thirties  these  adjectives  were  heard,  almost  for  the  first  time,  at 
studio  conferences.  As  a  result,  fans  have  had  the  pleasure  of  giving 
box-office  laurels  to  such  lifelike  films  as  /  Am  a  Fugitive  from  a  Chain 


THE     MOVIES         129 

Gang,  Of  Human  Bondage,  The  Informer,  Dead  End,  and  It  Hap- 
pened One  Night.  And  even  the  romantic  films  have  achieved  greater 
fidelity  to  essential  truth  and  significance  of  theme. 

Important  in  raising  the  standards  of  motion  picture  writing,  direct- 
ing, and  acting  have  been  the  annual  awards  of  the  Academy  of  Moving 
Picture  Arts  and  Sciences,  first  bestowed  in  1927-1928.  Actors  and 
actresses  so  honored  include  Emil  Jannings,  Janet  Gaynor,  Warner 
Baxter,  Mary  Pickford,  George  Arliss,  Norma  Shearer,  Lionel  Barry- 
more,  Marie  Dressier,  Frederic  March,  Helen  Hayes,  Charles  Laugh- 
ton,  Katharine  Hepburn,  Clark  Gable,  Claudette  Colbert,  Victor 
McLaglen,  Bette  Davis,  Paul  Muni,  Louise  Rainer  (twice),  and 
Spencer  Tracy.  Among  directors  and  writers  to  receive  two  awards 
have  been  directors  Franz  Borzage,  Frank  Lloyd,  Frank  Capra,  and 
writers  Ben  Hecht  and  Frances  Marion.  The  list  of  films  selected  by 
the  Academy  for  distinction  includes  All  Quiet  on  the  Western  Front, 
Cavalcade,  Grand  Hotel,  Mutiny  on  the  Bounty,  The  Life  of  Louis 
Pasteur,  and  The  Life  of  Emil  Zola. 

The  social  and  artistic  significance  of  motion  pictures  has  increas- 
ingly concerned  educators,  church  groups,  women's  clubs,  and  critics  of 
American  life.  Because  the  average  weekly  attendance  of  75,000,000 
gives  the  movies  an  influence  equalled  only  by  newspapers  and  radio,  the 
Payne  Fund,  in  1929,  financed  several  surveys  to  estimate  what  that 
influence  might  be.  The  115  films  examined  were  found  to  portray  a 
world  where  33  percent  of  the  heroines,  34  percent  of  the  villains,  and 
63  percent  of  the  sirens  and  villainesses  were  either  wealthy  or  mil- 
lionaires— only  5  percent  of  the  characters  were  poor.  If  the  population 
of  the  United  States  were  arranged  as  indicated  in  these  films,  "there 
would  be  no  farming,  no  manufacturing,  almost  no  industry,  no  vital 
statistics  (except  murders),  no  economic  problems  and  no  economics," 
wrote  Mr.  Henry  James  Forman,  analyzing  the  survey.  It  was  pointed 
out  that  pictures  of  the  type  studied  portray  a  world  unreal  in  funda- 
mentals, yet  so  like  the  world  outside  the  theater  in  superficial  details 
that  movie-goers  fail  to  distinguish  clearly  between  the  two  and  carry 
home  a  sense  of  grievance  at  their  similar  but  much  more  dreary  lot. 

The  artists — directors,  writers,  actors — whose  creative  efforts  go 
into  picture  making  have  long  felt  hampered  by  the  fact  that,  as  Walter 
Wanger  said,  "any  minority  group,  any  individual,  any  rag,  any  nation 
could  dictate  to  us."  In  July  1938,  a  distributors'  boycott  of  Blockade 
crystallized  their  discontent.  At  a  meeting  of  300  delegates,  represent- 
ing 150,000  members  of  motion  picture  unions,  guilds,  and  other  organ- 
izations, these  artists  demanded  that  "gag  rule"  be  removed  from  the 
industry,  so  that  motion  pictures  may  become,  as  they  rightfully  should 
be,  "a  very  important  pillar  in  the  democratic  structure." 

The  newest  "independents"  are  the  group  of  scenarists  and  camera- 


I3O        CALIFORNIA 

men  who  recently  organized  the  non-profit  Frontier  Films.  Other 
groups  whose  aim  is  to  revitalize  the  content  of  the  motion  picture  in- 
clude Triple-A  (One-Third  of  a  Nation)  in  the  East  and  in  Hollywood 
the  George  Randol  Productions,  the  latter  a  unit  interested  solely  in 
producing  Negro  films.  Since  there  are  more  than  600  theaters  in  the 
country  that  cater  largely  to  Negro  audiences,  the  significance  of 
pioneering  attempts  in  the  field,  such  as  Spirit  of  Youth  featuring  Joe 
Louis,  may  be  readily  appreciated. 

In  dodging  realism  American  film  producers  have  also  avoided 
censorship  to  some  extent.  A  clamor  for  laws  to  regulate  the  subject 
matter  of  films  arose,  following  the  white  slave  pictures  and  the  sex  and 
crime  films  of  the  igao's.  Formation  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers 
and  Distributors  of  America,  Inc.,  headed  by  Will  Hays,  was  the 
industry's  effort  to  police  itself.  Ten  years  later,  under  the  pressure  of 
various  groups,  the  Hays  organization  imposed  further  taboos.  The 
distributors'  export  departments  added  their  prohibitions:  there  must 
be  no  American  flag-waving,  no  propaganda  for  peace  which  might 
offend  warrior  nations,  and  no  villains  of  foreign  nationality  except 
Russian.  (Soviet  Russia  imports  few  American  films.) 

Many  an  endeavor  is  indebted  to  the  motion  picture  art,  or  craft. 
Schools  use  motion  pictures  in  visual  education,  sports  for  the  record- 
ing of  finishes,  science  in  a  multitude  of  ways.  Movies  are  taken  of 
the  heavens  and  of  babies  learning  to  walk.  X-ray  movies  are  made 
of  ailing  human  beings,  microscopic  and  color  movies  of  almost  every 
sort  of  living  organism.  Metallurgists,  experts  in  acoustics,  and  spe- 
cialists in  other  applied  sciences  have  benefited — as  well  as  the  thou- 
sands of  amateur  photographers  who  have  acquired  a  hobby. 


Education 


FRANCISCAN  friars,  the  first  white  settlers  who  plodded  north- 
ward into  California,  came  with  books  in  their  hands,  for  the 
purpose  of  their  pilgrimage  was  to  educate  the  heathen  Indians. 
Their  pioneer  successors — fur  trappers  and  gold  miners — were  often 
men  of  action  rather  than  learning,  but  they  had  an  extraordinary 
respect  for  the  wealth  bound  between  the  covers  of  books.  With 
first-hand  knowledge  of  the  many  miles  from  California  to  the  older 
institutions  of  learning  in  New  England  and  Europe,  they  voted  gen- 
erous expenditures  for  schools. 

For  California's  native  Indians,  five  decades  of  rigorous  training — 
planned  to  make  them  civilized  tax-paying  subjects  of  the  Spanish 
king — were  in  store  when  the  Franciscan  missionaries  arrived  in  the 
spring  of  1769.  Beyond  manual  and  religious  training  they  did  not 
aspire,  however.  Mission  authorities  feared  the  growth  of  learning 
among  the  Spanish,  as  well  as  the  Indian  population,  claiming  that 
education  had  no  purpose  but  to  breed  discontent  in  the  common  people. 
They  excommunicated  two  of  the  province's  most  illustrious  citizens, 
Juan  Bautista  Alvarado  and  Mariano  G.  Vallejo,  for  reading  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau. 

The  first  efforts  to  found  secular  schools  were  made  by  the  Spanish 
Governor,  Diego  de  Borica  (1794-1800).  During  his  administration, 
schoolmasters — mostly  retired  soldiers  who  could  wield  the  disciplines 
(cat-o'-nine-tails)  began  teaching  reading,  writing,  and  figuring  in 
one-room  schools  at  San  Jose,  Santa  Barbara,  San  Francisco,  San  Diego, 
and  Monterey.  No  sooner  had  Borica  left  the  territory,  however,  than 


132        CALIFORNIA 

his  educational  system  collapsed.  The  schools  established  during  the 
next  thirty  years  were  also  short-lived. 

Governor  Jose  Figueroa  (1833-1835)  reported,  soon  after  his 
arrival,  that  only  three  schools  were  in  existence,  taught  by  incompetent 
and  ill-paid  teachers ;  he  established  six  more  schools  and  ordered  higher 
salaries  for  the  teachers.  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado  (1836-1842)  im- 
ported teachers  from  Mexico  to  give  instruction  in  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  and  the  catechism;  girls  were  also  taught  needlework  and 
boys  typesetting  and  printing.  Attendance  was  compulsory  for  children 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  eleven.  The  schools  were  handicapped  by 
their  lack  of  funds  and  equipment.  Despite  the  meager  opportunities 
and  the  opposition  of  most  of  the  clergy,  some  of  the  more  ambitious 
sons  of  the  land-owning  families  acquired  a  fair  classical  education, 
but  only  with  the  private  tutoring  of  educated  military  officers,  foreign- 
ers, or  priests. 

The  American  immigrants  of  the  1 840*3  followed  eastern  and  mid- 
western  rather  than  Californian  precedents  in  education.  In  December 
1864  California's  first  American  school  was  founded — in  a  dilapidated 
structure,  once  a  stable,  on  the  grounds  of  Mission  Santa  Clara.  Here 
an  overland  immigrant,  Mrs.  Olive  Mann  Isbell,  taught  two  dozen 
pupils,  sitting  on  boxes  around  a  fire  in  the  center  of  the  earthen  floor. 
In  the  following  year  a  schoolroom  was  equipped  with  desks  and  benches 
in  the  Monterey  customhouse,  and  Mrs.  Isbell  tried  to  teach  56 
scholars,  although  she  could  speak  no  Spanish  and  they  no  English. 
San  Francisco's  first  American  school  was  opened  April  3,  1848  in  a 
redwood  schoolhouse  on  Portsmouth  Square.  The  building  was  also 
used  for  town  hall,  court  house,  church  and  jail.  The  schoolmaster, 
Thomas  Douglass,  a  Yale  graduate,  began  with  a  class  of  six  pupils 
which  soon  increased  to  38,  but  six  weeks  later  the  gold  rush  excite- 
ment swept  him  off  to  the  mines.  On  April  8,  1850  the  first  free 
public  schools  were  established  by  an  ordinance  of  the  city  council  in 
San  Francisco.  This  was  California's  first  public  school  ordinance. 

The  educational  needs  of  children  in  mining  towns,  lumber  camps, 
ports,  and  rural  villages  were  recognized  by  the  State  when  California's 
first  constitution  provided,  that  a  school  "be  kept  up  in  every  school 
district  at  least  three  months  in  every  year."  Fabulous  revenues  were 
expected  from  the  sale  of  Federal  Government  land  grants,  "inviolably 
appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  common  schools" ;  but  since  the  total 
proceeds  from  grants  of  500,000  acres  were  only  about  $250,000,  that 
early  ambition  had  to  be  curtailed.  Gradually  State  school  legislation 
was  extended  until  by  1860  it  provided  for  levying  of  city  and  school 
district  taxes,  appointment  or  election  of  county  and  city  school  super- 
intendents and  city  boards  of  education,  and  authorization  of  boards 
of  examination  to  grant  teachers'  certificates.  Finally,  in  1866,  Call- 


EDUCATION         133 

fornia's  legislators  adopted  the  Revised  School  Law,  drafted  by  the  far- 
seeing  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  John  Swett,  which  fixed 
State  and  county  school  taxes  at  adequate  levels  and  established  district 
school  libraries,  county  teachers'  institutes,  and  city  boards  of  exam- 
ination. For  the  first  time  in  the  State's  history,  public  schools — in 
rural  as  well  as  urban  areas — were  free  for  every  child. 

The  State's  first  colleges  were  established  almost  as  early  as  its 
first  public  schools.  Santa  Clara  College  (now  the  University  of  Santa 
Clara),  founded  by  Jesuit  Fathers  Giovanni  Noboli  and  Michele 
Accolti,  and  California  Wesleyan  College  (now  the  College  of  the 
Pacific  at  Stockton),  founded  by  the  Reverend  Isaac  Owen  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  were  both  opened  at  Santa  Clara  in  1851. 
A  year  later  the  town  of  Benicia  welcomed  girls,  who  came  to  attend 
opening  classes  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Seminary.  Southern  California's 
first  institution  of  higher  learning,  St.  Vincent's  College  (now  Loyola 
University),  was  opened  in  Don  Vincente  Lugo's  adobe  home  on  the 
Los  Angeles  Plaza  in  1865  by  Fathers  of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
Mission. 

The  first  State  constitution  called  for  establishment  of  a  State 
university  to  promote  "literature,  the  arts,  and  sciences."  But  the 
nucleus  of  the  University  of  California  was  a  private  institution,  known 
at  first  as  Contra  Costa  Academy  and  later  as  the  College  of  California. 
Opened  by  the  Reverend  Henry  Durant  at  Oakland  in  1853,  it  began 
collegiate  instruction  in  1860.  On  March  23,  1868,  Governor  Henry 
H.  Haight  signed  the  legislative  act  creating  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. The  institution  was  formally  opened  September  23  of  the  next 
year  on  the  College  of  California's  campus.  In  1873,  the  year  in 
which  the  first  12  graduates  ("the  twelve  disciples")  received  their 
diplomas,  the  university  moved  to  its  present  site  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Berkeley  hills. 

Although  the  first  public  high  school  was  opened  in  San  Francisco 
in  1856,  the  legislature  declined  to  support  secondary  institutions  for 
more  than  half  a  century.  The  more  thickly  settled  communities  were 
obliged  to  conduct  high  schools  at  their  own  expense.  In  1884  tne 
University  of  California  inaugurated  the  "accrediting  system,"  which 
admits  pupils  with  excellent  high  school  records  to  the  university 
without  examination.  The  result  of  university  supervision  under  this 
system  was  to  raise  secondary  school  standards  to  a  uniformly  high 
level.  Finally,  in  1903,  the  legislature  amended  the  school  law  by 
passage  of  an  act  providing  for  State  support  of  high  schools. 

The  legislature  in  1907  authorized  high  school  boards  to  prescribe 
postgraduate  courses  of  study.  First  to  take  advantage  of  the  new 
regulation  was  Fresno,  followed  soon  by  Los  Angeles  and  Santa 
Barbara.  By  1910  the  number  of  these  "upward  extensions  of  high 


134        CALIFORNIA 

schools"  had  grown  to  ten.  A  law  enacted  in  1917  recognized  junior 
colleges  as  an  integral  part  of  the  State's  secondary  school  system. 
Today  California  has  42  such  institutions. 

Colleges  as  well  as  high  schools  multiplied  in  the  late  nineteenth 
century.  The  University  of  Southern  California,  founded  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1880,  has  grown  into 
an  institution  with  a  faculty  of  1,000.  Other  colleges  established  in 
Southern  California  were  Pomona  College  (now  a  unit  of  Claremont 
Colleges,  Inc.),  Occidental  College,  Whittier  College,  the  University 
of  Redlands,  and  the  California  Institute  of  Technology.  Leland  Stan- 
ford Junior  University,  wealthiest  privately  endowed  university  in 
the  West,  and  now  the  State's  second  largest  institution  of  higher 
learning,  was  opened  at  Palo  Alto  in  1891.  Public  normal  schools 
were  established — the  first  at  San  Francisco  in  1862  (moved  in  1870 
to  San  Jose),  and  others  at  San  Francisco,  San  Diego,  Chico,  Fresno, 
Santa  Barbara,  and  Arcata.  By  legislative  enactment  these  became  in 
1921  State  teachers'  colleges. 

Today  citizens  of  all  ages  find  in  California's  educational  system 
every  sort  of  practical  and  theoretical  training.  In  the  6,500  public 
schools,  with  their  more  than  1,000,000  pupils,  $135,000,000  is  spent 
yearly.  The  University  of  California  registered  25,806  full-time  resi- 
dent students  in  1938.  This  institution  includes  universities  in  Berkeley 
and  Los  Angeles,  the  agricultural  colleges  at  Davis  and  Riverside, 
colleges  of  oceanography  at  La  Jolla  and  of  astronomy  at  Mount  Ham- 
ilton, and  affiliated  colleges  of  law,  medicine,  pharmacy,  and  art.  By 
the  expansion  of  its  facilities  to  include  study  centers,  lecture  courses, 
traveling  libraries,  correspondence  study,  and  scientific  and  technical 
instruction  at  various  points  throughout  the  State,  the  university  is 
extending  the  advantages  of  higher  education  to  many  who  have  hitherto 
been  denied  college  training. 

In  addition  to  the  State  university,  7  State  colleges,  and  42  junior 
colleges,  California  today  has  7  schools  rated  as  junior  colleges,  and 
23  publicly  or  privately  endowed  universities  and  colleges — including 
three  noted  women's  colleges:  Mills  College  in  Oakland,  Scripps  Col- 
lege in  Claremont,  and  Dominican  College  in  San  Rafael. 

California's  educators  have  faced  the  problem,  common  to  educators 
everywhere,  of  adapting  traditional  schoolroom  methods  to  a  swiftly 
changing  social  structure.  A  State  curriculum  study,  made  in  1925, 
led  two  years  later  to  formation  of  a  permanent  curriculum  commission 
to  evaluate  school  study  courses  and  recommend  minimum  standards. 
In  a  detailed  Teachers'  Guide  to  Child  Development,  the  commission 
expounded  the  philosophy  and  methods  of  the  new  education  used  in 
California's  more  progressive  schools.  The  publication  of  the  guide 
gave  a  strong  impetus  to  the  modernizing  of  California's  entire  school 


EDUCATION         135 

system.  Progressive  communities  began  to  eliminate  the  old,  formal, 
coercive  teaching  of  subjects,  and  to  substitute  activity  programs. 

Under  the  new  methods  the  class  is  no  longer  treated  as  a  group  of 
artificially  isolated  units,  but  rather  as  a  world  in  miniature,  where 
enterprises  are  undertaken  by  children  and  teacher,  all  working  to- 
gether. The  requirement  that  a  child  shall  behave  co-operatively  is 
accented  in  order  to  check  the  tendency  toward  ''self-expression  of  all 
types,  at  all  times,  in  all  places,"  favored  by  some  of  the  earlier  pro- 
gressive educators.  The  Sequoia  Union  High  School  at  Redwood  City 
and  the  Alexandria  Demonstration  School  at  Los  Angeles  are  progres- 
sive schools  in  which  standards  formulated  in  the  Teachers'  Guide 
are  being  realized. 

As  soon  as  California's  schools  were  conspicuously  committed  to  a 
changed  procedure,  the  public,  as  well  as  teachers  and  administrators, 
began  to  question  and  appraise.  In  1930  the  California  Commission 
for  the  Study  of  Education  Problems,  composed  of  nine  lay  citizens, 
reported  on  a  year's  study  and  a  post-card  survey  of  public  opinion. 
The  activity  type  of  program  was  criticized  as  failing  to  train  pupils 
in  the  use  of  the  "tools"  of  learning — spelling,  arithmetic,  punctuation, 
sentence  and  paragraph  structure,  and  penmanship — and  in  habits  of 
precision  and  promptness.  On  the  other  hand,  young  people  educated 
under  the  newer  methods  were  found  to  excel  former  generations  in 
intelligence,  initiative,  and  physical  fitness. 

In  accepting  and  applying  the  newer  conceptions  of  education,  Cali- 
fornia has  kept  pace  with  the  rest  of  the  country  and  in  some  respects 
stepped  ahead.  Even  in  early  days,  the  California  high  school  teacher 
of  mathematics  was  likely  to  stress  the  value  of  original  demonstrations, 
while  California  high  schools  led  from  the  beginning  in  adoption  of 
laboratory  methods  in  teaching  natural  sciences.  Today  California's 
public  schools  teach  scientific  subjects  integrated  into  the  social  studies 
unit  in  the  elementary  grades.  Los  Angeles  high  school  students  have 
built  and  are  operating  a  seismological  station,  school  weather  stations, 
astronomical  observatories,  amateur  radio  stations,  and  sound-recording 
studios. 

The  general  tendency  to  emphasize  functional  knowledge  has  been 
marked  in  the  State.  The  department  of  education's  commission  for 
vocational  education  directs  an  extensive  vocational  training  program 
in  agriculture,  business,  homemaking,  trade  and  industry,  and  vocational 
rehabilitation.  Its  bureau  of  agricultural  education,  in  1935-36,  was 
supervising  137  vocational  agricultural  departments  in  the  schools  and 
a  teacher-training  course.  The  bureau  of  business  education  oversees 
courses  of  training  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  merchants  and  businessmen, 
in  which  specially  selected  students  are  taught.  All  except  13  of  the 
State's  519  high  schools  conduct  classes  in  homemaking,  a  third  for 


136        CALIFORNIA 

boys  as  well  as  girls,  under  supervision  of  the  bureau  of  homemaking 
education.  The  bureau  of  trade  and  industrial  education  supervises 
apprentice  training  programs,  organizes  trade  advisory  committees  of 
employer,  employee,  and  public  school  representatives  in  many  com- 
munities, and  conducts  State-wide  conferences  of  foremen,  personnel 
managers,  salesmanagers,  and  other  executives. 

In  the  California  Polytechnical  Institute  at  San  Luis  Obispo,  estab- 
lished in  1901,  agriculture  students  conduct  their  own  farm  enterprises 
and  aeronautics  students  operate  a  Government-approved  commercial 
airplane  repair  station.  The  California  Nautical  School,  conducted  on 
board  the  U.S.S.  California  State  with  Tiburon  as  its  home  port,  trains 
personnel  for  the  coast's  merchant  marine.  Three  months  nautical 
courses  are  given  on  three-masted,  square-rigged  ships,  the  Tusitala  and 
the  Joseph  Conrad,  sailing  from  Government  Island  off  Alameda. 

In  carrying  out  the  new  curriculum,  California  schools  have  taken 
advantage  of  the  State's  many  opportunities  for  outdoor  play  to  stress 
their  physical  training  and  recreation  programs.  During  the  four 
depression  years,  1932-1936,  more  gymnasiums,  tennis  courts,  play- 
grounds, and  swimming  pools  were  constructed  than  in  any  previous 
four-year  period.  The  recreation  program  is  supplemented  in  many 
schools  by  health  supervision.  Both  the  construction  and  the  recreation 
programs  were  conducted  largely  with  the  aid  of  the  Works  Progress 
Administration. 

The  Co-ordinating  Council  has  been  operating  in  California  cities 
for  more  than  15  years.  Originating  with  Virgil  E.  Dickson,  now 
superintendent  of  schools  in  Berkeley,  the  plan  sets  up  a  voluntary 
board  of  members  from  school,  police,  health,  and  recreation  depart- 
ments, welfare  societies,  and  research  and  guidance  bureaus,  to  pool 
ideas,  information,  and  mutual  support  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  welfare  of  youth.  Not  only  are  problem  children  given  under- 
standing aid,  but  also  the  gifted  are  sought  out  and  provided  with 
special  opportunities.  The  work  of  California's  co-ordinating  councils, 
particularly  those  in  Berkeley,  San  Francisco,  and  Los  Angeles,  has  so 
materially  decreased  juvenile  "delinquency  that  scores  of  communities 
in  other  States  have  organized  similar  bodies.  In  1933  tne  National 
Committee  on  Crime  Prevention  reported:  "Your  Committee  believes 
that  there  is  no  other  single  step  that  could  be  put  into  operation  that 
would  be  as  far-reaching  and  as  quickly  beneficial  as  the  widespread 
use  of  the  co-ordinating  council." 

The  handicapped  child  in  California,  if  completely  disabled,  is 
taught  at  home  or  in  a  hospital  or  preventorium ;  if  crippled,  he  is 
transported  to  special  classes;  if  handicapped  by  vision,  hearing,  or 
speech  defects  he  receives  remedial  instruction.  California  is  the  only 
State  that  carries  on  a  program  of  speech  correction  with  adequate 


EDUCATION         137 

State  aid.  Classes  have  been  established  in  54  cities,  with  more  than 
14,000  students  and  150  speech-correction  teachers.  The  State's  method 
of  training  mentally  subnormal  children  may  be  seen  applied  in  San 
Francisco's  Ungraded  School.  When  the  handicapped  child  is  16 
years  of  age,  responsibility  for  his  further  instruction  is  transferred 
to  the  bureau  of  vocational  rehabilitation. 

Rural  school  children  in  California  enjoy  special  attention,  thanks 
to  general  recognition  of  the  concept  that  "a  child  in  the  rural  district 
is  worth  as  much  to  the  future  of  a  state  as  one  in  the  city."  Con- 
stitutional amendment  No.  16  (passed  in  1920)  provides  for  collection 
of  school  money  where  the  wealth  is  and  expenditure  of  it  where  the 
pupils  are.  The  task  of  instructional  supervisors,  working  from  the 
county  superintendent's  office,  is  to  weld  the  isolated  rural  schools  into 
one  closely  co-ordinated  county  school  system.  Their  "supervision," 
as  the  department  of  education  likes  to  call  it,  does  as  much  for  the 
rural  school  as  the  automobile  and  radio  do  for  the  rural  home.  They 
are  aided  by  the  periodicals  issued  by  the  department  of  education's 
division  of  textbooks  and  publications:  the  Science  Guide,  the  monthly 
California  Schools,  the  quarterly  California  Journal  of  Elementary 
Education,  and  the  bi-monthly  children's  magazine,  The  California 
Nugget.  Another  aid  to  rural  pupil  and  teacher  alike  is  the  county 
library  system,  established  in  1911,  under  which  county  libraries  in 
46  of  the  State's  58  counties  bring  to  the  children  of  2,313  rural 
districts  collections  of  the  best  modern  books  and  classics,  as  well  as 
phonograph  records,  motion  picture  films,  prints,  globes,  maps,  and 
exhibits.  Acting  as  advisor  to  the  libraries  of  the  entire  State  is  the 
State  Library  at  Sacramento,  with  its  nearly  500,000  volumes.  Rural 
children  are  also  given  the  benefits  of  health  education.  Most  counties 
employ  traveling  health  nurses  to  examine  children,  remedy  defects, 
advise  in  nutritional  problems,  and  conduct  health  clinics.  The  chil- 
dren travel  to  and  from  school  by  means  of  tax-supported  school  trans- 
portation systems  in  most  rural  districts. 

California  was  one  of  the  first  States  to  set  up  a  division  of  adult 
education  and  to  finance  adult  classes  from  its  public  education  fund. 
In  1938  enrollment  in  adult  classes  equalled  more  than  a  tenth  of  the 
State's  total  population.  So  complete  is  the  curriculum  that  entrants 
may  study  even  the  chemistry  of  lubrication  or  the  Cantonese  language. 
Among  the  most  popular  of  many  vocational  training  courses  are  the 
San  Francisco  classes  in  aeronautics,  which  are  attended  by  about  half 
as  many  women  as  men;  these  classes  own  two  planes  and  study  navi- 
gation, theory  of  flight,  meteorology,  air  law,  and  solo  flying.  Courses 
in  homemaking  and  consumer  education  are  always  in  demand.  But 
most  popular  of  all  are  the  classes  in  sociology,  economics,  and  public 
affairs,  conducted  in  accord  with  the  department  of  education's  belief 


138        CALIFORNIA 

that  "if  this  civilization  survives  it  will  do  so  because  of  the  wisdom 
expressed  in  adult  activities.  If  it  disintegrates,  adult  incompetence 
will  have  to  carry  the  onus." 

A  modern  school  system  calls  for  well-trained  teachers  as  well  as  a 
modern  curriculum.  California  elementary  school  teachers,  certified 
by  county  examinations,  are  now  decreasing  in  numbers,  and  those 
certified  by  the  State — which  require  a  four  year  university  or  college 
course,  including  practice  in  directed  teaching — are  increasing.  Unique 
in  California  is  the  requirement  that  high  school  teachers  be  university 
graduates  with  at  least  one  additional  year  of  graduate  study. 

The  planners  of  California's  activity  program  believe  that  an  eager 
exploring  spirit  is  stifled  by  the  old-type  schoolroom,  with  its  desks 
nailed  in  stiff  rows  and  its  walls  covered  with  black  slate.  The  State 
division  of  schoolhouse  planning  finds  architects  whose  inspiration 
coincides  with  its  own.  The  educators  and  architects  of  this  division 
have  worked  out  a  one-story  functional  plan  in  which  each  schoolroom 
has  an  activity  alcove  and  an  outdoor  terrace  for  class  sessions  on 
pleasant  days.  The  old  desks  have  been  replaced  by  movable  chairs 
and  tables,  the  *  'blackboards"  by  light-colored  slate.  Flowers,  pictures, 
and  curtains  give  charm  to  the  room.  In  the  activity  alcove  are  a 
workbench,  tools,  a  gas  plate,  a  sink,  and  built-in  cupboards  for  raw 
materials.  Assembly  rooms  in  these  new  schoolhouses  have  level  floors 
so  that  they  can  be  used  as  playrooms  in  rainy  weather.  In  the  two 
years  from  1934  to  1936  more  than  500  sets  of  plans  for  new  and 
remodeled  school  buildings  were  submitted  by  school  districts  to  the 
State  division  of  schoolhouse  planning;  and  as  finally  approved,  75  per 
cent  of  the  elementary  classrooms  provided  a  proper  setting  for  activity 
programs.  The  men  and  women  who  guide  the  development  of  Cali- 
fornia children  believe,  that  "the  chief  purpose  in  organizing  a  school 
is  not  to  obtain  economy  in  effort ;  it  is  to  give  to  each  little  child  within 
its  doors  as  nearly  as  possible  the  best  environment  in  which  to  grow." 


The  Arts 


I  LEARNED  that  there  were  a  number  of  artists  in  the  city  who 
had  sought  to  try  Dame  Fortune  in  the  gold-fields,  but  with  such 
scant  success  that  they  returned  to  the  harbor  ...  to  seek 
patrons  in  ...  gilded  temples  of  chance,"  wrote  Prince  Paul  of  Wurt- 
temberg  in  his  unpublished  account  (in  the  Stuttgart  Archives)  of  his 
visit  to  the  gambling  halls  of  brawling,  new-grown  San  Francisco  in 
1850.  "Here  we  were  regaled  with  very  good  music,"  he  wrote.  "In 
order  to  allure  the  public  the  owners  of  these  gambling  places  em- 
ployed musicians,  among  these  many  real  orchestral  artists  and  singers." 
He  found  the  walls  covered  with  a  "great  number  of  copper  prints  and 
oil  paintings."  And  through  the  open  doorways  of  saloons  and  public 
houses  he  saw  "Mexicans  dancing  old  California  steps  to  the  tunes  of 
their  national  airs.  The  dancers  carried  out  many  very  different  move- 
ments and  steps,  and  all  with  a  certain  haunting  charm  of  grace  and 
rhythm.  .  .  ." 

An  earlier  visitor  to  California  would  have  gone  to  the  mission 
churches  to  satisfy  an  interest  in  the  arts,  for  the  mission  fathers  were 
the  first  art  patrons,  decorating  their  chapels  with  paintings,  instructing 
their  Indian  neophytes  in  music  and  church  drama,  and  writing  accounts 
of  their  missionary  labors.  But  in  1850,  Prince  Paul  mapped  the  best 
itinerary  for  the  art  lover  when  he  visited  San  Francisco's  "gilded 
temples  of  chance."  If  he  had  come  later,  he  might  have  visited  the 
cramped  newspaper  and  magazine  offices  where  Bret  Harte  and  Mark 
Twain  worked  or  the  crude  gas-lit  theaters  where  Lotta  Crabtree  and 
Lola  Montez  performed.  Later  still,  he  might  have  paid  calls  to  the 

139 


I4O        CALIFORNIA 

art  galleries  and  grand  opera  houses  founded  and  endowed  by  the 
millionaire  "bonanza  kings."  Today  the  arts  flourish  in  so  many 
places  throughout  California — in  seaside  artists'  colonies,  in  big  city 
garrets  and  studios,  "little"  theaters  and  concert  halls,  and  in  the  sound- 
proofed stages  of  Hollywood  lots — that  Prince  Paul,  if  he  were  visiting 
California  now,  would  find  it  much  more  difficult  to  decide  where  to 
go.  Perhaps  he  would  find  it  more  difficult  still  to  understand  how  all 
the  many  activities  of  California's  artists,  musicians,  painters,  and 
writers  arose  from  humble  beginnings  in  gambling  halls  only  ninety 
years  ago. 


umssagg^^ 


LITERATURE 


The  history  of  California  letters  begins  long  before  the  gold  rush 
and  Bret  Harte  and  Mark  Twain.  During  the  Spanish  and  Mexican 
periods  a  number  of  able  men,  to  whom  authorship  was  but  one  of 
many  tasks,  were  recording  their  experiences  and  observations,  with 
little  reward  in  money  or  fame.  Their  writing  consists  mostly  of 
diaries  and  reports,  with  detailed  descriptions  of  the  country;  but  much 
of  it  bears  the  impress  of  unconscious  artistry. 

When  in  1542  Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo  explored  the  coast  of  Cali- 
fornia, one  of  the  members  of  his  expedition,  Juan  Paez,  wrote  a 
Relation  or  narrative  of  the  voyage.  Later  in  the  same  century,  Chap- 
lain Francis  Fletcher  and  others  accompanying  Francis  Drake,  the 
dashing  English  buccaneer,  wrote  of  the  northwest  coast  of  California 
and  its  red-skinned  inhabitants  near  whose  primitive  villages  Drake 
anchored  his  ship,  the  Golden  Hind.  These  accounts  were  included  in 
The  World  Encompassed  (1628),  compiled  by  Drake's  nephew.  The 
expeditions  organized  by  Sebastian  Vizcaino  in  1602  were  described 
in  journals  kept  by  Father  Antonio  de  la  Ascension  and  an  unknown 
scrivener.  From  these  journals  the  history  of  the  Vizcaino  expeditions 
was  retold  by  Father  Juan  de  Torquemada  in  his  Monarquia  Indiana 
(1615)  and  later  by  Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete  and  Jeronimo 
Martin  Palacios  in  their  collected  accounts  of  voyages  of  discovery, 
published  a  few  years  later. 

The  true  father  of  California  literature,  however,  did  not  appear 
until  after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Junipero  Serra  was 
then  president  of  the  new  missions  in  upper  California,  and  Francisco 


THE     ARTS        141 

Palou  was  his  most  highly-valued  associate.  Out  of  devotion  to  the 
Father  President,  Palou  wrote  the  memorable  Life  and  Apostolic 
Labors  of  the  Venerable  Father  Junipero  Serra  (1787)  ;  and  during  his 
ten  years  at  Mission  Carmel  and  Mission  Dolores,  he  wrote  his  His- 
torical Memoirs  of  New  California  (1857),  recording  the  work  of  the 
Franciscans  in  the  new  province  and  describing  with  dramatic  power 
the  gradual  conquest  of  a  wild  land. 

The  expeditions  of  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza,  trail-maker  and  the 
founder  of  San  Francisco,  had  several  chroniclers,  foremost  of  whom 
was  Father  Pedro  Font,  astronomer  with  the  expedition  of  I775"7^. 
Font's  complete  diary,  which  he  compiled  at  leisure  from  notes  written 
during  his  laborious  3,OOO-mile  journey  from  Mexico  to  Monterey  and 
to  the  site  of  present  San  Francisco,  was  published  in  1930  in  an  English 
translation  by  Herbert  Eugene  Bolton.  The  journals  of  Juan  Crespi 
and  Pedro  Fages  also  depict  faithfully  the  new  land  as  it  appeared  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

In  1798  two  books  containing  descriptions  of  California  during  the 
mission  period  were  published  in  London — A  Voyage  Round  the  World, 
from  the  French  of  Jean  Francois  de  Galup,  Comte  de  la  Perouse,  the 
distinguished  navigator,  and  A  Voyage  of  Discovery,  by  Capt.  George 
Vancouver,  the  English  explorer.  Other  seafaring  travelers  who  wrote 
on  Spanish  California  were  George  von  Langsdorff  and  Otto  von 
Kotzebue,  who  came  on  behalf  of  the  Russian  Government.  When 
Kotzebue  visited  San  Francisco  in  1816,  he  was  accompanied  by  the 
German  poet  and  naturalist,  Adelbert  von  Chamisso,  who  wrote  a 
curiously  gloomy  description  of  the  presidio. 

California's  first  printing  press  was  brought  to  Monterey  by  Gov- 
ernor Jose  Figueroa  in  1833  and  taken  over  by  Augustin  V.  Zamorano, 
California's  first  printer,  who  in  1834  issued  the  Reglamento  provincial. 
The  55  separate  items  published  by  this  press  were  mostly  Hispano- 
Californian  official  documents,  but  they  also  included  proclamations  of 
the  United  States  officials,  a  commercial  paper,  and  at  least  two  cate- 
chisms. 

Several  accounts  of  the  province  were  written  by  foreigners  during 
the  Mexican  period.  The  History  of  Upper  and  Lower  California 
(1839)  by  Alexander  Forbes,  a  British  merchant  in  Mexico,  was  the 
first  book  in  English  dealing  exclusively  with  California.  Explorations 
du  territoire  de  VOregon,  des  Calif  ornies,  etc.  (1844)  by  Duflot  de 
Mofras  reflects  much  enjoyment  found  in  the  province  by  a  young 
French  traveler.  Alfred  Robinson,  an  American  trader  who  arrived 
in  California  in  1829  and  married  into  the  aristocratic  De  la  Guerra 
family,  wrote  Life  in  California  (1846),  a  pleasant  and  informative 
work.  Richard  Henry  Dana,  then  a  young  sailor  on  the  Alert,  was 
in  Santa  Barbara  at  the  time  of  Robinson's  marriage,  and  he  described 


1 42        CALIFORNIA 

the  wedding  in  his  famous  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast  (1840),  other 
parts  of  which  throw  a  vivid  light  on  contemporary  Monterey,  San 
Francisco,  and  San  Diego. 

Of  all  early  American  accounts  of  the  region  during  this  period 
the  journal  of  the  indefatigable  explorer  and  fur  scout,  Jedediah 
Strang  Smith,  is  the  most  entertaining.  His  journeys  through  Cali- 
fornia in  1826  and  1828  were  faithfully  recorded  in  sketches  and 
diaries,  thought  to  have  been  burned  in  San  Francisco  until  they  were 
discovered,  edited  by  Maurice  Sullivan,  and  published  in  1934. 

Sixty  Years  in  California  (1889)  by  William  Heath  Davis,  an- 
other Yankee  who  married  into  an  important  California  family,  is  an 
excellent  account  of  experiences  in  the  new  country  before  and  after 
the  gold  rush.  Other  books  by  early  American  ^arrivals  in  the  terri- 
tory are  James  O.  Pattie's  A  Personal  Narrative  (1833)  and  David 
H.  Coyner's  The  Lost  Trappers  (1847).  John  Charles  Fremont,  who 
played  such  a  conspicuous  role  in  the  American  occupation  of  Cali- 
fornia, wrote  several  books  dealing  in  part  with  the  late  pastoral  era, 
which  ended  with  the  discovery  of  gold. 

Most  of  the  chronicles  written  in  California  during  the  Spanish 
and  Mexican  periods  remain  unpublished;  many  of  the  manuscripts, 
however,  survive  in  various  collections — notably  the  Bancroft  Library 
at  the  University  of  California,  which  contains  the  lengthy  Historias 
of  Antonio  Mario  Osio,  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado,  and  Gen.  Mariano 
Guadalupe  Vallejo,  the  Memorias  of  Jose  Maria  Amador,  and  the 
Reminiscencias  of  Estevan  de  la  Torre. 

Within  the  new  society  created  by  the  gold  rush,  journalists,  story 
writers,  and  verse  makers  soon  began  to  flourish.  Among  the  many 
enthusiastic  commentators  of  this  period  was  Bayard  Taylor,  poet  and 
globe-trotter,  whose  California  ballads  and  high-flown  prose  work, 
Eldorado ,  or  Adventures  in  the  Path  of  Empire  (1850),  gave  eastern- 
ers an  idealized  picture  of  life  in  the  gold  fields. 

Meanwhile  the  grotesque  humor  peculiar  to  the  West  was  making 
its  appearance  in  southern  California,  where  Lieutenant  (later  Colonel) 
George  H.  Derby,  writing  in  the  San  Diego  Herald,  spun  his  webs  of 
satirical  nonsense  under  the  pen  names  of  "John  P.  Squibob"  and 
"John  Phoenix."  Derby's  hilarious  and  often  vitriolic  commentaries, 
some  of  which  were  later  compiled  in  the  two  volumes,  Phoenixiana 
(1856)  and  The  Squibob  Papers  (1859),  have  remained  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  many  Californians  to  this  day. 

But  the  literature  of  American  California  did  not  begin  officially,  so 
to  speak,  until  1852.  In  that  year  J.  Macdonough  Foard  and  Rollin 
M.  Daggett  founded  the  Golden  Era,  a  journal  devoted  to  mining, 
commerce,  education,  agriculture,  local  and  foreign  news,  fine  arts,  and 
literature.  It  attained  a  large  circulation  not  only  in  San  Francisco,  its 


THE     ARTS         143 

place  of  publication,  but  also  throughout  the  mining  districts,  and 
acquired  many  contributors  who  later  became  famous.  The  Pioneer, 
established  in  the  same  city  two  years  later,  was  more  strictly  a  literary 
magazine,  but  it  lasted  only  two  years,  while  the  Golden  Era  survived 
until  1882.  The  Pioneer  is  remembered  for  the  brilliant  series  of  papers 
contributed  to  it  by  Colonel  Derby  and  for  the  letters  of  "Shirley" 
(Mrs.  Laura  A.  K.  Clapp).  The  Illustrated  California  Magazine  and 
the  Hesperian  were  other  short-lived  periodicals  established  in  the 
1850*8. 

In  1857  tne  Golden  Era  printed  a  few  verses  signed  "Bret";  and 
three  years  later  their  author,  Francis  Bret  Harte,  a  young  man  from 
Albany,  New  York,  found  a  badly  needed  job  in  the  Era's  composing 
room.  Many  of  his  early  sketches  were  published  in  the  journal.  An- 
other contributor  to  the  Era  was  Samuel  L.  Clemens,  a  young  eagle-eyed 
Missourian  with  a  skeptical  drawl,  who  had  recently  quitted  Nevada  to 
become  a  reporter  on  the  San  Francisco  Call.  In  1864  Clemens  met 
Bret  Harte,  by  this  time  a  clerk  in  the  local  United  States  Branch  Mint 
and  star  contributor  to  a  new  literary  magazine,  the  Californian.  A 
little  later,  when  Harte  was  temporarily  in  editorial  charge  of  the  Cali- 
fornian, he  engaged  his  new  acquaintance  as  a  regular  contributor. 
Clemens'  first  sketch  for  the  magazine  was  "A  Notable  Conundrum," 
signed  with  his  usual  pen-name  of  "Mark  Twain."  It  was  through 
Harte's  influence  and  encouragement  that  Mark  Twain,  according  to 
his  own  testimony,  was  changed  "from  an  awkward  utterer  of  coarse 
grotesqueries  to  a  writer  of  paragraphs  and  chapters  that  have  found  a 
certain  favor."  Besides  these  two,  the  Californian  numbered  among  its 
contributors  Charles  Warren  Stoddard  and  Ina  D.  Coolbrith,  both 
destined  to  more  than  local  literary  fame. 

Mark  Twain's  first  book,  The  Celebrated  Jumping  Frog  of  Cala- 
veras  County  and  Other  Sketches,  published  in  1867,  marked  the  true 
beginning  of  the  California  school.  Twain  soon  became  known  outside 
the  borders  of  the  State.  He  visited  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  then 
made  a  journey  to  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land,  which  he  described  in 
50  letters  to  the  Alta  Californian,  one  of  the  oldest  of  San  Francisco 
newspapers.  These  letters  later  became  Innocents  Abroad,  which  to- 
gether with  Roughing  It  (based  upon  his  experiences  in  Nevada)  estab- 
lished his  reputation  throughout  the  English-speaking  world. 

In  1868  Bret  Harte  became  the  editor  of  the  Overland  Monthly, 
which  had  just  been  established  in  San  Francisco.  In  the  second  issue 
he  published,  after  considerable  hesitation,  "The  Luck  of  Roaring 
Camp."  With  the  exception  of  "The  Work  on  Red  Mountain"  (later 
rewritten  and  called  "M'liss"),  which  lay  forgotten  in  the  Golden  Era, 
the  fastidious  Harte  had  previously  ignored  the  mining  camps  as  back- 
ground for  his  fiction.  Many  Californians  now  derided  the  story  as 


1 44        CALIFORNIA 

unworthy  of  the  author  and  of  their  home  State.  But  when  the  com- 
ments of  the  eastern  critics  began  to  arrive,  Harte  knew  that,  like  some 
of  his  miners  and  gamblers,  he  had  struck  it  rich.  This,  with  such 
subsequent  stories  as  "The  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat"  and  "Tennessee's 
Partner,"  made  Bret  Harte  and,  the  Overland  Monthly  household  words 
among  readers  at  home  and  abroad.  Harte  was  embarrassed  by  the 
fame  of  his  "Heathen  Chinee"  and  other  humorous  verse,  but  gratified 
by  the  success  of  his  stories.  He  left  the  Coast  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  never 
to  return.  His  later  years  were  spent  abroad,  chiefly  in  England. 

Before  Harte's  arrival  in  London,  another  California  writer, 
"Joaquin"  (Cincinnatus  Heine)  Miller,  had  created  a  sensation  there, 
both  as  a  poet  and  as  a  picturesque  personality,  addicted  to  high  top- 
boots  and  long  flowing  hair.  Born  in  Indiana,  Miller  had  been  an 
Oregon  editor  and  judge  and  a  gold-miner  before  becoming  a  poet.  The 
poems  that  brought  him  fame  were  written  mostly  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
and  published  in  England  in  1871.  After  extensive  wanderings  abroad, 
he  settled  down  in  Oakland  in  1885  and  died  there  in  1913.  His  Songs 
of  the  Sierras  (1871)  and  Songs  of  the  Sunlands  (1873)  deal  for  the 
most  part  with  the  turbulent  exploits  of  pioneers,  outlaws,  and  Indians, 
and  with  the  scenic  marvels  of  the  West. 

Henry  George  came  to  California  in  1858,  and  for  more  than  two 
decades  made  a  precarious  living  through  his  work  for  Sacramento  and 
San  Francisco  newspapers.  Here  he  wrote  his  famous  treatise  on  the 
single  tax,  Progress  and  Poverty  (1879).  Other,  though  less  dis- 
tinguished, California  authors  of  the  same  general  period  were  Prentice 
Mulford,  the  humorist;  Noah  Brooks,  journalist,  historian,  and  writer 
of  books  for  boys ;  and  John  Vance  Cheney,  poet  and  essayist. 

None  of  the  outstanding  writers  of  the  pioneering  days  was  born  in 
the  State;  few  of  them  became  permanent  residents  there.  Reflecting 
the  excitement  and  shifting  character  of  the  period,  much  of  their  fiction 
and  poetry  consists  of  broad  caricature  and  sentimental  melodrama ;  but 
the  regionalism  expressed  in  their  work  was  complete,  self-contained, 
and  solidly  founded.  Their  humor,  irreverent  and  lusty,  was  charac- 
teristically American. 

On  the  cover  of  Harte's  Overland  Monthly  a  grizzly  bear  stands  on 
a  railroad  track,  apparently  defying  an  approaching  train.  But  the 
strongest  grizzly  is  no  match  for  a  locomotive;  neither  could  the  sec- 
tional character  of  California's  culture  long  resist  the  influences  that 
came  with  the  completion  of  the  railroad.  Nevertheless,  in  the  closing 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  California  literature  partly  retained 
its  regional  character.  A  new  literary  magazine,  the  Argonaut,  estab- 
lished in  1877  by  Frank  M.  Pixley,  had  numerous  able  contributors  and 
long  maintained  high  standards.  Many  literary  works  produced  in  the 
State  still  dealt  with  the  local  scene.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  well-known 


THE     ARTS        145 

romance  of  southern  California,  Ramona  (1884),  presented  a  touching 
picture  of  the  interrelations  of  the  whites  and  the  Indians.  Gertrude 
Atherton,  who  was  born  in  San  Francisco  in  1857  and  began  her  literary 
career  in  the  late  i88o's,  gathered  material  for  her  early  novels  by  visit- 
ing old  towns  and  talking  to  the  descendants  of  old  Spanish  settlers.  In 
The  Doomswoman  (1892),  The  Californians  (1898),  The  Splendid 
Idle  Forties  (1902),  and  Rezanov  (1906),  she  embodied  her  knowledge 
of  the  Spanish  era.  Her  California — an  Intimate  History  (1914)  is  an 
unconventional  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Ina  Coolbrith,  still  retaining  the  lyrical  fervor  that  had  impressed 
Bret  Harte,  published  A  Perfect  Day  and  Other  Poems  (1884),  The 
Sinffer  of  the  Sea  (1894),  and  Songs  of  the  Golden  Gate  (1895),  all 
three  full  of  local  color.  The  Mountains  of  California  (1894),  the 
first  book  to  appear  from  the  pen  of  John  Muir,  scientist  and  prose 
poet,  was  permeated  by  a  deep  love  for  nature  in  the  spectacular  aspects 
that  she  displays  in  California.  A  less  gifted  nature-lover,  George 
Wharton  James,  published  his  Picturesque  Southern  California  and 
Nature  Sermons. 

Southern  California  and  its  Spanish  and  Indian  backgrounds  was  the 
milieu  of  Charles  Fletcher  Lummis,  who  died  in  1928.  Author  of  such 
charming  studies  as  The  Enchanted  Burro,  The  Land  of  Poco  Tiempo, 
and  the  collected  Spanish  Songs  of  Old  California,  he  is  lovingly  re- 
membered for  his  long  editorship  of  the  California  magazine  Out  West. 

But  the  work  of  Ambrose  Bierce,  acknowledged  leader  of  California 
letters  during  this  period,  is  in  no  sense  regional.  His  stories  deal  with 
the  corpse-strewn  battlefields  of  the  Civil  War,  the  nameless  places  of 
morbid  fancy.  They  are  meticulously  finished;  and  in  them,  as  in  his 
other  writings,  his  satire  stings  like  the  scorpion.  In  connection  with 
the  brilliant  tales  collected  in  Black  Beetles  in  Amber  (1892),  Can  Such 
Things  Be!  ( 1893),  and  In  the  Midst  of  Life  ( 1898),  Gertrude  Ather- 
ton said  that  Bierce  had  "the  best  brutal  imagination  of  any  man  in  the 
English-speaking  race."  Through  his  columns  in  the  Wasp,  the  Argo- 
naut, and  the  San  Francisco  Examiner,  Bierce  became  a  power  in  Cali- 
fornia journalism.  Some  of  his  stories  are  still  reprinted,  while  his 
invective  has  by  no  means  lost  its  biting  force.  The  strange  disappear- 
ance of  Bierce  in  Mexico,  just  before  the  World  War,  lent  a  dramatic 
touch  to  his  career. 

Charles  Warren  Stoddard,  continuing  the  literary  labors  begun  in 
company  with  Bret  Harte,  Mark  Twain,  and  Ina  Coolbrith  for  the 
Calif ornian,  added  the  Pacific  and  the  South  Seas  to  his  domain.  One 
of  his  last  books  deals  with  the  California  missions.  Edward  Rowland 
Sill,  author  of  The  Hermitage  (1868)  and  other  volumes  of  verse, 
taught  for  a  number  of  years  at  the  University  of  California.  His 
"Opportunity"  and  "The  Fool's  Prayer"  are  still  often  reprinted. 


1 46        CALIFORNIA 

Gelett  Burgess,  that  friendly  humorist,  lived  in  California  for  several 
years  before  and  after  the  turn  of  the  century.  In  1895-97  he  edited 
The  Lark  for  a  San  Francisco  publisher,  gaining  renown  that  was  later 
to  embarrass  him  with  his  "Purple  Cow" : 

I  never  saw  a  PURPLE  COW, 
I  never  hope  to  see  one; 
But  I  can  tell  you,  anyhow, 
I'd  rather  SEE  than  BE  one ! 

Hubert  Howe  Bancroft  collected  a  library  of  60,000  books,  maps, 
and  manuscripts  (now  lodged  in  the  Bancroft  Library  of  the  University 
of  California),  and  working  with  a  large  corps  of  assistants  produced 
in  30  years  nearly  40  volumes  of  history,  biography,  and  essays,  includ- 
ing a  History  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America  (1882-90)  in  28 
volumes.  Bancroft  has  been  accused  of  "factory"  methods  in  writing 
history  and  of  perpetrating  many  errors  as  a  result,  yet  some  authorities 
consider  the  History  of  the  Pacific  States  to  be  the  greatest  feat  of 
historiography  in  modern  times.  No  serious  student  of  Western  history 
can  wisely  ignore  it,  and  many  general  readers  find  it  enjoyable.  The 
four-volume  History  of  California  (1885-97)  by  Theodore  Hittell, 
however,  holds  a  greater  fascination  for  the  lay  reader. 

Notable  in  the  literary  annals  of  California  was  the  visit  in  1879-80 
of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  then  on  the  threshold  of  his  literary  career. 
He  lived  for  a  while  in  Monterey  and  later  in  San  Francisco,  where 
his  marriage  to  Mrs.  Osbourne  took  place.  The  Silverado  Squatters 
(1883),  The  Wrecker  (1892),  The  Amateur  Emigrant  (1894),  and 
many  of  his  published  letters  have  to  do  in  whole  or  part  with  the  Cali- 
fornia scene.  Ten  years  later  a  young  British  journalist  named  Rud- 
yard  Kipling  paid  a  brief  visit  to  San  Francisco,  and  endeavored  without 
success  to  sell  some  of  his  writings  to  the  editors  of  that  city. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  came  a  third  period  in 
California  literature.  Increased  facility  of  communication  and  increased 
centralization  of  cultural  activities  on  the  eastern  seaboard  had  finally 
broken  down  the  old  regionalism.  The  local  scene  was  no  longer  the 
chief  source  of  inspiration.  Many  young  Westerners,  dreaming  of  a 
career  in  literature,  yearned  to  reverse  Horace  Greeley's  dictum  and  go 
East  in  search  of  fame  and  fortune.  The  work  of  some  of  these  writers 
bespoke  an  awakening  social  consciousness.  Edwin  Markham,  a  fervent 
champion  of  democracy,  stands  at  the  threshold  of  the  new  era.  "The 
Man  with  the  Hoe,"  a  poem  published  in  a  San  Francisco  newspaper 
near  the  turn  of  the  century,  made  Markham  famous  in  a  single  day. 

Of  principal  importance  in  this  pre-war  period  were  Frank  Norris 
and  Jack  London  and  the  literary  colony  founded  at  Carmel  by  the  poet 
George  Sterling  in  1905.  Norris,  leaving  the  University  of  California, 
had  studied  art  in  Paris  and  there  had  fallen  under  the  influence  of  Zola 


THE     ARTS        147 

and  the  naturalistic  school.  Abandoning  the  brush  for  the  pen  and 
returning  to  California,  he  began  to  write  novels  conceived  on  a  gigantic 
scale.  The  unforgettable  McTeague  (1899)  was  followed  by  The 
Octopus  (1901)  and  The  Pit  (1903) — the  first  two  volumes  of  a 
trilogy  the  "epic  of  wheat."  Norris  died  at  the  age  of  32,  with  the 
trilogy  unfinished;  but  in  McTeague  and  The  Octopus  he  left  two 
pioneering  books  that,  despite  their  extravagance  of  expression,  remain 
distinguished  landmarks  in  American  fiction. 

In  the  Carmel  group,  besides  George  Sterling,  were :  James  Hopper, 
a  short-story  writer  of  distinction;  Mary  Austin,  author  of  The  Land 
of  Little  Rain  (1903)  and  several  other  notable  books;  Nora  May 
French,  a  young  lyric  poet;  and  Frederick  R.  Bechdoldt,  a  writer  of 
western  stories.  Jack  London  and  Herman  Scheffauer  were  regular 
visitors.  Sinclair  Lewis  came  a  little  later  and  with  William  Rose 
Benet  spent  a  year  there,  as  did  Upton  Sinclair.  Michael  Williams, 
author  of  The  Book  of  the  High  Romance  (1918),  lived  at  Carmel  for 
several  years;  and  Harry  Leon  Wilson,  who  wrote  his  Ruggles  of  Red 
Gap  (1915),  is  still  a  resident. 

Rupert  Hughes,  popular  author  and  playwright,  lives  in  Los  An- 
geles. Both  Will  and  Wallace  Irwin  studied  at  Stanford,  were  editors 
in  San  Francisco,  and  celebrated  before-the-fire  Chinatown,  Wallace  in 
Chinatown  Ballads  (1905)  and  Will  in  Old  Chinatown  (1908). 
Stewart  Edward  White  is  known  in  California  chiefly  for  his  Story  of 
California  (a  trilogy,  1927)  and  for  his  novels  of  the  gold  rush  and 
vigilante  days,  The  Gray  Dawn  (1915)  and  The  Forty  Niners 
(1928). 

But  the  most  spectacular  literary  figure  of  the  time  and  the  most 
widely  read  of  California  authors  was  Jack  London,  born  at  San  Fran- 
cisco in  1876.  An  "oyster  pirate"  and  longshoreman,  he  turned  to 
literature  in  his  teens.  After  an  arduous  apprenticeship,  he  began  to 
produce  short  stories,  novels,  autobiographical  and  sociological  works 
that  were  enthusiastically  received  throughout  the  western  world.  As  a 
fiction  writer  he  glorified  the  elemental  in  men ;  as  a  socialist  he  foresaw 
a  merciless  "war  of  the  classes."  Supermen  and  superwomen  stalk 
through  his  stories,  many  of  which  are  based  upon  his  own  experience, 
interpreted  through  an  intensely  romantic  imagination.  London's 
peregrinations  took  him  to  many  places,  and  even  on  his  great  ranch  in 
Sonoma  County  he  managed  to  live  dramatically,  with  an  air  of  gran- 
deur. His  fight  with  alcohol,  as  described  in  John  Barleycorn  (1913), 
was  in  itself  a  desperate  adventure.  The  doctrine  of  crude  force  and 
the  purely  materialistic  philosophy  that  he  expounded  have  fallen  into 
disfavor,  his  stories  of  blond  primitive  brutes  now  find  fewer  readers 
(though  The  Call  of  the  Wild,  The  Sea  Wolf,  and  many  of  his  short 
stories  still  remain  popular,  especially  in  Europe)  ;  but  as  adventurer 


1 48        CALIFORNIA 

and  storyteller,  as  a  powerful  and  unique  voice  of  his  time  and  his 
region,  Jack  London  will  long  be  remembered. 

George  Sterling  was  a  poet  whose  brilliant  imagination  and  poignant 
sense  of  beauty  were  held  tightly  within  classic  forms.  His  poetic 
dramas,  odes,  and  sonnets  are  now  somewhat  at  variance  with  the  pre- 
vailing taste.  But  The  Testimony  of  the  Suns  (1903),  several  of  the 
sonnets,  and  certain  shorter  poems  such  as  "Autumn  in  Carmel,"  possess 
enduring  beauty.  Sterling,  for  many  years  well  known  in  Carmel  and 
San  Francisco,  has  become  an  almost  legendary  figure  since  his  death  in 
1927.  Herman  Scheffauer,  like  Sterling  a  disciple  of  Ambrose  Bierce, 
was  another  lyric  poet  of  similar  talent  and  expression ;  and  Clark  Ash- 
ton  Smith,  younger  in  years  than  either  Sterling  or  Scheffauer,  is  never- 
theless akin  to  them  in  his  search  for  verbal  beauty  and  his  aloofness 
from  the  modern  scene. 

The  era  of  disillusionment  following  the  World  War  has  been  a 
period  of  change  and  experiment.  Cross-currents  and  divergent  tend- 
encies make  it  impossible  any  longer  to  divide  California  writers  into 
definite  groups.  Today  the  State  has  no  literary  magazine  of  impor- 
tance (although  the  Overland  Monthly  and  the  Argonaut  still  exist  in 
name),  and  no  group  of  contemporary  authors  constitutes  a  distinctive 
California  school. 

Nevertheless,  many  prominent  writers  of  the  post-war  era  are  Cali- 
fornians  by  birth  or  residence.  Gertrude  Atherton,  who  has  continued 
to  write  fiction,  published  in  1932  her  autobiographical  Adventures  of  a 
Novelist.  Kathleen  Norris,  prolific  chronicler  of  middle-class  family 
life,  is  a  Calif ornian;  as  is  her  husband,  Charles  Norris  (a  brother  of 
Frank  Norris),  who  writes  realistic  problem  novels.  Charles  Caldwell 
Dobie  has  skilfully  depicted  San  Francisco  and  its  people  in  his  short 
stories  and  in  San  Francisco:  A  Pageant  (1933).  Gertrude  Stein  spent 
her  early  girlhood  in  the  Bay  region.  Robert  Frost,  the  New  England 
poet,  is  a  Californian  by  birth.  Lincoln  Steffens,  journalist  of  the  muck- 
raking era  and  author  of  The  Shame  of  the  Cities  (1904),  was  born  in 
Sacramento;  he  left  California  soon  after  graduating  from  the  State 
University,  but  came  back  to  it  ten  years  before  his  death  to  write  his 
now  famed  autobiography. 

Upton  Sinclair,  socialist  and  reformer,  wrote  The  Jungle  (1906) 
before  he  came  West  to  settle  in  Pasadena.  Of  his  many  later  books, 
some  have  been  printed  and  published,  as  well  as  written  in  that  city. 
Such  novels  as  Oil  (1927),  Boston  (1928)  and  Mountain  City  (1930), 
though  they  lack  the  youthful  fire  evident  in  The  Jungle,  are  shot 
through  with  fierce  indignation  against  various  industrial  and  political 
evils.  Sinclair's  controversial  and  somewhat  raucous  sociological  treat- 
ises, such  as  The  Brass  Check  (1919),  The  Goose-Step  (1923),  and 
The  Goslings  (1924),  criticizing  the  nation's  newspapers  and  schools, 


THE     ARTS        1 49 

have  had  reverberations  far  beyond  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  Mammonart 
(1925)  and  Money  Writes!  (1927)  he  maintains  that  in  the  present 
social  system  writers  in  general,  especially  the  most  successful,  are 
directly  or  indirectly  subservient  to  those  who  control  the  important 
publishing  outlets.  Southern  California  and  its  Spanish  and  Indian 
backgrounds  was  the  milieu  of  Charles  Fletcher  Lummis,  who  died  in 
1928.  Author  of  such  charming  studies  as  The  Enchanted  Burro,  The 
Land  of  Poco  Tiempo,  and  the  collected  Spanish  Songs  of  Old  Cali- 
fornia, he  is  lovingly  remembered  for  his  long  editorship  of  the  Cali- 
fornia magazine  Out  West. 

Although  several  authors  and  artists  still  live  in  Carmel,  that  com- 
munity is  now  famous  chiefly  because  of  Robinson  JefTers  and  the  stone 
tower  that  he  built  there.  Jeffers'  first  book  to  gain  wide  notice  was 
Roan  Stallion  (1925).  Since  then  he  has  published  several  other 
narrative  poems  of  similar  provocative  and  startling  intensity,  leaving 
little  serious  doubt  that  as  a  poet  he  stands  considerably  above  all  his 
California  predecessors.  He  perceives  the  non-human  world  to  be 
inherently  noble  and  sees  great  beauty  in  the  sea,  the  mountains,  and 
the  hawks  and  eagles  soaring  above  them.  But  man's  place  in  this 
beauty  is  always  unsure  and  often  "curiously  ignoble  or  curiously  vile." 
Much  of  Jeffers'  poetic  appeal  lies  in  the  intensity  of  his  feeling  for 
dramatic  conflict,  for  the  terrible  and  the  unusual,  and  for  the  Carmel 
coast  region  whose  beauty  and  grandeur  permeate  virtually  all  his 
writing. 

Among  other  present-day  poets  deserving  of  mention  is  Yvor  Win- 
ters of  Stanford  University,  who  for  a  time  edited  a  now  defunct 
literary  periodical  called  The  Gyroscope.  The  lyrics  of  Hildegarde 
Planner,  Marie  de  L.  Welch,  and  Helen  Hoyt  are  well  known  to 
readers  of  contemporary  anthologies.  Sara  Bard  Field  is  the  author  of 
Barabbas  (1932)  and  other  volumes  of  verse.  Charles  Scott  Erskine 
Wood,  who  came  to  California  from  Portland,  Oregon,  is  known  for 
his  Heavenly  Discourse  (1927)  and  Earthly  Discourse  (1937). 

Within  the  walls  of  San  Quentin  penitentiary  there  has  been  for 
years  a  group  of  convict  writers,  at  least  two  of  whom  (both  now  out 
of  prison)  have  gained  national  recognition.  They  are  Ernest  Booth, 
author  of  Stealing  through  Life  (1929),  and  Robert  Tasker,  who  wrote 
Grimhaven  (1928).  It  was  in  San  Quentin,  too,  that  David  Lamson 
went  through  the  ordeal  that  resulted  in  his  noted  book,  We  Who  Are 
about  to  Die  (1935). 

John  Steinbeck,  a  native  of  Pacific  Grove  on  Monterey  Bay,  writes 
of  the  common  people  of  the  State.  His  Tortilla  Flat  (1935)  te^s  of 
life  and  death  among  light-hearted  Monterey  panhandlers,  members  of 
a  California  racial  group  called  paisanos  because  of  their  mixed  Indian 


I5O        CALIFORNIA 

and  Spanish  origin.  In  Dubious  Battle  (1936)  is  a  novel  of  agricultural 
workers  on  strike.  Of  Mice  and  Men  (1937)  is  a  brief  and  tragic  tale 
of  two  homeless  laborers,  wandering  up  and  down  the  rich  central 
California  farming  district.  William  Saroyan,  born  of  Armenian 
parents  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  is  the  author  of  a  large  number  of 
discursive,  almost  plotless,  short  stories,  some  hilarious  and  others  sad, 
which  have  appeared  in  book  form  under  the  titles  of  The  Daring 
Young  Man  on  the  Flying  Trapeze  (1934),  Inhale  and  Exhale  (1936), 
and  Little  Children  (1937).  Robin  Lampson,  grandson  of  a  pioneer 
couple,  wrote  Laughter  out  of  the  Ground  (1935),  a  long  novel  ii 
verse,  giving  the  life  story  of  a  typical  forty-niner  who  remained  tc 
found  a  family  in  the  State.  In  recent  years  many  prominent  writer* 
have  made  their  homes  more  or  less  permanently  in  the  State.  Amonj 
these  are  the  novelist,  Hamlin  Garland ;  Max  Miller,  author  of  /  Covei 
the  Waterfront;  and  Jim  Tully,  the  blunt-spoken  author  of  autobi( 
graphical  and  documentary  fiction  such  as  Beggars  of  Life,  Jarnegan, 
Circus  Parade,  and  Blood  on  the  Moon. 

The  present  is  too  much  a  time  of  transition  to  justify  any  dogmatic 
predictions  about  the  future  of  literature  in  California.  Many  ex- 
traneous traditions  and  influences  are  at  work.  Although  the  State 
more  than  its  share  of  poetasters,  local  orators,  businesslike  students  oi 
short-story  manuals,  manipulators  of  plot  machines,  and  members  oJ 
amateur  literary  clubs,  it  has  also  many  writers  of  distinction,  botl 
native  Californians  and  immigrants  from  the  East  and  Middle  West. 
Their  work,  only  a  small  part  of  which  has  been  mentioned  here,  canm 
entirely  fail  to  uphold  the  State's  literary  reputation,  originally  created, 
under  conditions  much  less  complex  than  those  existing  today,  in  th< 
pages  of  the  Golden  Era  and  Harte's  Overland  Monthly. 


ZKX&Z^^ 


MUSIC 


Centuries  ago  California  Indians  were  acting  out  primitive  music 
drama — celebrating  triumph  over  enemies,  invoking  rain  and  plentiful 
harvest,  dramatizing  deeds  of  wonder.  Drums  of  different  timbre, 
flutes,  rattles  made  from  gourds  to  turtle  shells,  and  bone  whistles  froi 
the  forelegs  of  deer  were  among  their  important  instruments.  Then 
ritual  chants  dealt  with  birth  and  death,  the  succession  of  the  seasoi 


THE     ARTS        151 

cursing  enemies,  instructing  young  boys,  invoking  the  spirits.  The 
Luiseno  and  Diegueno  of  San  Diego  and  the  Cahuilla  of  Riverside 
County  still  observe  annual  fiestas. 

With  the  coming  of  the  Franciscan  friars  in  1769,  the  Indians  heard 
a  new  kind  of  music — the  thousand-year-old  music  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic mass.  A  great  illuminated  vellum  volume  of  Gregorian  chants, 
brought  from  Spain,  may  still  be  seen  at  the  Mission  of  San  Juan 
Bautista.  The  notes  for  the  tenor,  bass,  and  baritone  were  written  in 
different  colored  inks  in  some  of  the  scores,  to  help  the  natives  dis- 
tinguish their  parts.  Patiently  the  California  Indians  were  taught  to 
sing  the  sacred  melodies.  When  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  was  living  in 
Monterey,  toward  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  he  went  to  the 
annual  festival  in  honor  of  San  Carlos,  held  in  the  ruins  of  the  Mission 
San  Carlos  Borromeo,  and  heard  aged  Indians,  who  had  come  many 
miles  to  attend  the  ceremony,  sing  the  Latin  words  and  music  with  good 
accent.  Even  today  some  Indians  in  San  Diego  County  assist  in  church 
services  by  chanting  medieval  Latin  hymns. 

The  appearance  of  Spanish-Mexican  folk  music  in  California  brought 
to  pueblo  and  rancho  the  passionate  rhythms  of  the  fandango,  piquant 
serenades,  amorous  Andalusian  ditties,  and  grim  and  tragic  ballads  of 
wandering  singers.  At  the  dwelling  houses  on  the  great  ranchos,  the 
strains  of  the  jarabe,  the  fandango,  the  zorrita,  the  contradanza,  or  any 
of  a  dozen  other  excitingly  lively  dances  were  heard.  Great  lovers  of 
color  and  rhythm,  the  Spanish  colonists  were  forever,  it  seems,  dancing, 
singing,  and  improvising  ballads  on  their  guitars,  which  were  as  much  a 
part  of  their  costume  as  their  sombreros  and  scrapes.  Troubadours  from 
Monterey  and  Santa  Barbara  used  to  wander  northward  to  visit  the 
great  hospitable  ranchos  around  the  village  of  Yerba  Buena.  Their 
songs  were  long  popular,  and  their  descendants  today  in  many  places 
still  delight  in  the  tradition.  The  picturesque  fiestas  held  annually  in 
Santa  Barbara,  Los  Angeles,  Monterey,  and  other  towns  are  popular 
reminders  of  this  period. 

No  sooner  had  American  conquest  put  an  end  to  the  slow,  feudal 
life  of  the  ranchos  than  the  forty-niners  began  swarming  into  the  new 
El  Dorado  from  all  over  the  world.  On  the  long  journey  overland 
across  the  plains  or  by  sea  around  the  Horn,  they  whiled  the  time  away 
with  song  and  dance.  The  chorus  of  "Oh!  Susanna!"  sung  on  the 
way,  runs: 

"I'm  going  to  California, 

With  my  banjo  on  my  knee!" 

In  the  "diggin's,"  around  the  camp  fire  at  night,  the  miners  sang 
pre-Civil  War  songs— "Ben  Bolt,"  "The  Last  Rose  of  Summer,"  "Pop 
Goes  the  Weasel" — often  improvising  new  words  for  the  old  airs,  or 
making  up  new  melodies.  A  stick  beat  out  the  accompaniment  on  a  tin 


152        CALIFORNIA 

wash-pan.  A  universal  favorite  was  the  picturesque  ballad  celebrating 
the  exploits  of  Joe  Bowers,  a  Ulysses  among  the  adventurous  riffraff  of 
the  "diggin's."  Two  of  its  printable  stanzas  read: 

"There's  New  York  Jake  a  butcher  boy 
That  was  always  gettin'  tight; 
Whenever  Jake  got  on  a  spree, 
He  was  spoilin'  for  a  fight. 

One  day  he  ran  against  a  knife 
In  the  hands  of  old  Bob  Cline — 
So  over  Jake  we  held  a  wake 
In  the  days  of  Forty-nine!" 

The  folk  music  of  the  1850'$  included  old  English  and  Scotch 
ballads,  fiddle  tunes,  singing  games  and  play-party  songs  from  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  and  the  Appalachians,  native  American  hymns,  ballads 
and  love  ditties,  Cornish  miners'  chants  and  old  Irish  airs.  Sailors  sang 
their  chanteys,  or  "shanties"  as  the  old  salts  call  them,  and  according  to 
Joseph  Conrad  the  best  chanteys  in  the  world  came  from  San  Francisco. 
Immigrants  from  all  over  the  world  brought  their  own  songs  with 
them:  Basque  shepherds'  tunes  and  German  stein  songs,  Hindu  ragas 
and  Hawaiian  melodies,  Tagalog  chants,  and  Sicilian  pastoral  airs. 
Put's  Original  California  Songster  (1854),  which  ran  into  five  editions 
and  sold  25,000  copies,  was  the  forerunner  of  a  flood  of  similar  collec- 
tions. Many  of  them  have  a  distinctly  Californian  flavor,  suggesting 
contemporary  incidents  when  feeling  ran  high  regarding  navigation  01 
the  Sacramento,  stage-coach  bandits,  the  California  Legislature,  thf 
miner's  hard  lot,  living  conditions  in  San  Francisco,  or  John  Chinaman. 
In  later  years  the  armies  of  migratory  workers,  who  still  wander  up  and 
down  the  inland  valleys  of  California  and  pitch  their  wretched  camps 
to  harvest  the  seasonal  crops,  sang  Joe  Hill's  songs,  the  famous  parody 
on  Casey  Jones,  and  other  ballads,  which  spread  all  over  the  country. 
The  little  red  I.  W.  W.  songbooks  that  many  of  them  carried,  once 
passports  to  jail,  have  since  become  collectors'  items. 

Opera — French,  German,  and  Italian — made  its  appearance  in  Cali- 
fornia almost  as  early  as  the  forty-niners.     Regular  performances  were 
given  in  San  Francisco  in  1851.     In  Los  Angeles  traveling  companic 
that  wandered  up  from  Mexico  gave  performances.     Often  these  com- 
panies came  to  grief,  leaving  their  stranded  artists  to  settle  where  lucl 
had  left  them.     The  famous  old  Tivoli  Opera  House  was  a  result  oi 
their  congregating  in  San  Francisco.     Starting  as  a  public  beer  gardei 
in    1877,  where  citizens   drank   to   the   strains  of   the  Vienna   Ladies' 
Orchestra,  the  establishment  decided  to  put  on  Gilbert  and  Sullivan's 
H.M.S.  Pinafore  in  1879.     The  Tivoli  continued  until  1906  with  ai 
unbroken  run  of  comic  and  grand  opera,  directed  by  impresario  "Doc" 
Leahy.     With  its  low  prices — 25  to  50  cents — and  its  democratic  at- 


THE     ARTS        153 

mosphere,  the  Tivoli  did  more  perhaps  to  popularize  opera  than  almost 
any  other  American  theater.  Its  contemporary,  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  was  built  in  1876  as  "a  new  and  elegant  temple  of  the  drama" 
seating  over  3,000,  with  a  handsome  proscenium  and  mezzanine  boxes. 
Here  a  long  line  of  famous  singers  appeared  in  an  operatic  career 
culminating  in  a  brilliant  performance  of  Carmen  with  Sembrich  and 
Fremstad,  Scotti  and  Caruso,  on  the  night  before  that  memorable  date 
in  the  history  of  San  Francisco,  April  18,  1906.  Among  the  singers 
who  began  their  careers  in  California  were  Emma  Nevada,  Luisa 
Tetrazzini,  and  Lawrence  Tibbett. 

Opera  is  still  popular  in  California — kept  alive  by  the  San  Francisco 
Opera  Association  under  the  direction  of  Gaetano  Merola — though  the 
season  lasts  only  a  few  weeks.  Here  the  Nation's  only  municipal  opera 
house,  completed  in  1932,  offers  a  standard  operatic  repertoire.  The 
Federal  Music  Project,  established  in  1935,  has  presented  such  classics 
as  Hansel  and  Gretel,  Faust,  Aida,  and  Lohengrin  in  Los  Angeles, 
Santa  Barbara,  San  Diego,  and  San  Francisco.  Operas,  operettas  and 
musical  satires  by  modern  composers,  some  of  whom  are  connected  with 
the  project,  have  also  been  given. 

Because  of  the  mildness  of  the  seasons,  al  fresco  music  has  become 
an  integral  part  of  California  culture.  In  the  Hollywood  Bowl,  audi- 
ences of  25,000  people  listen  to  a  six-weeks'  summer  series  of  symphonies 
under  the  stars.  Its  establishment  in  1921  was  chiefly  due  to  the  efforts 
of  Artie  Mason  Carter,  unpaid  enthusiast  who  built  the  Bowl  on  the 
nickels  of  the  people  when  the  rich  failed  to  grasp  the  significance  of  her 
vision.  Audiences  are  never  lacking  at  the  Woodland  Theater  in  Hills- 
borough,  the  Dominican  College  performances  at  San  Rafael,  the  Greek 
Theater  in  Berkeley,  and  the  Ford  Bowl  in  San  Diego. 

San  Francisco,  which  heard  its  first  symphony  concert  in  1865,  now 
subsidizes  its  symphony  orchestra.  The  Los  Angeles  Philharmonic, 
founded  in  1919,  has  become  an  outstanding  orchestra  thanks  to  the 
generosity  of  the  late  W.  A.  Clark.  To  the  development  of  California's 
metropolitan  symphony  orchestras,  conductors  Walter  Henry  Rothwell, 
Alfred  Hertz,  Issay  Dobrowen,  Artur  Rodzinski,  Pierre  Monteux,  and 
Otto  Klemperer,  among  others,  have  contributed  much.  In  Stockton, 
San  Jose,  Sacramento,  Santa  Rosa,  San  Bernardino,  and  Pasadena, 
smaller  orchestras  perform  symphony  music. 

Since  pioneer  days,  there  have  been  choral  societies  in  California 
cities  and  towns.  The  choir  of  Trinity  Church  in  San  Francisco  sang 
most  of  the  standard  oratorios  over  a  period  of  many  years,  but  there 
was  no  large  municipal  chorus  in  San  Francisco  until  the  coming  of  Dr. 
Hans  Leschke,  whose  success  with  the  choral  works  of  Bach,  Beethoven, 
Brahms,  Handel,  and  Stravinski  has  amply  justified  his  labors.  Through 
the  annual  November  Bach  festival,  inaugurated  by  Director  John 


154        CALIFORNIA 

Smallman  in  1934,  the  First  Congregational  Church  Choir  has  estab- 
lished a  notable  place  for  itself  in  the  Los  Angeles  musical  season.  The 
Negro  choral  group  conducted  by  Hall  Johnson  has  won  an  important 
place  in  the  State's  musical  life.  Sacramento,  Glendale,  Santa  Barbara, 
and  San  Diego  all  have  well-supported  choruses.  The  Federal  Music 
Project  gives  California  audiences  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  many  rare, 
new,  or  seldom  heard  choral  compositions. 

When  celluloid  became  audible  in  Hollywood,  Tin-pan  Alley  began 
to  move  West.  Theme  song  inventors,  "hot"  jazz  arrangers,  and  mod- 
ernistic orchestrate rs  were  at  a  premium.  The  early  history  of  jazz — 
or  ragtime,  to  use  the  term  that  came  into  vogue  about  1910 — had  been 
closely  connected  with  San  Francisco.  "They've  got  a  dance  out  there, 
they  call  the  grizzly  bear" — so  went  the  lyric.  One  of  the  original 
popularizers  of  the  jazz  tempo  was  Art  Hickman,  whose  first  contact 
with  ragtime  had  been  on  the  Barbary  Coast.  But  Hollywood  was 
destined  to  become  the  jazz  center  as  musicians,  emulating  the  prospec- 
tors of  '49,  began  their  trek  to  California.  In  the  early  days  of  tl 
talkies  most  musical  scores  were  patchworks  of  themes  from  familial 
classics.  Then  Hollywood  began  importing  the  better  composers  oi 
popular  songs — men  like  Irving  Berlin  and  George  Gershwin — to  write 
melodies  which  were  inserted  with  infinite  labor  into  film  drama  plot 

Only  recently  have  American  producers  begun  to  follow  the  example 
of  their  European  confreres  by  commissioning  serious  composers  to  writ 
synchronized  musical  scores.  Today  composers  of  reputation,  such 
Werner  Janssen,  George  Antheil,  Ferde  Grofe,  Jerome  Kern,  and  Ericl 
Korngold,  have  begun  writing  directly  for  the  screen.  Kurt  Weill's 
score  for  You  and  Me,  George  Antheil's  for  The  Buccaneer,  and  Wer- 
ner Janssen's  for  The  General  Died  at  Dawn  and  Blockade  have  ei 
hanced  the  artistic  quality  of  the  films.  Conductors  and  performers  as 
well  as  composers  of  international  prestige  have  been  summoned  tc 
Hollywood,  as  producers  have  lavished  greater  and  greater  sums  01 
their  music  budgets. 

California  composers  include  Ernst  Bacon,  whose  Symphony  in 
Minor  won  the  1932  Pulitzer  Prize;  Charles  Wakefield  Cadman,  notee 
for  his  use  of  Indian  themes,  and  William  Grant  Still,  well-knowi 
Negro  composer  and  conductor.  Henry  Hadley,  for  some  years  c< 
ductor  of  the  San  Francisco  Symphony,  did  much  of  his  work  in  tl 
State;  Ernest  Bloch  wrote  his  symphonic  suite  America  in  the  hills  oi 
Marin  County;  and  Arnold  Schoenberg,  in  exile  from  Germany,  is 
chairman  of  the  department  of  music  at  the  University  of  California  at 
Los  Angeles.  Among  the  moderns  are  Gerald  Strang,  Roy  Harris, 
Frederick  Jacobi,  and  Henry  Cowell,  leader  of  an  experimental  sch< 
of  composition. 


THE     ARTS        155 

m&m^^ 

PAINTING  AND  SCULPTURE 


In  the  days  before  the  Civil  War,  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  a 
favored  subject  among  American  landscape  painters.  The  artists  who 
came  to  the  Western  territories  were  stirred  by  the  magnificence, 
grandeur,  and  sheer  size  of  the  new  country.  To  them,  as  to  the  gold 
seekers,  America  had  suddenly  opened  extravagant  possibilities.  Here 
was  a  land  of  prodigies:  mountains,  precipices,  cataracts,  dead  craters, 
snowy  ascents,  vertiginous  cliffs.  It  seemed  to  the  pioneer  artists  that 
this  wild  country  was  prepared  to  yield  limitless  esthetic  rewards. 

California  art  of  this  period  succeeded  in  exciting  eastern  imagina- 
tions and  in  disclosing  the  scenic  marvels  of  the  virgin  territory. 
Artistically,  however,  it  overshot  its  mark  in  attempting  to  reproduce  in 
pictorial  terms  the  gigantic  proportions  of  the  mountains,  canyons,  and 
forests  of  the  West.  Many  of  the  huge  canvases  of  that  time,  techni- 
cally weak  and  devoid  of  emotional  content,  today  seem  of  dubious 
value. 

The  painters  of  spectacular  scenery  were  not,  however,  the  first 
artists  to  reach  California.  Before  their  arrival,  a  unique  artistic  de- 
velopment had  taken  place  in  connection  with  the  Spanish  Missions 
which  administered  California  territory  for  the  larger  part  of  a  century. 
The  Indians  whom  the  padres  found  in  the  locality  had  practiced  handi- 
crafts and  pictorial  art  according  to  traditions  extending  back  to  pre- 
historic times — the  "rock  paintings"  discovered  in  California  mountains 
and  caves  are  evidence  of  this  early  skill.  The  missions,  which  exploited 
the  labor  of  the  natives,  brought  them  under  the  influence  of  Spanish 
teachings  in  religion  and  the  crafts.  The  indigenous  art,  with  its  motifs 
and  symbols  representing  the  sun,  men,  animals,  and  nature  mysteries, 
thus  became  oddly  intermingled  with  the  old  World  tradition.  For 
example,  in  the  "Stations  of  the  Cross"  series  painted  on  sail-cloth  at 
the  San  Gabriel  Mission  before  1779,  Indian  neophytes  working  under 
direction  of  their  Spanish  masters  repeated  a  centuries-old  Christian 
theme.  Most  of  the  early  mission  murals  were  later  covered  with 
whitewash  and  plaster;  they  are  being  reclaimed  today,  chiefly  through 
the  efforts  of  the  Index  of  American  Design  division  of  the  Federal  Art 
Project.  Indian  craftsmen,  and  on  occasion  the  padres  themselves,  also 
produced  carved  and  painted  statues  and  figurines,  plaques,  iron  grille 
work,  church  implements,  costumes,  stamped  and  colored  leatherwork, 
textiles,  metalwork,  and  embroideries.  An  exceptionally  rich  and  varied 
"folk  art"  was  thus  contributed  to  early  California. 


156        CALIFORNIA 

During  this  era  numerous  paintings  and  sculptures  were  brought 
into  California  from  Spain  and  Mexico,  and  wandering  artists  from 
those  countries  painted  panels  and  altarpieces  and  portraits  of  the  Span- 
ish gentry.  While  somewhat  primitive  technically,  the  unsigned  por- 
traits, a  few  of  which  are  still  owned  by  descendants  of  the  haciendados 
and  by  California  museums,  are  often  charming  and  esthetically  satis- 
fying in  their  direct,  literal  treatment. 

By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  books  of  travel  and  exploration 
began  to  include  illustrations  of  California.  Perhaps  the  first  of  these 
is  Vancouver's  A  Voyage  of  Discovery,  published  in  London  in  1798, 
which  contains  two  sketches  of  mission  and  presidio  buildings  "taken  on 
the  spot"  by  J.  Sykes.  Interesting  aquatints  of  California  scenes  are  to 
be  found  in  other  volumes  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  first  painter  to  remain  and  practice  in  California,  whose  name  is 
known,  is  W.  S.  Jewett.  Early  in  1850  he  executed  a  large  oil,  which, 
according  to  the  first  issue  of  the  famous  Overland  Monthly,  July 
1868,  "properly  ought  to  begin  the  record  of  California  art  production." 
The  painting  represents  a  newly  arrived  immigrant  family  on  a  summit 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

The  discovery  of  gold  brought,  along  with  members  of  the  othei 
professions,  a  few  painters,  and  for  some  30  years  their  chief  aim  was  to 
reproduce  the  California  scene.    One  of  the  most  successful  was  Charl( 
C.  Nahl,  born  in  Germany  of  a  family  of  accomplished  artists.     His 
work,    little   known   outside   of   California,    shows   a    familiarity   witl 
European  traditions.     His  The  Fandango  and  Sunday  in  the  Mines  ai 
excellent  pictorial  documents. 

Of  the  school  of  heroic  landscape,  Albert  Bierstadt  (18301902), 
Thomas  Hill  (1829-1913)  and  Thomas  Moran  (1837-1926)  achieved 
the  widest  popularity  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Bierstadt,  born  in 
Diisseldorf,  was  brought  to  America  as  a  child.  His  Landers'  Peak, 
drew  an  enthusiastic  response  from  his  contemporaries.  Bierstadt  spent 
much  time  in  California  among  the  natural  wonders  of  the  Yosemite 
Valley,  the  Sierra,  and  the  great  valleys  of  the  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin. 

Thomas  Hill  started  his  career  as  a  coach  painter.  His  canvas 
like  those  of  Bierstadt,  were  enormous  panoramic  views  of  mountaii 
ranges,  which  seemed  in  their  day  to  express  the  "magnificent  scenery  oi 
that  marvelous  region,  where  the  roar  of  the  whirlwind  and  the  roll  ol 
thunder  reverberate  like  the  tread  of  countless  millions  who  evermore 
march  westward."  Later  generations,  however,  have  found  less  sul 
stance  in  Hill's  paintings. 

Thomas  Moran,  a  man  of  extraordinary  versatility,  had  profitec 
from  study  abroad.  The  influence  of  Turner  enriched  his  canvases,  an< 
though  in  his  own  time  he  was  less  eagerly  acclaimed  than  Bierstadt  01 


THE     A  RTS        157 

Hill,  his  solid  talent  has  since  given  him  a  higher  rank.  Like  others  of 
the  California  group,  Moran  devoted  much  of  his  work  to  the  dramatic 
scenery  of  the  West ;  he  also  was  considered  one  of  the  best  etchers  of 
his  day.  Moran  painted  with  ease  and  fluency,  and  his  composition  was 
masterly;  yet,  on  the  whole,  his  work  lacks  subtlety  of  handling  and  is 
too  solid  and  inert  for  modern  taste. 

Notable  among  the  many  lesser  painters  who  followed  Bierstadt, 
Hill,  and  Moran,  are  Raymond  A.  Yelland,  marine  painter  and  art 
educator;  Jules  Tavernier,  whose  work  includes  numerous  paintings  of 
Indian  life  as  well  as  many  landscapes ;  Thaddeus  Welch,  painter  of  the 
Mount  Tamalpais  region;  and  Charles  D.  Robinson,  who  celebrated 
the  scenic  marvels  of  the  Yosemite  Valley. 

Of  special  distinction  among  California  landscapists  was  William 
Keith  (1838-1911),  who  came  to  California  in  1859.  Like  the  painters 
of  the  French  Barbizon  school  and  his  friend  George  Inness,  Keith 
sought  subjective  harmony  and  poetic  mood  in  his  painting.  He  avoided 
the  grandiose,  and  in  his  work  the  theatrical  naturalism  of  Moran  and 
Bierstadt  gave  way  to  brooding  and  tranquil  scenes — serene  groves  of 
live  oak,  clearings  in  the  interior  of  woods,  hillsides,  brooks — remarkable 
for  their  play  of  light  and  shade.  Toby  Edward  Rosenthal  (1848- 
1917),  a  native  of  Connecticut,  was  brought  as  a  child  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, where  he  studied  under  the  Mexican  painter,  Fortunate  Arriola. 
Rosenthal  spent  much  time  in  Europe,  maintaining  a  studio  in  Munich. 
In  its  literary  themes  and  scrupulous  craftsmanship,  his  work  reflected 
the  styles  of  the  Munich  and  older  Diisseldorf  schools.  His  method 
was  laborious  and  scholarly;  it  was  not  exceptional  for  him  to  spend 
three  years  in  research,  travel,  and  sketching,  to  produce  a  single  canvas 
like  The  Trial  of  Constance  of  Beverley,  now  owned  by  Stanford  Uni- 
versity. Rosenthal's  documentary  paintings  brought  to  his  studio  many 
admirers  and  buyers,  while  lithographers  bid  against  one  another  for 
permission  to  reproduce  them,  even  before  they  were  dry. 

With  the  decline  of  the  heroic  school  new  influences  from  the  East 
and  from  abroad  began  to  affect  California  painting  and  sculpture.  In 
the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  currents  of  impressionism, 
Munich  genre  painting,  eclecticism,  and  French  romanticism  mingled 
with  the  local  development.  Public  interest  in  art  during  this  period 
was  stimulated  by  the  organization  of  the  San  Francisco  Institute  of 
Arts  in  1874;  the  founding  of  the  E.  B.  Crocker  Art  Gallery  in  Sacra- 
mento in  1884;  the  exhibition  of  60  local  artists  at  the  World's  Colum- 
bian Exposition  in  Chicago  in  1893;  the  establishment  of  the  M.  H.  de 
Young  Memorial  Museum  in  San  Francisco  in  1895,  and  of  the  South- 
west Museum  in  Los  Angeles  in  1903. 

The  Bohemian  Club  of  San  Francisco,  founded  in  1872,  reflected 
the  diversity  of  interests  animating  the  newer  art.  Among  its  members 


158        CALIFORNIA 

during  the  decades  that  followed  were  Arthur  Matthews,  painter, 
architect,  and  decorator,  examples  of  whose  works  may  be  seen  on  the 
walls  of  many  public  buildings  in  the  State ;  Bruce  Porter  who  executed 
stained  glass  and  mural  paintings  for  California  churches  and  public 
buildings;  Gottardo  Piazzoni,  landscapist,  who  contributed  the  murals 
at  the  San  Francisco  Public  Library;  Xavier  Martinez,  born  in  Mexico, 
who  has  lived  for  many  years  in  the  Bay  region,  where  many  of  his 
works  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Oakland  Art  Gallery ;  Charles  Dick- 
man,  painter  of  landscapes  and  marines;  and  Henry  Joseph  Breuer, 
landscapist.  Arthur  Atkins,  who  despite  his  early  death  left  a  number 
of  excellent  landscapes,  was  close  to  the  Bohemian  Club. 

Having  moved  to  Monterey  in  1895  Francis  McComas,  Bohemian 
Club  painter  of  oils,  water  colors,  and  murals,  became  one  of  the 
Monterey-Carmel  group  which  included  Charles  Rollo  Peters,  widely 
known  as  the  painter  of  the  "nocturnal  witchery  and  glamour  of  Cali- 
fornia," and  Armin  Hansen,  colorist  and  etcher.  William  Ritschel 
painted  many  landscapes  of  the  Monterey-Carmel  coast  line. 

By  the  turn  of  the  century  notable  artists  were  working  in  Los 
Angeles,  where  the  painting  of  William  Wendt  exerted  an  early  influ- 
ence. The  hills  of  this  region,  drenched  in  sunlight  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  year,  furnish  the  subject  matter  of  most  Southern  California 
landscapists.  Soon  Los  Angeles  was  no  longer  the  only  Southern  Cali- 
fornia art  center :  groups  were  formed  in  Santa  Barbara,  Laguna  Beach, 
San  Diego,  La  Jolla,  and  other  localities. 

California's  first  eminent  sculptor  was  Douglas  Tilden,  born  in 
1860.  He  received  his  early  education  at  Berkeley  and  later  studied 
sculpture  in  Paris.  Among  his  best  known  works  are  The  Football 
Players  in  Berkeley  and  the  Mechanics'  Fountain  in  San  Francisco. 
Robert  I.  Aitken,  whose  many  monuments  in  the  State  have  received 
high  praise,  was  one  of  Tilden's  pupils.  Edgar  Walter  and  Earl  Cum- 
mings  were  also  influenced  by  Tilden.  Other  California  sculptors  of 
the  period  are  Roger  Noble  Burnham,  Frank  Happersburger,  Marion 
F.  Wells,  Chester  Beach,  and  Haig  Patigian.  The  figures  of  wild  life 
executed  by  Arthur  Putnam,  who  died  in  1930,  received  wide  appre- 
ciation. 

The  San  Francisco  Exposition  of  1915  brought  the  work  of  the 
French  moderns  to  the  attention  of  a  considerable  number  of  Cali- 
fornians.  As  elsewhere,  the  immediate  response  to  this  new  art 
mainly  one  of  bewilderment  and  irritation.  In  the  next  decades,  hoi 
ever,  the  aims  of  Cezanne,  Van  Gogh,  Seurat,  Gaugin,  and  then 
twentieth  century  followers  gradually  became  more  intelligible  both  t( 
California  artists  and  to  the  public.  Modern  influences  entered  th< 
California  School  of  Fine  Arts,  founded  in  1874,  through  courses  b} 
Arnold  Blanch  and  Maurice  Sterne.  New  decorative  and  experiment; 


THE     ARTS         159 

techniques  began  to  be  applied  by  an  increasing  number  of  local  artists. 
Abstract  and  surrealist  art,  regionalism,  and  social  realism  became  major 
trends.  The  Mexicans,  Rivera,  Orozco,  and  Siqueiros,  inspired  in  many 
artists  of  the  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles  areas  a  new  interest  in 
the  problems  of  mural  painting. 

Today  there  are  so  many  artists  in  California,  working  in  such  a 
profusion  of  styles  and  aims,  that  the  State  has  become  one  of  the 
leading  centers  of  art  activity  in  the  Nation.  It  is,  unfortunately, 
impossible  to  describe  here  the  scores  of  personalities  and  accomplish- 
ments that  merit  attention. 

In  sculpture,  too,  new  possibilities  were  explored :  the  massive  figures 
of  workmen  produced  by  the  social  realists;  the  archaic  formalism 
favored  in  architectural  ornament;  the  suggestive  shapes  of  the  abstrac- 
tionists ;  and  the  controversial  experiments  of  the  pioneers  of  new  media. 

Important  museums  and  galleries  have  appeared  in  California  since 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  Among  these  are:  the  Los 
Angeles  Museum  of  History,  Science  and  Art,  founded  in  1913;  the 
Los  Angeles  Art  Association,  organized  in  1925;  the  Fine  Arts  Society 
of  San  Diego,  1925;  the  Henry  E.  Huntington  Art  Gallery  at  San 
Marino,  opened  in  1928;  the  Louis  Terah  Haggin  Memorial  Galleries 
at  Stockton,  1928. 

The  Federal  Arts  Projects  of  the  WPA  have  developed  an  extensive 
program  for  bringing  art  and  the  general  public  into  closer  relation. 
Murals,  sculpture,  easel  painting,  and  graphic  work  executed  under  its 
auspices  have  been  allocated  to  public  buildings  throughout  the  State, 
Its  Index  of  Design  Division  and  art  teaching  staffs  have  performed 
broad  services  in  popular  education.  Another  Federal  Agency,  the 
Treasury  Department  Art  Project,  has  commissioned  murals  for  govern- 
ment buildings  on  a  competitive  basis. 

The  plan  of  the  1939  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition  includes 
a  comprehensive  art  program  which  may  have  important  effects  upon 
the  local  development  of  art.  California  painters  and  sculptors,  includ- 
ing representatives  of  the  newer  styles,  are  reaching  a  larger  public  with 
murals  and  sculptures  for  the  fair  grounds.  The  vast  exhibition  of  old 
masters  assembled  at  the  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  will  make  available  for 
study  examples  of  the  Italian,  Flemish,  Dutch  and  English  schools; 
various  governments  are  loaning  to  this  exhibition  masterpieces  never 
before  seen  on  this  continent.  The  Exposition's  decorative  arts  and 
crafts  exhibit,  comprising  work  from  many  countries  and  periods,  will 
endeavor  to  show  the  parts  played  by  machine  and  handmade  products 
in  daily  life. 

Art  in  California  today,  attentive  to  new  creative  impulses  from 
every  part  of  the  world,  is  striving  to  overcome  passive  imitation  and  to 
make  a  contribution  of  its  own  to  the  progress  of  art.  Whether  it  will 


1 60        CALIFORNIA 

be  possible,  or  even  desirable,  to  distinguish  in  the  future  a  distinct 
"California  style"  no  one  can  state  with  assurance.  In  the  meantime, 
art  in  the  State  has  discovered  in  such  essentially  public  genres  as  mural 
painting  and  reliefs,  sculptured  monuments,  and  government-sponsored 
exhibitions  a  deeper  orientation  with  respect  to  the  social  life  of  the 
community. 


Z&XXZ&Z^ 


THE  THEATER 


The  fiesta,  the  pageant,  and  the  outdoor  theater  were  natural 
developments  in  California,  where  people  have  always  spent  much  of 
their  time  in  the  open.  When  Americans  first  came  to  California,  they 
found  a  people  who  amused  themselves  with  singing  and  dancing,  and 
on  fiesta  days  watched  the  fandango  danced  to  the  accompaniment  of 
choruses.  This  essentially  Mediterranean  type  of  entertainment  has 
survived  in  such  diverse  forms  as  the  Ramona  Pageant,  La  Fiesta  de 
Los  Angeles,  the  Bohemian  Club's  "high  jinks"  and  the  Mt.  Tamalpais 
Mountain  Play.  But  for  fifty  years  after  the  influx  of  Americans  Cali- 
fornia was,  in  general,  not  very  conscious  of  its  Spanish  heritage,  and 
the  theater  as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States,  followed  the  British  and 
French  tradition. 

In  1846  the  wing  of  an  adobe  house  in  Monterey,  surviving  today  as 
the  oldest  theater  in  California,  became  an  amusement  hall  for  Steven- 
son's New  York  Regiment.  Minstrel  shows,  old  English  farces,  and 
even  Shakespearean  plays  were  produced.  American  soldiers  at  the 
Sonoma  garrison  played  Benjamin  Webster's  The  Golden  Farmer  in 
an  improvised  theater  for  four  months  in  the  following  year,  and 
minstrel  shows  were  given  by  the  American  soldiers  in  Santa  Barbara. 

The  forty  niners — most  of  them  without  families — were  enthusiastic 
and  generous  patrons  of  any  kind  of  entertainment.  The  gold  rush 
brought  actors  from  the  Mississippi  showboats;  from  the  theaters  of 
New  Orleans,  Galveston,  Mobile,  and  New  York;  from  Europe  and 
Australia.  Dramatic  actors,  "Ethiopian  serenaders,"  minstrels,  circus 
clowns,  acrobats,  performed  in  tents  and  crudely  contrived  temporary 
halls,  or  in  the  gambling  rooms  of  the  hotels  and  saloons,  surrounded  by 
French  mirrors,  French  pictures,  and  blazing  chandeliers,  while  faro, 
monte,  rouge  et  noir,  vingt-et-un,  ronda,  and  roulette  games  went  on 
night  and  day.  Female  performers,  who  were  extremely  rare  at  first, 


THE     ARTS        l6l 

met  with  sure  success.  Home  melodies  sung  by  women  had  a  powerful 
effect  on  the  miners,  who  frequently  showered  the  performer  with 
nuggets  and  small  pouches  of  gold  dust. 

In  Sacramento  The  Bandit  Chief  was  performed  by  professionals 
at  the  Eagle  Theater,  the  first  building  erected  in  California  especially 
for  theatrical  performances.  It  was  a  wooden  frame  with  canvas  walls 
and  a  roof  of  tin  and  sheet  iron.  Estimates  of  its  cost  ranged  from 
$30,000  to  $85,000.  It  was  formally  opened  October  18,  1849,  al- 
though the  "Stockton  Minstrels"  had  played  in  it  to  a  full  house  the 
month  before. 

Driven  from  Sacramento  by  floods,  the  Eagle  Theater  Company 
went  to  San  Francisco  in  January  1850,  and  in  a  second-floor  hall 
performed  The  Wije,  a  touching  tale  in  blank  verse.  San  Francisco 
had  already,  on  June  22,  1849,  witnessed  its  first  theatrical  perform- 
ance. In  a  rickety  schoolroom,  crowded  to  suffocation,  Stephen  C. 
Massett,  a  stout,  red-faced  little  Englishman,  with  a  great  mop  of  curls, 
sang  original  ditties  and  burlesqued  famous  singers  of  the  day.  The 
front  seats  were  reserved  for  ladies,  of  whom  there  were  four  present. 
Rowe's  Olympic  Circus  and  several  minstrel  companies  appeared  during 
the  same  year.  Most  of  the  halls  erected  in  San  Francisco  were  de- 
stroyed by  the  fires  of  1850  and  1851,  but  new  theaters  were  rapidly 
built,  including  the  Museum  and  the  famous  Jenny  Lind.  The  Mu- 
seum's first  play,  Seeing  the  Elephant,  ridiculed  the  gold  rush,  and,  in 
general,  performances  at  this  theater  had  local  flavor.  The  Jenny  Lind, 
twice  burned  to  the  ground  and  rebuilt  by  Tom  Maguire,  was  more 
ambitious  and  gave  many  Shakespearean  plays.  In  1853  there  were 
seven  theaters  in  San  Francisco,  among  them  the  American,  the  Adelphi 
(built  by  the  French),  and  the  costly  and  massive  Metropolitan. 

Junius  Brutus  Booth,  the  elder,  came  to  San  Francisco  with  his 
19-year-old  son,  Edwin,  in  1852;  on  the  death  of  his  father  young 
Edwin  remained  for  a  while  in  California  laying  a  firm  foundation  for 
his  later  fame.  Kate  Hayes,  "the  willowy  swan  of  Erin,"  arrived  in 
the  same  year,  "fresh  from  triumphs  at  the  Covent  Garden."  Other 
actors  came — James  Stark,  Anna  Thillon,  Signora  Elise  Biscaccianti — 
and  many  more.  Shortly  afterwards  Lotta  Crabtree,  aged  nine,  made 
her  first  dramatic  appearance,  in  Petaluma  as  Gertrude  in  A  Loan  of  a 
Lover.  Breaking  into  an  occasional  jig  and  roll  in  the  midst  of  the 
performance,  she  won  her  audience ;  thereafter,  whether  playing  her 
banjo,  dancing,  and  making  merry,  or  acting  scenes  of  overwhelming 
pathos  as  "Little  Nell,"  Lotta  could  do  no  wrong.  She  attained  ex- 
traordinary popularity  throughout  northern  California, 

"Because  in  Lotta  we  can  see 
Artistic  concentration 
Of  sweetness,  strength  and  piquancy, 
A  pungent  combination." 


1 62        CALIFORNIA 

and  to  many  Californians  her  legend  remains  alive  to  this  day.  The 
celebrated  Lola  Montez,  favorite  of  kings,  made  her  home  for  a  time  at 
Grass  Valley,  and  danced  there  and  at  other  camps  and  slumgullion 
centers. 

In  San  Francisco  the  opening  of  the  California  Theater  in  1869, 
under  the  joint  direction  of  the  two  great  actors,  Lawrence  Barrett  and 
John  McCullough,  dimmed  the  glory  of  the  Metropolitan.  The  first 
plays  were  Bulwer-Lytton's  Money,  followed  by  Marie  Antoinette  and 
Richelieu.  In  1877  Helene  Modjeska,  the  Polish  actress,  came  from 
the  southern  California  bee  ranch  where  she  and  her  husband  had  spent 
several  months  in  political  exile,  and  appeared  at  the  California  in 
Adrienne  Lecouvreur,  the  first  of  her  successes  on  the  English-speaking 
stage.  The  California,  rebuilt  in  1888,  remained  a  popular  playhouse 
until  destroyed  by  the  fire  in  1906.  Among  its  competitors  was  the 
Baldwin  Theater,  for  a  time  managed  by  young  David  Belasco,  later  to 
become  a  world-famous  actor-manager  and  producer.  His  direction,  at 
the  Grand  Opera  House  in  1878,  of  The  Story  of  the  Passion,  based  on 
the  birth  of  Christianity,  aroused  a  storm  of  controversy. 

Although  minstrel  companies  and  circuses  frequently  went  to 
Southern  California,  Los  Angeles  did  not  see  its  first  complete  troupe 
until  November  1860,  when  the  Stark  and  Ryer  Company  played  to 
enthusiastic  audiences  in  a  ramshackle  hall  called  the  Temple  Theater. 
San  Diego  was  visited  by  a  professional  troupe  as  early  as  1868  and 
plays  were  performed  in  both  Spanish  and  English.  The  leading  actors 
usually  came  from  the  north  and  more  than  one  performance  was  de- 
layed when  a  steamer  from  San  Francisco  failed  to  arrive  on  time.  In 
Los  Angeles  the  Merced  was  opened  in  the  late  sixties,  but  the  first 
theaters  of  consequence — Child's  Opera  House,  Tivoli  Opera  House, 
and  the  Burbank  Theater — were  not  built  until  the  great  real  estate 
boom  in  the  i88o's.  It  long  remained  difficult  to  engage  the  best  road 
companies  for  southern  California,  and  Los  Angeles  did  not  become  a 
good  theater  town  until  after  1900. 

By  the  turn  of  the  century  the  management  of  most  theaters  was  in 
the  hands  of  national  syndicates.  San  Francisco  was  an  important 
theatrical  center,  with  many  road  attractions,  frequent  productions  of 
new  plays,  opera,  and  large  spectacles.  At  the  Alcazar,  which  had 
housed  Belasco's  famous  company  after  the  Baldwin  Theater  burned 
down,  and  at  the  Savoy,  Henry  Duffy's  stock  companies  played  for 
many  years  in  spite  of  the  growing  pressure  of  the  movies.  During  the 
decade  preceding  the  World  War,  the  professional  theater  in  Los 
Angeles  largely  centered  on  three  houses  managed  by  the  Morosco- 
Blackwood  Company.  The  new  plays  produced  in  Los  Angeles  during 
this  period  included  Richard  Walton  Tully's  The  Bird  of  Paradise, 
and  Kindling,  with  Margaret  Illington  in  the  lead.  Henry  Duffy's 


THE     ARTS        163 

chain  of  theaters  later  extended  to  Los  Angeles.  Linden  E.  Behymer, 
Simeon  Gest,  and  Ellis  Reid  opened  theaters  where  good  plays  were 
acted  by  movie  professionals  "at  liberty."  There  is  no  independent  pro- 
fessional theatrical  activity,  though  many  Broadway  importations  reach 
the  city. 

While  accepting  the  Broadway  diet,  Calif ornians  can  boast  of  the 
stars  who  began  their  careers  in  the  old  Coast  theaters.  The  roll 
includes — in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned — the  names  of  Nance 
O'Neill,  Maude  Allan,  Isadora  Duncan,  Minnie  Maddern  Fiske, 
Maude  Adams,  Marjorie  Rambeau,  Holbrook  Blinn,  Blanche  Bates, 
Pauline  Lord,  and  Edna  Wallace  Hopper.  Mary  Anderson  was  a 
native  of  Sacramento;  Frank  Mayo  made  his  debut  in  San  Francisco; 
David  Warfield  once  worked  as  an  usher  in  a  San  Francisco  theater. 
Like  Belasco,  William  A.  Brady,  the  eminent  producer,  was  born  in 
California  and  had  his  first  professional  experience  in  San  Francisco, 
while  Morris  Mayerfeld,  who  built  the  Orpheum  circuit,  was  prominent 
in  the  rapid  development  of  vaudeville  entertainment. 

At  about  the  turn  of  the  century,  California  rediscovered  its  Spanish 
heritage  of  outdoor  drama.  San  Francisco's  Bohemian  Club  presented 
the  first  of  its  annual  plays  in  1902  in  its  private  redwood  grove  near 
Monte  Rio.  Usually  poetic  in  form  with  musical  accompaniment,  the 
play  is  written,  staged,  and  acted  by  club  members.  About  the  same 
time  the  Forest  Theater  in  the  Carmel  artists'  colony  began  to  give 
plays.  Typical  of  the  many  mission  spectacles  was  the  San  Gabriel 
Mission  Play,  given  annually  for  about  two  decades  after  1912,  which 
interspersed  historical  episodes  with  dances,  songs,  and  ceremonies.  The 
Ramona  Pageant,  presented  in  April  and  May  in  the  Ramona  Bowl, 
near  Hemet,  is  a  dramatization  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  Ramona;  the 
cast  is  made  up  of  local  people,  many  of  whom  are  Spanish  Californians. 
Tahquitz,  dealing  with  the  traditions  of  the  Coahuila  Indians,  the 
Pilgrimage  Play,  at  Hollywood,  and  La  Fiesta  de  Los  Angeles  are 
among  the  many  pageants  now  given  annually  in  natural  amphitheaters. 

California  also  has  several  outdoor  theaters,,  modeled  on  Greek  or 
Roman  forms.  The  best  known  is  the  Greek  Theater  of  the  University 
of  California  in  Berkeley.  Many  celebrities  have  appeared  here,  includ- 
ing Sarah  Bernhardt  in  Racine's  Phedre,  Maude  Adams  as  Rosalind  in 
As  You  Like  It,  and  Margaret  Anglin,  who  in  1910-15  revived  Soph- 
ocles' Antigone,  and  Electra,  and  Euripedes'  Medea.  Sam  Hume  and 
later  Irving  Pichel  directed  the  Greek  Theater  and  gave  notable  pro- 
ductions. There  are  other  Greek  Theaters  in  Los  Angeles,  Bakersfield, 
and  Pomona  College,  and  many  garden  theaters,  modeled  after  the 
Italian  and  German  types,  throughout  the  State. 

The  little  theater  movement  in  California,  as  elsewhere  in  America, 
developed  in  the  second  decade  of  the  present  century,  when  road  com- 


164        CALIFORNIA 

panics  ceased  to  be  commercially  profitable.  Small  local  theaters  were 
built  in  many  places;  elsewhere  performances  were  given  in  private 
homes,  school  auditoriums,  halls  of  fraternal  lodges,  and  converted 
barns.  Little  theaters  have  a  large  following  in  the  State,  community 
drama  associations  flourish,  and  high  school  and  college  students  take 
active  interest  in  the  stage. 

In  1916  Gilmor  Brown,  director  of  a  financially  unsuccessful  road 
company,  induced  a  number  of  Pasadena  citizens  to  support  a  local 
theater.  In  1918  the  Pasadena  Community  Playhouse  Association  was 
organized  on  a  non-profit  basis,  with  Brown  as  manager  and  director. 
One  of  the  theater's  most  spectacular  productions  was  Eugene  O'Neill's 
Lazarus  Laughed.  The  performance  of  this  religious  drama  required 
over  350  masks  (designed  and  made  by  college  students  in  Los  An- 
geles), 350  costumes,  and  6  sets.  The  present  building  of  the  Pasadena 
Playhouse  was  opened  in  1925.  In  1937  tne  house  was  drawing  its 
performers,  aside  from  occasional  well-known  stars,  from  a  list  of  1,000 
players  and  had  a  school  of  dramatics  with  200  students. 

The  Lobero  Theater  in  Santa  Barbara  was  founded  in  1872  by  the 
popular  Jose  Lobero,  an  Italian  saloonkeeper  and  musician,  whose  fling 
at  the  production  of  grand  opera  proved  financially  calamitous;  rebuilt 
in  1924,  and  now  controlled  by  the  Community  Arts  Association,  the 
theater  houses  community  drama,  road  shows,  and  concerts. 

Sacramento,  Palo  Alto,  Laguna  Beach,  and  Escondido,  and  other 
California  towns  have  well-organized  groups  of  community  players. 
Oakland,  in  1934,  had  more  than  60  separate  producing  organizations. 
Among  the  San  Francisco  groups  are  the  Players  Club,  the  Wayfarers, 
the  Golden  Bough,  and  Theater  Union.  At  the  Gaite  Franchise,  Andre 
Ferrier  carries  on  the  long  tradition  of  French  theaters  in  the  city. 

In  Los  Angeles  professional  players  take  part  in  little  theater  activi- 
ties, while  waiting  for  their  chance  in  the  movies,  or  between  jobs.  The 
Cordova  Playhouse,  the  Beverly  Hills  Community  Players,  the  Little 
Theater  of  Beverly  Hills,  the  Contemporary  Theater,  and  the  Spotlight 
Theater  Club  are  semi-professional  community  theaters.  A  group  of 
Mexican  players  has  recently  organized  the  Padua  Hills  Theater  in 
Claremont,  Los  Angeles  County. 

The  University  of  California  Little  Theater  in  Berkeley,  directed 
by  Edwin  Duerr,  gave  the  first  performance  of  Robinson  Jeffer's  Tower 
Beyond  Tragedy  and  the  American  premiere  of  Intermezzo  by  Jean 
Giradoux.  At  Stanford  several  noteworthy  productions  have  been  given, 
including  that  of  T.  S.  Eliot's  Murder  in  the  Cathedral,  elaborately 
staged  late  in  1937.  Students  at  the  University  of  California  at  Los 
Angeles  co-operate  with  the  Pasadena  Community  Playhouse  in  design- 
ing scenery  and  costumes  for  many  productions.  Several  of  the  little 
theater  groups  have  laid  stress  on  encouraging  local  playwrights. 


THE     ARTS        165 

The  Federal  Theater  Project  of  the  Works  Progress  Administration 
has  acting  groups  in  many  cities  and  towns  in  the  State.  One  of  their 
first  ventures  was  Follow  the  Parade,  a  semitopical  revue,  which  in  1936 
ran  six  months  in  Los  Angeles.  Later  came  such  plays  as  //  Cant  Hap- 
pen Here,  Chalk  Dust,  Battle  Hymn,  Class  of  '29,  and  Triple  A 
Plowed  Under.  The  Negro  group  has  produced  Black  Empire,  Mac- 
beth, Androcles  and  the  Lion,  and  Run  Lil  Chillun.  The  project  at  its 
peak  has  employed  approximately  2,000  persons  in  the  State,  and  has 
played  to  an  aggregate  audience  of  2,000,000. 

ORIENTAL  THEATERS:  There  were  enough  Chinese  in  Cali- 
fornia in  the  1850*8  to  support  a  company  of  123  actors,  which  opened 
at  a  San  Francisco  theater  in  October,  1852.  At  one  time  as  many 
as  six  companies  were  playing  in  San  Francisco,  though  at  present 
(i939)  only  one,  the  Mandarin  Theater,  presents  legitimate  drama; 
the  Great  China  Theater  is  devoted  to  the  Chinese  motion  picture. 
Almost  without  exception  Chinese  drama  in  America  is  Cantonese;  but 
occasionally  an  example  of  the  North  China,  or  Mandarin,  drama  is 
presented  when  an  artist  such  as  Mei  Lan-fang  makes  a  tour.  The 
plots  are  generally  stories  from  the  Chinese  classics  well  known  to  the 
average  auditor. 

Each  Chinese  play,  though  complete  in  itself,  is  only  a  fragment  of 
the  total  story,  and  usually  a  cycle  of  plays  is  closely  knit  around  one 
legend.  The  average  play  lasts  five  hours,  and  the  bulk  of  the  audience 
arrives  for  the  third  and  fourth  hour.  They  come  for  the  high  spots  of 
the  particular  play — much  as  the  cultured  Westerner  would  go  to  the 
Metropolitan  in  time  to  hear  Lily  Pons  sing  the  mad  scene  from  Lucia. 
The  first  hour  of  the  play,  given  over  to  explanations  which  connect  it 
with  the  cycle,  is  considered  unimportant  by  the  authors.  Another  factor 
which  accounts  for  the  empty  theater  during  the  first  hour  is  that  the 
highest  admission  prices  prevail  at  the  opening,  and  each  hour  thereafter 
they  are  reduced.  The  Chinese  who  cannot  afford  75^  or  $i  at  the 
beginning,  can  usually  afford  25^  after  10  o'clock. 

The  Westerner  who  goes  to  a  Chinese  theater  unprepared  may  well 
believe  that  pandemonium  has  broken  loose.  But  a  definite  pattern  lies 
back  of  the  seemingly  endless  blare  of  gongs,  one-stringed  fiddles,  snake- 
skin  drums,  and  wailing  woodwinds.  It  would  seem  that  the  actor  in 
superb  bejeweled  silken  costumes — is  it  a  man  or  a  woman? — screams, 
or  whines  more  or  less  in  company  with  the  orchestra.  In  the  front  of 
the  house  the  audience  sits  stolidly  watching  the  stage.  In  the  rear, 
small  groups  cluster  together,  eating  and  gossiping,  but  they  rarely  miss 
an  important  moment  in  the  play.  The  food  stall  in  the  foyer  does  a 
brisk  business  in  candies,  oranges,  pickled  duck  feet,  ice  cream,  lichee 
nuts,  and  the  ever-present  watermelon  seeds — the  cracking  of  which 
adds  an  interesting  counterpoint  to  the  opera's  music.  Children,  who 


1 66        CALIFORNIA 

are  always  admitted  free,  scurry  up  and  down  the  aisles,  dash  between 
seats,  and  generally  add  to  the  hurly-burly  of  the  stage,  yet  appear  to 
disturb  no  one. 

Unbelievably,  the  full  five-hour  performance  is  produced  without  a 
rehearsal.  Because  the  actor  begins  his  profession  at  about  the  age  of 
ten  and  plays  and  replays  the  classics  for  many  years,  he  needs  very  little 
time  to  brush  up  in  any  part.  Furthermore,  the  actor  must  be  rigidly 
word-perfect  only  in  the  high  spots  of  the  play.  The  balance  follows  a 
pattern  which  is  loose  enough  to  allow  extemporaneous  speeches,  and  an 
actor's  ability  is  judged  by  his  facility  in  improvising.  But  woe  betide 
the  actor  who  falls  down  on  a  set  aria ;  the  audience  becomes  hawk-like 
in  its  attention  during  the  classic  moments. 

Since  1912  women  have  been  allowed  to  act — a  thing  forbidden 
throughout  the  Manchu  rule — and  in  recent  years  stage  properties  such 
as  back  drops,  curtains,  and  realistic  props  have  replaced  the  former 
pantomime  and  imaginative  handling  of  stage  accessories.  Yet  the 
magnificent  costumes,  many  of  which  cost  more  than  a  thousand  dollars, 
the  grotesque  facial  makeup  for  traditional  characters,  the  intricate 
sword  dances  continue  despite  changes,  and  even  the  uninitiated  West- 
erner is  fascinated  by  this  art,  centuries  older  than  his  own  civilization. 

Prominent  actors  from  Japan  occasionally  visit  the  principal  Cali- 
fornia cities  and  towns,  and  with  local  help  present  some  of  the  favored 
Kabuki  and  Ken-Geki  plays,  founded  on  the  epic  legends  of  feudalism 
and  involving  traditionally  set  roles  and  action.  These  events  take  place 
in  local  Japanese  meeting  halls,  also  used  for  amateur  dramatics,  dances, 
and  funerals.  In  Los  Angeles  there  is  a  Japanese  theater  that  occa- 
sionally gives  performances  with  imported  Japanese  companies,  and  a 
motion  picture  house  that  shows  imported  Japanese  films. 


Architecture 


THE  EARLIEST  architecture  in  California  was  that  of  the  Span- 
ish Franciscans.     These  missionary  friars,  led  by  Fra  Junipero 
Serra,   founded  21    missions  along  the  coastwise   Camino  Real 
between   1769  and   1823 — the  first  at  San  Diego,  the  last  at  Sonoma. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  poverty  to  which  the  Franciscan  monks  were 
pledged  is  the  virtue  of  their  mission  churches.     In  comparison  with 
eighteenth  century   Spanish   Colonial   architecture   in   Mexico   and  the 
Southwest,  they  exhibit  simplicity  of  form  and  humility  in  treatment. 
The  relative  austerity  of  the  missions  was  due  mainly  to  the  limited 
resources  in  materials  and  skilled  labor. 

There  are  three  general  types  of  plans  in  mission  churches:  those 
having  only  a  simple  nave  without  side  aisles,  as  San  Miguel  and 
Dolores;  those  of  rectangular  plan  with  a  single  bell  tower  on  the 
front,  as  San  Buenaventura  and  San  Luis  Rey  de  Francia;  and  those 
with  two  belfried  towers,  as  admirably  exemplified  by  Mission  Santa 
Barbara.  Typically,  the  missions  wrere  planned  around  a  patio  quad- 
rangle, usually  enclosed  by  the  church  and  minor  buildings — the  cells 
of  the  friars,  quarters  for  the  Indian  workmen,  servants  and  soldiers, 
guest  rooms,  work  shops,  refectory,  kitchen,  and  convent  for  young 
Indian  women.  These  minor  buildings  were  arranged  in  two  and 
sometimes  three  rows  of  chambers  with  arcaded  cloisters  fronting  the 
patio  and  sometimes  the  outer  plaza.  The  arches  were  carried  on  heavy 
piers  rather  than  columns. 

The  missions  were  constructed  of  stone  and  adobe,  finished  inside 
and  out  with  mud  plaster  and  frequently  strengthened  on  the  outside 

167 


1 68        CALIFORNIA 

with  heavy  buttresses.  The  whitewasned  exterior  walls,  with  their 
simple  architectural  adornments  and  deeply  recessed  wall  openings,  are 
in  striking  contrast  to  contemporary  Churrigueresque  style  of  vice- 
regal Mexico.  They  were  relieved  only  by  the  typical  grouping  of 
detail  around  the  doors  and  windows — pilasters,  classic  trim,  paneling, 
and  an  occasional  iron  or  wooden  grille.  The  most  characteristic  fea- 
tures, however,  are  the  pitched  roofs  of  hewn  timber  covered  with  red 
tile;  the  square  towers  with  their  domed  and  arched  belfries,  usually 
in  two  stages;  and  the  curvilinear  gables  rising  above  the  peak  of  the 
roof  to  give  a  more  elaborate  silhouette  and  added  height  to  the  facade. 
Frequently  the  gable  ends  were  adorned  with  a  niched  figure  of  a  saint 
or  pierced  with  arched  belfries,  as  at  Mission  San  Gabriel.  Occa- 
sionally they  were  designed  in  the  form  of  a  classic  pediment.  Perhaps 
the  most  notable  mission  church  in  California  is  Santa  Barbara.  The 
design  of  its  strictly  classic  facade  with  columns  and  pediments,  based 
upon  a  drawing  in  the  Spanish  edition  of  Vitruvius,  is  entirely  in  keep- 
ing with  the  earliest  phase  of  the  Spanish  Renaissance.  The  restored 
San  Juan  Capistrano  Mission  with  its  ruined  sanctuary  and  cloistered 
arcades  is  architecturally  one  of  the  most  pretentious  of  the  chain. 
Other  notable  missions  in  California  are  San  Carlos  de  Borromeo  at 
Carmel,  San  Gabriel  Arcangel  near  Los  Angeles,  San  Diego  Alcala 
in  San  Diego,  and  San  Antonio  de  Padua  near  Jolon. 

Generally  free  of  the  emotionalism  and  excesses  of  the  Spanish 
baroque,  the  interiors  of  the  missions  reflect  the  simple  taste  of  the 
Franciscan  order.  They  are  characterized  by  long  narrow  naves  with 
whitewashed  walls  and  painted  ornaments,  low  dados,  slender  pilasters 
naively  rendered  in  imitation  of  marble,  occasional  festoons  and  drap- 
eries, and  timber  ceilings  with  dark  hand-carved,  stenciled  beams  sup- 
ported at  the  walls  by  scrolled  brackets.  Forming  the  focal  point  at 
one  end  is  the  sanctuary  with  its  high  altar,  decorative  reredos  and 
wine  glass  pulpit.  The  altar  and  reredos  were  often  freely  embellished 
with  colorful  paintings,  draped  figures  and  gilded  carvings  executed  by 
the  padres  and  Indian  craftsmen  in  the  manner  of  both  the  Plateresque 
and  Churrigueresque  Spanish  tradition.  The  fine  detail  of  the  facade 
of  San  Carlos  near  Monterey,  the  delicately  carved  reredos  of  San 
Juan  Capistrano  and  the  ornate  retable  of  the  mortuary  chapel  of  San 
Luis  Rey  de  Francia  are  striking  but  not  isolated  examples  of  Fran- 
ciscan decoration.  The  monks  also  acquired  ornate  and  gilded  furnish- 
ings from  Mexico  and  Spain  and  enriched  their  walls  with  paintings, 
as  exemplified  by  the  elaborate  reredos  of  the  Mission  Dolores  and  the 
murals  at  San  Miguel. 

Within  a  few  years  of  the  coming  of  the  Franciscans  the  Spanish 
Government  made  vast  grants  of  land,  where  the  Spanish  and  Mexican 
rancheros  built  their  homes  and  established  themselves  with  their  fami- 


ARCHITECTURE         1 69 

lies,  their  vaqueros,  and  their  herds.  Like  the  builders  of  the  missions 
they  used  adobe,  but  whereas  the  monks  wished  to  put  up  churches  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  a  style  traditionally  ecclesiastical,  the  Spanish  dons 
were  concerned  only  with  comfort  and  convenience.  The  charm  of 
these  adobe  houses  lies  in  their  simplicity,  their  admirable  proportions, 
and  their  fitness  with  the  landscape. 

Many  Spanish  Colonial  houses  are  still  standing.  In  southern  Cali- 
fornia they  are  usually  one  story  in  height  and  rectangular  in  plan, 
occasionally  with  a  wing  forming  an  "L."  Their  timber  roofs,  covered 
with  hand-riven  shingles  or  tile,  frequently  extend  over  a  long  veranda 
supported  by  wooden  posts  along  one  or  sometimes  three  sides  of  the 
house.  The  interiors  are  planned  with  and  without  corridors;  circula- 
tion from  one  room  to  another  in  the  case  of  the  latter  is  provided  by 
way  of  the  veranda.  The  thick  adobe  walls  are  covered  with  white- 
washed mud  plaster  and  pierced  with  small  double-hung  windows,  set 
flush  with  the  outside  wall  surface  and  frequently  protected  by  simple 
iron  or  wooden  grilles.  The  interiors,  also  finished  in  plaster,  have 
tile  and  wooden  floors,  ceilings  with  exposed  hewn  beams  of  pine  or 
redwood,  and  deep  splayed  and  paneled  windows,  often  having  seats 
and  inner  shutters. 

Farther  north  the  houses  are  frequently  two  stories  in  height  with 
massive  first  story  walls,  three  feet  thick,  and  thinner  second-story  walls 
generally  offset  from  the  inside.  The  two-story  dwellings  have  bal- 
conies at  the  front  and  rear,  occasionally  extending  around  the  entire 
house.  The  balconies  are  generally  of  two  types:  two  storied,  with 
posts  extending  from  ground  to  roof  of  upper  gallery ;  and  cantilevered, 
with  posts  at  the  second  story  supporting  an  overhanging  roof.  Due  to 
the  weight  of  tile  roofing,  the  balconies  are  frequently  covered  with 
wood  shakes  or  hand-split  shingles. 

Numerous  adobe  structures  erected  by  the  Spanish  dons  during 
the  prosperous  1830'$  and  1 840'$  are  still  found  along  the  streets  of 
small  coast  towns,  in  the  old  sections  of  the  large  cities,  and  scattered 
over  the  valleys  and  plains.  By  far  the  greatest  number  are  in  Mon- 
terey. Among  the  most  notable  of  these  Colonial  structures  in  this 
historic  town  are  the  Larkin  house,  the  Old  Customs  House,  the 
Pacific  Building  (one  of  the  early  hotels),  the  Eldorado  House,  the 
Escolas  House,  and  the  Old  Whaling  Station.  Perhaps  one  of  the 
most  picturesque  ranch  houses  is  the  Olivos  House  near  Ventura  with 
its  two-story  porch,  outer  stairway  and  belfried  gate.  Other  notable 
examples  are  found  in  the  Paseo  de  la  Guerra  in  Santa  Barbara,  on 
Olvera  Street  in  Los  Angeles,  and  along  the  picturesque  streets  of  Old 
Town  in  San  Diego. 

Many  of  the  first  American  settlers  were  from  New  England  and 
they  brought  with  them  the  stern  architectural  traditions  of  that 


I  7O        CALIFORNIA 

region.  Even  before  1850  an  architectural  fusion  had  begun.  The 
Americans  combined  their  sound  workmanship  and  feeling  for  good 
design  with  the  traditions  of  Spanish  California.  In  the  coast  counties 
already  settled  by  the  Spanish,  they  frequently  used  adobe,  but  added 
early  nineteenth-century  American  detail  in  the  form  of  clapboard  sid- 
ing, green  blinds  and  double-hung  windows  and  paneled  doors  flanked 
by  small  side  lights.  Some  of  the  intrepid  pioneers  from  the  East  dis- 
mantled the  homes  they  had  occupied,  brought  the  material  with  them 
around  the  Horn,  and  reconstructed  their  dwellings  in  California.  One 
of  these  structures,  erected  in  1852,  is  on  the  Sherwood  ranch  near 
Salinas.  , 

During  the  eighteen  thirties  and  eighteen  forties,  while  the  first 
overland  immigrants  were  arriving  in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  Russian 
pioneers  were  also  attempting  to  establish  a  permanent  settlement  in 
Sonoma  County.  Little  remains  of  the  pioneer  structures  of  these  two 
groups  except  the  quaint  timbered  Russian  church  at  Fort  Ross  with 
its  two  silo-like  cupolas  and  adjoining  stockade,  and  the  Old  Bale  Mill 
in  Napa  County,  built  in  1846.  The  latter,  covered  with  narrow  clap- 
boards, is  a  notable  example  of  American  pioneer  architecture  with  its 
high  "false  front"  and  huge  mill  wheel. 

With  the  discovery  of  gold  in  1848  and  the  mushroom  growth  of 
the  older  cities  (especially  in  the  north)  and  of  the  mining  towns,  the 
orderly  development  of  the  Spanish-American  style  of  architecture  was 
pushed  into  the  background.  The  older  inhabitants  in  the  south  and 
in  the  rural  districts  continued  to  build  in  the  traditional  manner, 
sometimes  crudely  imitated  by  the  newcomers.  But  most  of  the  build- 
ings of  the  mining  towns  in  Sierra,  Amador,  El  Dorado,  and  Tuo- 
lumne  Counties,  many  of  which  are  still  in  use  today,  frankly  record 
the  restless  and  temporary  aspects  of  the  era.  Here  are  found  num- 
erous dilapidated  structures  of  frame,  brick,  and  stone,  one  and  two 
stories  in  height;  some  with  steep  gable  roofs  and  overhanging  eaves, 
others  with  front  porches  with  rickety  plank  floors,  slender  wood  posts 
and  sagging  shed  roofs,  while  many  are  characterized  by  their  "false 
fronts"  with  straight  and  saw-tooth  silhouettes.  Answering  the  needs 
of  these  mushroom  towns  countless  general  stores,  makeshift  hotels, 
rooming  houses,  banks,  and  saloons  were  erected.  Many  of  these 
buildings  may  be  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Downieville,  El  Dorado,  Colum- 
bia, Knight's  Ferry,  and  Weaverville.  With  their  iron  doors  and 
window  shutters,  they  still  stand — sometimes  gutted  with  fire  as  at  El 
Dorado;  sometimes  deserted  as  in  the  ghost  towns  of  Old  Shasta  or 
Hornitos;  but  sometimes,  as  at  Sonora  or  Angels  Camp,  they  continue 
to  serve  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  built. 

Until  the  building  of  the  transcontinental  railroad  in  1869,  new 
fashions  in  architecture,  as  in  other  spheres,  came  slowly  across  the 


ARCHITECTURE        171 

plains  or  around  the  Horn.  The  railroad  was  not  an  unmixed  bless- 
ing, architecturally,  for  not  only  did  it  bring  the  lumber  mill  closer 
to  every  town,  it  brought  the  silver  of  the  fabulous  Comstock  Lode, 
which  meant  wealth — and  wealth  meant  ever  larger  buildings  with 
more  and  more  fantastic  architectural  elements.  An  epidemic  of  the 
Victorian  pestilence  in  aggravated  form  seized  California.  Whether 
it  was  the  American  version  of  Victorian  Gothic  with  its  pointed  arches, 
battlements,  and  crestings  or  the  vagaries  of  the  French  style  of  Na- 
poleon III  with  its  mansard  roofs  and  cupolas,  bracketed  pediments, 
iron  crestings,  and  the  addition  of  interminable  jigsaw  work,  the  re- 
sults were  lamentable  and  are  obvious  enough  in  all  the  older  towns 
and  cities.  In  San  Francisco  thousands  of  Victorian  horrors  were  de- 
stroyed in  the  earthquake  of  1906;  but  many  remain,  their  lines 
sometimes  a  little  softened  by  shrubs  and  vines,  sometimes  stark  and 
bare  in  their  shabby  decay.  The  architecture  of  San  Francisco,  prior  to 
the  great  fire  and  earthquake,  was  predominantly  a  product  of  this 
period  and  taste.  Notable  among  the  city's  remaining  mid-nineteenth 
century  buildings  are  the  Octagon  House  near  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Gough  Streets,  the  Hoataling  Store  on  Jackson  Street,  standing  among 
a  number  of  earlier  structures,  and  Fort  Winfield  Scott  in  the  Presidio. 
Other  examples  of  this  era  are  the  old  schoolhouse  at  Almaden;  a 
quaint  hillside  house  with  a  broad  veranda  adorned  with  jigsaw  orna- 
ments, at  the  corner  of  Dodge  and  Stuart  Streets  in  Sonora;  and  the 
pretentious  gabled  and  bracketed  Carson  House,  built  by  a  wealthy 
lumberman  in  Eureka. 

During  the  late  nineties  a  number  of  buildings  were  erected  along 
more  academic  lines:  the  State  Capitol  in  Sacramento  with  its  Italian 
Renaissance  dome  and  Corinthian  porticos,  the  Fresno  County  Court- 
house, and  the  Ferry  Terminal  Building  in  San  Francisco,  with  its 
slender  tower  pleasantly  recalling  the  Giralda  in  Seville.  At  this  time 
the  architecture  of  California  was  influenced  in  a  relatively  minor  way 
by  the  Romanesque  Revival  of  H.  H.  Richardson.  At  Palo  Alto  the 
buildings  for  Stanford  University  afforded  a  group  of  his  followers  a 
fine  opportunity  to  adapt  the  massive  stonework,  arcades,  and  mosaics 
of  the  Romanesque  style  to  the  design  of  the  Memorial  Church  and  the 
adjoining  quadrangle.  Other  examples  of  this  stylistic  phase  are  the 
Mills  Building  in  San  Francisco,  designed  by  Daniel  Burnham,  and 
the  old  Santa  Fe  Station  in  Los  Angeles. 

At  the  turn  of  the  century  an  improved  but  somewhat  eclectic  taste 
became  manifest  in  California  as  elsewhere.  The  Neoclassic  and  Italian 
Renaissance  styles,  popularized  in  the  East  by  McKim,  Mead  and 
White  and  by  the  grandiose  buildings  of  the  Chicago  World's  Fair  in 
1893,  were  freely  adapted  to  the  designs  of  monumental  public  build- 
ings. In  1915  the  buildings  of  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition  in  San 


172        CALIFORNIA 

Francisco  contributed  a  lasting  impetus  to  these  traditional  and  stylistic 
trends.  The  Palace  of  Fine  Arts,  with  its  monumental  colonnades  and 
great  rotunda,  still  standing  on  a  lagoon  in  the  old  exposition  grounds, 
admirably  illustrates  the  academic  formula  of  the  Neoclassic  style.  And 
so,  also,  does  a  charming  circular  water  temple  at  Sunol. 

More  recent  adaptations  of  classic  architecture  are  the  buildings  of 
the  formal  civic  group  in  San  Francisco:  the  Renaissance  City  Hall  by 
Bakewell  and  Brown,  the  Opera  House,  and  the  War  Memorial  Build- 
ing. The  Neoclassic  California  Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  by 
George  Applegarth  and  H.  Guillaume,  is  another  example  of  formal 
design  in  this  city.  The  Public  Library,  the  State  Building  and  the 
new  Federal  Building,  with  its  long  colonnade  leading  up  to  the  plaza, 
all  show  the  academic  training  of  their  architects  in  the  Beaux-Arts 
tradition.  In  Berkeley  the  buildings  of  the  University  of  California  are 
of  white  granite  in  the  Neoclassic  style.  Correct  and  academic,  they 
indicate  a  high  order  of  talent,  but  perhaps  only  the  tall  campanile  and 
the  highly  stylized  Life  Sciences  Building  by  Arthur  Brown  show  a 
touch  of  genius.  The  United  States  Post  Office  at  Sacramento,  en- 
riched by  a  fine  Doric  colonnade,  follows  the  classic  tradition  with  a 
rugged  modern  simplicity.  At  San  Marino  is  the  Huntington  Library, 
by  Myron  Hunt,  suggesting  a  more  feminine  rendering  with  coupled 
Ionic  columns,  and  enhanced  by  formal  landscaping.  Perhaps  the  most 
modern  adaptations  of  the  Neoclassic  style  in  civic  buildings  are  the 
massive  new  Civic  Center  in  San  Diego,  and  the  lofty  Los  Angeles  City 
Hall,  by  Parkinson,  Martin,  and  Austin,  with  its  skyscraper  tower  and 
crowning  pyramidal  roof. 

Bertram  Goodhue's  California  Building  erected  in  San  Diego 
(1915)  displays  a  masterly  handling  of  the  highly  ornate  Spanish 
Churrigueresque  style  of  old  Mexico  and  has  been  a  guiding  influence 
in  the  development  of  the  modern  California  Mission  style.  Of  the 
modern  Spanish  Colonial  buildings,  many  are  frankly  reminiscent,  direct 
copies  or  close  modifications  of  existing  Spanish  or  Mexican  structures, 
while  others  show  considerable  change  and  development.  One  of  the 
most  consistent  examples  of  the  former  is  the  palatial  City  Hall  of 
Santa  Barbara,  the  work  of  Thomas  Mooser,  Jr.  Other  instances  are 
to  be  found  in  the  numerous  buildings  of  Morgan,  Walls  and  Clements. 
Although  there  exists  no  rule  or  ordinance  governing  architectural  de- 
sign in  the  city  of  Santa  Barbara,  the  art  commission  and  the  county 
regional  planning  board  have  encouraged  and  regulated  the  use  of 
Spanish  designs  throughout  the  city.  Various  college  buildings,  in- 
cluding those  at  Occidental,  Mills,  and  Scripps,  display  an  admirable  use 
of  Spanish  forms.  The  buildings  making  up  the  Pasadena  Civic  Center, 
the  most  notable  of  which  is  the  library  by  Myron  Hunt,  are  grouped 
about  a  terraced  square.  Their  style  is  a  formal  expression  of  the  Span- 


ARCHITECTURE         173 

ish  Renaissance,  florid  in  its  detail  but  admirable  in  its  unity  and  mass. 
The  individual  buildings,  held  together  by  a  consistent  handling  of  the 
architectural  elements,  are  dominated  by  the  reddish  gold  dome  of  the 
City  Hall.  Several  buildings  of  the  California  Institute  of  Technology 
in  Pasadena,  the  Henry  Data  House  and  the  Country  Club  in  Monte- 
cito,  the  W.  K.  Kellogg  Ranch  buildings  near  Pomona,  and  in  San 
Diego  the  Serra  Museum,  the  permanent  buildings  of  the  Panama- 
California  Exposition,  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps  Base,  and  the  U.  S. 
Naval  Air  Station  demonstrate  the  validity  of  the  style  to  all  but 
extremists. 

In  recent  years  a  number  of  outstanding  works  have  been  designed 
in  a  more  modern  version  of  the  Romanesque  style  than  that  of  H.  H. 
Richardson.  The  University  of  California  at  Los  Angeles  has  a  fine 
group  of  buildings  designed  in  this  manner.  Smaller  but  no  less  ad- 
mirable Romanesque  designs  are  seen  in  the  junior  college  building  and 
Sacred  Heart  Church  in  Sacramento,  the  Church  of  the  Precious  Blood 
and  St.  John's  Church  in  Los  Angeles,  and,  surprisingly  enough,  in  the 
tower  of  a  wholesale  coffee  establishment  near  the  San  Francisco 
waterfront.  Splendid  examples  of  the  ecclesiastical  Gothic  tradition, 
all  adapted  with  a  freshness  and  vigor  of  style,  are  St.  Dominic's  in  San 
Francisco,  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Oakland,  Emanuel  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Los  Angeles,  and  the  unfinished  Grace  Cathedral 
in  San  Francisco.  There  are  also  occasional  examples  of  the  more 
colorful  Byzantine  style  in  such  buildings  as  the  Temple  Emanuel  in 
San  Francisco  and  the  B'nai  B'rith  Temple  in  Los  Angeles. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  one  of  the  chief  de- 
velopments in  California  domestic  architecture  has  been  the  bungalow, 
which  derives  its  name,  and,  rather  remotely,  its  structure  from  the 
domestic  architecture  of  the  white  population  of  southeast  Asia.  The 
bungalow  was  first  developed  in  southern  California,  where  its  wide 
overhanging  eaves,  flat  pitched  roof  extending  over  broad  porches,  and 
low  windows  were  admirably  adapted  to  the  climate.  Cheap  and  easy 
to  build,  the  type  soon  swept  the  State  and  later  the  country.  Well-to- 
do  clients  demanded  two-  and  even  three-story  bungalows,  and  these 
buildings  are  often  handsome  as  well  as  homelike.  Berkeley  and  the 
residential  areas  of  Los  Angeles,  which  were  most  fashionable  prior  to 
the  World  War,  contain  many  fine  examples. 

The  truly  encouraging  element  in  contemporary  domestic  architec- 
ture is  the  return  to  a  simple  interpretation  of  the  Spanish  Colonial 
type  of  house.  The  fusion  of  the  Spanish  adobe  with  the  early  eight- 
eenth and  nineteenth  century  traditional  American  wooden  types  with 
the  addition  of  such  modern  features  as  corner  windows,  has  come  to 
be  called  the  "Monterey"  style.  It  is  admirably  suited  to  modest  liv- 
ing and  today,  for  the  first  time  since  1870,  great  numbers  of  well- 


174        CALIFORNIA 

designed  houses  are  being  erected  in  this  manner.  The  David  Selznick 
House  in  Beverly  Hills  and  the  Edward  Heath  House  in  San  Marino, 
both  by  Roland  E.  Coate,  and  the  Gregory  Farm,  near  Santa  Cruz,  by 
William  W.  Wurster,  are  excellent  examples  of  this  modification  of  a 
traditional  style. 

The  development  of  modern  domestic  architecture  in  California 
stems  from  the  International  Style,  established  immediately  after  the 
World  War  in  France,  Holland,  and  Germany  by  such  men  as  Le 
Corbusier,  Gropius,  Van  der  Rohe,  and  Oud,  as  well  as  from  the 
highly  radical  innovations  of  Frank  Lloyd  Wright.  The  international 
phase  has  been  enthusiastically  adapted  in  California  by  Richard  Neu- 
tra,  William  Lescaze,  R.  M.  Schindler  and  others.  Independently, 
both  Wright  and  Neutra  follow  the  dictum,  "Form  follows  function." 
Both  have  envisaged  a  new  architecture  designed  to  conform  with 
twentieth  century  industrial  society.  Following  the  epigram  of  Le 
Corbusier,  "A  house  is  a  machine  for  living,"  the  work  of  the  ultra- 
modern practitioners  demands  the  use  of  both  modern  building  ma- 
terials and  engineering  methods:  the  use  of  synthetic  plastics,  ferro- 
concrete, cantilevers;  the  blending  of  interior  arid  exterior  construc- 
tion, and,  subsequently,  built-in  furniture;  and  finally  the  complete  lack 
of  applied  ornament  and  decoration. 

Wright,  however,  developed  from  the  earlier  Chicago  School  of 
Louis  Sullivan  in  a  direction  of  his  own.  His  work,  recognized  in 
Europe  before  it  was  widely  accepted  at  home,  is  romantic,  full  of 
imaginative  flights,  very  daring  structurally,  and  highly  personal. 
Among  his  finest  homes  in  California  are  the  Freeman  House  in  Los 
Angeles,  and  the  home  of  George  Millard  in  Pasadena,  both  with  low 
massive  exterior  walls  constructed  of  decorated  blocks ;  the  Aline  Barns- 
dall  House  in  Hollywood,  with  its  tapering  walls  and  its  geometric 
ornaments  suggesting  an  Aztec  or  Mayan  temple;  and  the  Dr.  Paul 
Hanna  House  at  Stanford. 

Perhaps  no  one  has  been  more  courageous  in  carrying  the  principles 
of  functionalism  to  their  final  conclusions  than  Richard  Neutra.  His 
earlier  work  in  Los  Angeles,  including  his  Garden  Apartments,  the 
Lovell  House,  the  All-Plywood  House,  and  his  own  Research  House 
has  been  the  subject  of  wide  discussion.  Because  of  his  rigorous  en- 
gineering training  and  his  awareness  of  social  issues,  he  has  stressed 
the  use  of  prefabricated  building  materials,  engineering  devices  derived 
from  utilitarian  structures,  economy  and  efficiency  of  construction,  and 
constant  emphasis  on  the  relation  of  the  house  to  the  movement  of  its 
occupants.  He  has  dealt  admirably  with  the  problems  of  mass  housing 
and  community  planning.  R.  M.  Schindler,  another  exponent  of  this 
modern  school,  has  designed  many  "outdoor"  houses  of  prefabricated 
materials,  revealing  the  mingling  of  interior  and  exterior  in  his  "gar- 


ARCHITECTURE        175 

den  with  walls  and  roof,"  his  use  of  disjunct  planes,  sun  walls,  and 
open  areas.  The  beach  house  of  Professor  Alexander  Kaun  at  Rich- 
mond and  the  V.  McAlmon  House  on  Waverly  Drive,  Los  Angeles,  are 
notable  examples  of  his  domestic  work. 

No  survey  of  the  contemporary  architectural  scene  is  complete  with- 
out mention  of  the  steady  growth  and  improvement  of  commercial 
buildings.  The  office  building  exhibits  a  development  from  the  steel 
skeleton  structure  embellished  with  various  stylistic  forms  (as  exempli- 
fied by  the  Mills  Building  and  Hunter-Dulin  Building,  both  in  San 
Francisco)  to  the  modern  version  of  the  skyscraper,  with  its  simple  mass 
and  emphasis  upon  vertical  and  horizontal  lines.  Splendid  examples  of 
the  latter  are  Timothy  Fleuger's  Four-Fifty  Sutter,  the  Russ  Building, 
and  the  Empire  Hotel,  originally  built  to  house  the  Temple  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  and  the  William  Taylor  Hotel,  in  San  Francisco. 
Excellent  if  less  soaring  are  the  Oakland  Courthouse,  fronting  Lake 
Merritt,  and  the  Times  Building  in  Los  Angeles.  The  United  States 
Post  Office  in  Stockton,  the  Los  Angeles  County  Hospital  and  the  new 
San  Francisco  Mint  are  both  modern  and  monumental.  The  Los 
Angeles  Public  Library  by  Goodhue — a  towering  buttressed  structure 
of  modern  design,  set  in  a  beautifully  landscaped  tract — is  a  note- 
worthy example  of  highly  stylized  traditional  architecture. 

Business  has  made  further  use  of  the  modern  formula.  The  dis- 
pensers of  oil  and  gasoline  are  taking  advantage  of  its  possibilities, 
while  many  industrial  plants,  such  as  the  Chrysler  Motors  of  California 
and  the  United  Aircraft  Corporation  in  Los  Angeles,  have  housed  them- 
selves in  buildings  that  are  modern  in  the  best  sense.  Even  bankers 
have  discovered  that  a  bank  need  not  resemble  a  Greek  temple  or  a 
Roman  bath.  Shops,  bars,  cocktail  lounges,  and  theaters  have  all  too 
frequently  become  ready  outlets  for  the  more  tasteless  examples  of  the 
modern  mode.  As  elsewhere  fashionable  shopping  districts  have  been 
remodeled  with  polished  steel,  chromium,  glass  bricks,  and  synthetic 
onyx.  Hollywood  and  Wilshire  Boulevards  in  Los  Angeles,  despite 
these  modern  innovations,  are  somewhat  depressing.  Better  examples 
of  modern  commercial  architecture  are  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  Sys- 
tem Center  in  Hollywood,  by  Howe  and  Lescaze,  and  the  expansive  but 
somewhat  too  colorful  National  Broadcasting  Company  Studios  nearby. 

Following  the  earthquake  in  1934,  which  revealed  the  poor  construc- 
tion of  many  public  schools  in  southern  California,  the  State  embarked 
on  an  extensive  program  of  construction  and  remodeling  of  its  public 
schools.  The  trim,  rambling,  well-lighted  experimental  schools  in 
Santa  Monica  and  Los  Angeles,  with  their  outdoor  classrooms  and 
ample  play  areas,  ably  illustrate  the  principles  of  modern  planning. 
Other  notable  examples  of  efficient  and  economical  planning  are  the 
Emerson  junior  and  the  Corona  senior  high  schools  in  Los  Angeles,  by 


176        CALIFORNIA 

Richard  Neutra,  and  the  John  Adams  junior  high  school  in  Santa 
Monica,  by  Marsh,  Smith  and  Powell. 

The  mild  climate  of  southern  California  affords  unusual  oppor- 
tunities for  the  construction  of  numerous  outdoor  theaters  and  stadia. 
Among  the  most  notable  of  these  are  the  huge  Hollywood  Bowl,  the 
Spreckels  outdoor  organ  and  amphitheater  in  Balboa  Park  at  San 
Diego,  the  Los  Angeles  Memorial  Coliseum,  and  the  celebrated  Rose 
Bowl  in  Pasadena. 

The  opening  of  the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge,  designed  by 
C.  H.  Purcell  of  the  State  Department  of  Public  Works,  and  the 
Golden  Gate  Bridge,  by  Joseph  B.  Strauss,  mark  the  completion  of  out- 
standing engineering  projects  of  modern  times.  The  Bay  Bridge  is 
over  eight  miles  long,  with  carefully  planned  approaches,  two  decks  of 
traffic  and  an  island  tunnel;  the  Golden  Gate  Bridge,  with  its  6-lane 
roadway  suspended  from  giant  cables  strung  between  two  lofty  steel 
towers,  is  the  longest  single-span  suspension  bridge  in  the  world. 

The  1939  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition  on  Treasure 
Island  in  San  Francisco  Bay  is  a  compelling  example  of  architectural 
phantasy.  Compared  to  the  World's  Fair  in  New  York  its  architec- 
tural and  decorative  scheme  is  imaginative  rather  than  realistic.  The 
general  scheme,  not  unlike  that  of  the  San  Francisco  Fair  of  1915,  is 
highly  concentrated;  it  consists  of  long  ranges  of  monumental  build- 
ings surrounding  broad  open  areas  and  courts.  The  principal  element 
is  T-shaped  with  minor  adjoining  exhibits  of  the  Pacific  countries,  and 
amusement  areas,  each  designed  with  the  same  symmetry,  formality  and 
focalization  of  interest  as  the  principal  group.  The  architectural  theme 
of  the  Exposition  is  drawn  principally  from  the  Far  East.  The  design 
of  the  buildings  with  their  log  walls  and  pinnacles  encrusted  with 
elaborate  sculpture,  the  massive  pylons  and  gates  and  finally  a  massive 
spired  tower  forming  the  lofty  climax  of  the  group,  is  at  once  playful 
and  impressive. 


&G&&&<&^^ 

PART  II 
Signposts  to  City  Scenes 


Berkeley 


Railroad  Stations:     University  Ave.   and   3rd   St.  for   Southern  Pacific  Lines; 

University  Ave.  and  West  St.  for  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry. 

Interurban  Stations:     Shattuck  Sq.  for  Interurban  Electric  Ry.  transbay  service; 

Bancroft  and  Telegraph  Ave.,  main  Berkeley  station  for  Key  System.    All  trains 

make  frequent  stops  throughout  the  city;  fare  to  San  Francisco,  21^. 

Bus  Station:     University  and  San  Pablo  Aves.  for  Pacific  Greyhound  Lines,  and 

National  Trailways, 

Airport:     Berkeley  Airport,  Harrison  and  4th  Sts.,  no  scheduled  service. 

Bridge:     San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  approach,  Ashby  Ave.  and  East 

Shore  Highway,  toll  50^,  i  to  5  passengers. 

Streetcars:     Within  Berkeley  and  Oakland,  fare  10^  or  one  token,  7  tokens  for 

50^;  free  transfers. 

Taxis:     20$  first  *4  m.,  iotf  each  %  m.  thereafter,  10^  each  2  minutes  waiting. 

Accommodations:     Eleven  hotels. 

Information  Service:  Chamber  of  Commerce,  American  Trust  Bldg.,  Shattuck 
Ave.  and  Center  St.;  Berkeley  Travel  Bureau,  81  Shattuck  Sq. ;  University 
general  office,  U.  C.  campus. 

Radio  Station:     KRE  (1370  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Campus  Little  Theater,  2440  Bancroft 
Way;  Women's  City  Club  Little  Theater,  3315  Durant  Ave.;  eight  motion  pic- 
ture nouses. 

Golf:  Tilden  Park  in  Wildcat  Canyon,  Grizzly  Peak  Blvd.  and  Shasta  Rd. 
18  holes,  greens  fee  $i. 

Tennis:  Sixteen  public  courts,  at  Grove,  Garfield,  Cordonices,  Live  Oak,  James 
Kenney,  and  San  Pablo  playgrounds. 

Swimming:  Aquatic  Park,  Eastshore  Highway,  between  University  and  Ashby 
Aves.,  swimming  and  boating  facilities. 

Boating:  Berkeley  municipal  yacht  harbor,  W.  end  of  University  Ave.,  row- 
boats  30^  per  hour,  sail  and  power  boats  $i  per  hour. 

Fishing:  Shore  line  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  and  yacht  harbor  wharf,  bass  and 
smelt;  license  required  for  adults;  information  and  licenses  at  sporting  goods 
stores. 

Annual  Events:  Night  Tennis  Tournament,  August,  Live  Oak  Park;  Cali- 
fornia-Stanford football  game  on  even-numbered  years. 

179 


l8o        CALIFORNIA 

BERKELEY  (0-1,300  alt.,  82,109  pop.),  on  a  wide  plain  that  stretches 
gently  upward  to  a  low  range  of  hills,  borders  on  the  east  shore  of  San 
Francisco  Bay,  facing  the  Golden  Gate.  At  the  upper  edge  of  the  city, 
against  protective  hills  and  wooded  canyons,  stand  the  buildings  of  the 
University  of  California.  Viewed  from  the  bay,  the  city  seems  to  radi- 
ate from  the  white  campus  buildings. 

Berkeley,  however,  is  more  than  a  college  town.  It  is  an  industrial 
center,  a  business  city,  a  suburban  home  for  thousands  of  workers. 
Upward  from  the  industrial  waterfront  extend  myriads  of  small  homes 
occupied  by  those  who  man  the  factories  in  East  Bay  cities  and  San 
Francisco.  Office  workers  whose  jobs  are  in  San  Francisco  reside  chiefly 
in  north  and  southeast  Berkeley.  According  to  a  1937  survey,  Berkeley 
has  1 1 ,000  residents  who  commute  daily  to  San  Francisco. 

The  two  main  shopping  districts  exemplify  characteristic  differences 
between  the  two  parts  of  town.  The  Shattuck  Avenue  district,  just 
west  of  the  university  campus,  bears  all  the  signs  of  ordinary  commer- 
cial development.  The  Telegraph  Avenue  shopping  area,  extending 
southward  from  the  main  campus  entrance,  is  full  of  young  people  and 
of  shops  reflecting  their  needs  and  interests. 

South  of  the  campus  is  a  residential  section  with  old  homes  of  an 
architecture  peculiar  to  Berkeley.  The  early  inhabitants,  aware  of  the 
corrosive  effect  of  sea  air  on  paint,  utilized  pitched  roofs,  walls  of  un- 
painted  shingles,  and  vines  to  cover  them,  and  built  rustic  houses  that 
blended  with  a  background  of  hills  overgrown  with  oak,  boxwood,  man- 
zanita,  and  bay.  Bordering  the  campus  on  three  sides  are  fraternity 
and  sorority  houses,  some  in  the  old  tradition  of  Berkeley  architecture, 
some  designed  in  modern  fashion.  Vying  with  them  in  importance  as 
student  dwellings  are  modern  stucco  apartment  buildings  and  old- 
fashioned  boarding  houses.  On  steep  hills  to  the  north,  rising  above 
the  campus,  cling  those  homes  which  have  given  Berkeley  the  right  to 
be  compared  to  Amain*  and  Naples.  Here  every  residence  has  a  pros- 
pect of  the  bay,  and  some  have  canyon  views  as  well ;  gardens  hang  to 
the  edge  of  rock  banks  or  trail  in  terraces  down  the  hillside. 

Along  the  waterfront,  from  Emeryville  on  the  south  to  Albany  on 
the  north,  is  Berkeley's  factory  district  where  industrial  plants  produce 
$50,000,000  worth  of  commodities  yearly,  employ  approximately 
5,ooo  persons,  and  have  an  annual  payroll  of  $5,000,000. 

Berkeley  took  its  name  from  George  Berkeley,  Bishop  of  Cloyne 
(1685-1753),  the  Irish  philosopher  who  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  found 
an  institution  for  evangelizing  and  educating  the  Indians,  and  who 
wrote  "Westward,  the  course  of  empire  takes  it  way."  Henry  Durant, 
one  of  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  California,  nailed  the  words  as 
prophetic.  Bishop  Berkeley's  ideals  were  thought  so  proper  for  a  young 
college  town  that  the  trustees  adopted  his  name. 

Originally,  Berkeley  was  part  of  the  46,8oo-acre  Rancho  San  Antonio 
granted  to  the  Peralta  family  in  1820  by  the  Spanish  Governor  de  Sola. 
American  squatters  had  a  false  survey  made  in  the  1850*8,  cutting  off 
7,000  acres  of  redwood  timber  and  all  the  waterfront.  They  drove  off 


BERKELEY        l8l 

Peralta  cattle,  and  had  Jose  Domingo  Peralta  jailed  for  trying  to  eject 
them  from  his  land.  In  1853,  title  to  what  is  now  Berkeley  was  pur- 
chased by  American  speculators  for  $82,000.  The  first  American  build- 
ing in  Berkeley  was  a  roadhouse  erected  in  1853  near  San  Pablo  Ave- 
nue and  Delaware  Street. 

Foundation  of  the  university  gave  impetus  to  Berkeley's  growth,  but 
other  factors  contributed.  In  1874  there  were  only  a  few  residences 
south  of  the  campus,  and  two  years  later  the  population  was  only  948. 
Following  1884,  however,  when  a  large  reservoir  was  built  and  water 
pipes  were  laid,  growth  was  rapid.  By  1906  streets  were  paved  and 
huge  residential  tracts  had  been  opened;  the  Santa  Fe  built  a  station, 
and  the  Key  Route  established  38-minute  service  to  San  Francisco, 
opening  the  way  for  large  scale  commuting.  A  determined  effort  failed 
to  make  Berkeley  the  State  capital,  but  attracted  notice  to  the  town. 
Following  the  San  Francisco  earthquake  and  fire  in  1906,  many  refu- 
gees moved  permanently  to  Berkeley.  In  1905  the  population  was 
23,378;  in  1907  it  was  38,117. 

A  fire,  starting  in  the  hills  and  fanned  by  a  strong  wind,  destroyed 
most  of  the  city  north  of  the  campus  in  September,  1923.  The  disaster 
resulted  in  the  creation  of  one  of  the  most  efficient  fire-prevention  sys- 
tems in  the  United  States  and  in  a  Disaster-Preparedness  Plan.  A 
deputy  fire  warden  is  on  duty  day  and  night  in  a  Berkeley  hills  tower 
to  insure  against  a  repetition  of  the  fire. 

Berkeley's  civic  pride  expresses  itseFf  in  municipal  administration, 
law  enforcement,  and  education.  In  1923  the  city  adopted  the  council- 
manager  form  of  government  and  since  has  been  regarded  as  a  model  in 
municipal  administration.  August  Vollmer,  Professor  of  Police  Ad- 
ministration in  the  Department  of  Political  Science  at  the  University  of 
California,  as  head  of  the  police  department,  brought  Berkeley  national 
notice  for  his  effective  law  enforcement.  The  department  has  estab- 
lished an  unusually  amicable  relationship  between  citizenry  and  police, 
who  are  locally  known  as  "Ph.D.  policemen"  or  "supercops." 

In  addition  to  its  other  institutions,  Berkeley  has  State  schools  for 
the  deaf  and  blind. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

The  53O-acre  University  of  California  campus  extends  across  Ber- 
keley from  Oxford  St.  east  to  the  hills  and  from  Hearst  Ave.  south  to 
Bancroft  Way,  on  rising  land  that  affords  a  splendid  view  of  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay.  The  campus,  originally  a  plain  of  oaks  cut  through  by 
Strawberry  Canyon,  is  now  a  beautifully  landscaped  park,  with  spacious 
white  buildings,  groves  of  eucalyptus,  oak,  and  pine,  lawns  planted  with 
shrubs  and  flowering  trees,  and  brilliant  gardens.  Against  the  hills 
stand  the  Big  C  and  the  Campanile,  visible  for  miles. 

In  1896  Mrs.  Phoebe  Apperson  Hearst  financed  an  international 
competition  for  a  comprehensive  university  building  plan.  The  win- 
ning plan  by  Emile  Benard  was  subsequently  modified  by  himself  and  by 


1 82        CALIFORNIA 

John  Galen  Howard,  brought  from  New  York  as  university  architect. 
The  Hellenic  style  of  architecture  and  the  main  lines  and  vistas,  with 
modifications,  were  determined  by  the  original  plan.  Gaunt  old  South 
Hall,  the  first  campus  building,  and  sturdy  old  Bacon,  once  the  library 
and  art  gallery,  were  built  before  the  plan. 

The  State  constitution  of  1849  provided  for  the  university,  but  it 
owes  its  inception  largely  to  the  efforts  of  two  zealous  educators  and 
clergymen.  The  founding  of  the  university  was  delayed  for  two  dec- 
ades by  legislative  disagreement,  but  Henry  Durant  and  Samuel  Hop- 
kins Willey  prepared  privately  for  its  coming.  In  1853  Mr.  Durant 
opened  the  Contra  Costa  Academy  in  Oakland,  grandparent  of  the  un- 
born institution;  in  1860  the  academy  became  the  College  of  Cali- 
fornia under  Mr.  Willey 's  leadership;  and  finally  in  1869  the  college 
became  the  nucleus  of  the  new  university. 

A  charter  was  granted  in  1868,  but  the  College  of  California  car- 
ried on  instruction  for  18  months  until  the  work  of  organization  was 
complete.  By  that  time  a  faculty  of  10  was  ready  to  serve  40  students 
entering  the  new  university.  Registration  and  public  interest  increased 
in  1870  when  a  co-education  plan  was  adopted. 

In  1937-38  there  were  14,672  students  registered  at  Berkeley  and 
8,238  at  the  University  of  California  at  Los  Angeles  and  at  the 
branches.  The  principal  branches  are  the  Agricultural  School  at  Davis, 
Lick  Observatory,  the  Affiliated  Colleges  (medical  and  dental)  in  San 
Francisco,  Scripps  Institution  of  Biology  at  La  Jolla,  and  Hastings  Col- 
lege of  the  Law  in  San  Francisco.  There  are  also  large  graduate 
schools  in  Berkeley  and  Los  Angeles,  and  a  far-spread  extension  di- 
vision. There  was  in  the  same  year  a  faculty  of  1,132  members.  A 
home  of  celebrated  scholars  and  a  brilliant  center  of  research,  California 
has  never,  in  recent  qualitative  ratings  of  American  universities,  ranked 
lower  than  fourth.  Fifteen  of  its  present  faculty  (1939)  are  listed  in 
American  Men  of  Science. 

The  Associated  Students  of  the  University  of  California,  a  non- 
profit organization,  is  responsible  for  extracurricular  activities  on  the 
campus.  It  operates  a  store  and  restaurant  in  Stephens  Union,  the  stu- 
dents' building.  It  arranges  intercollegiate  athletic  contests,  using  the 
funds  to  support  debating,  dramatics,  sport,  student  publications,  and 
many  other  activities.  The  A.S.U.C.  building  contains  offices  for 
the  athletic  coaches  and  student  executives  and  clubrooms  for  the 
students. 

The  University  of  California  has  its  student  customs  and  traditions. 
The  freshman  wears  his  "beanie"  and  smokes  only  a  corncob  pipe  on 
the  campus.  The  other  classes  give  wide  berth  to  sophomore  lawn, 
and  none  but  a  senior  may  sit  in  peace  on  senior  bench.  Each  year 
three  large  rallies  are  held  in  the  Greek  Theater  around  a  bonfire  for 
which  freshmen  haul  wood  all  day.  Close  to  the  fire  in  the  diasome 
(the  section  around  the  pit)  the  men  students  sit  by  classes,  the  sopho- 
mores and  seniors  opposite  the  freshmen  and  juniors.  A  sophomore 
vigilance  committee  sees  that  all  the  men  are  with  their  classes.  Those 


BERKELEY        183 

caught  above,  among  the  women  and  visitors,  are  tossed  down  to  their 
places. 

Among  its  graduates  noted  businessmen,  educators,  and  scientists 
seem  to  be  in  greatest  abundance,  although  many  gifted  writers,  engi- 
neers, and  public  servants  have  studied  at  California.  Among  Alumni 
rising  to  the  highest  places  are  many  from  Latin  America  and  the 
Orient.  President  Madero  of  Mexico,  President  Capina  of  Colombia, 
World  Court  Judge  and  Premier  Wang  Chung-Hui  of  China,  and 
Sun  Fo,  Chinese  Minister  of  Communications  and  son  of  Dr.  Sun  Yat- 
Sen,  were  all  students  at  the  university.  Notable  in  America  are  former 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  Franklin  K.  Lane,  former  U.  S.  Commissioner 
of  National  Parks  Stephen  Mather,  former  Director  of  the  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Mines  Frederick  Cottrell,  and  several  U.  S.  Senators  and 
California  Governors.  Novelists  Irving  Stone  and  Charles  Norris,  play- 
wrights Richard  Tully  and  Sidney  Howard,  cartoonist  Rube  Goldberg, 
and  composer  John  Seymour  are  University  of  California  alumni,  and 
the  names  of  others  appear  on  Broadway  and  on  the  motion  picture 
screen. 

LOWER  CAMPUS 

(Buildings  are  open  during  class  hours  unless  otherwise  indicated;  see  map  for 
location  of  points  of  interest.} 

1.  SATHER  GATE,  built  of  bronze  and  concrete  above  a  bridge  and 
roadway  was  erected  with  funds  provided  by  Jane  K.  Sather  in  memory 
of  Peder  Sather.    College  meetings  and  rallies  are  often  held  here. 

2.  WHEELER  HALL,  housing  classrooms  and  auditorium  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Arts  and  Sciences,  is  a  neo-classic  structure  of  white  granite, 
adorned  with  Ionic  colonnades,  built  in  1917  and  named  for  Benjamin 
Ide  Wheeler,  university  president  from  1899  to  1919. 

3.  The  LIFE  SCIENCE  BUILDING,  a  majestic  neo-Classic  struc- 
ture with  rusticated  base,  modified  Corinthian  columns,  high  attic  story 
and  fine  bronze  grilles,  was  completed  in   1930  under  the  supervision 
of  Arthur  Brown.     In  addition  to  the  life  sciences  and  their  allied  de- 
partments, it  contains  the  MUSEUM  OF  VERTEBRATE  ZOOLOGY  (open 
to  students  only),  the  Institute  of  Experimental  Biology,  the  Labora- 
tory of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  the  HERBARIUM  (open  8:30-12, 
1-5  Mon.-Fri.;  8:30-12  Sat.) 

4.  The  AGRICULTURE  GROUP  consists  of  Hilgard  Hall,  Gian- 
nini  Hall,  and  Agriculture  Hall,  all  of  modified  Italian  Renaissance 
design,  with  corner  quoins  and  tile   roofs.      In  the   greenhouses    (not 
open)  nearby  experiments  are  conducted  in  plant  breeding. 

5.  The  PRESIDENT'S   HOUSE    (private),  completed   in    1911,   is 
constructed   of    grayish    tan   sandstone    in    Italian    Renaissance    design. 
Two  marble   lions   guard  the  entrance,   which   is  in   the   form   of  an 
arcaded   loggia.      It   contains   rare   old    tapestries,    among   which    is   a 
Beauvais  dating  from  the  sixteenth  century.     Portrait  of  a  Man,  by 
Lawrence,  is  also  in  this  building. 


184        CALIFORNIA 

6.  HAVILAND  HALL,  the  School  of  Education,  contains  the  Alexis 
F.  Lange  Educational  Library  and  an  exhibition  of  photography,  handi- 
craft, and  etchings. 

7.  The  STUDENTS'  OBSERVATORY  (open  8-10  p.m.  first  Sat. 
each  month)  is  a  group  of  domed  buildings  completely  equipped  for  the 
study  of  astronomy.      It  contains  5-  and  8-inch  refracting  telescopes. 
The  university's  main  astronomical  work,   however,   is  done   at   Lick 
Observatory  (see  TOUR  2b) . 

8.  The  SCHOOL  OF  ARCHITECTURE  BUILDING,  a  rambling 
shingled  structure  with  a  fireproof  library  wing,  contains  laboratories, 
drawing  and  modeling  rooms,  and  architectural  exhibition  rooms. 

9.  The  ENGINEERING  GROUP  comprises  the  Engineering  Labo- 
ratory, the  Engineering  Design  -Building,   Hesse   Hall,   and  the  Me- 
chanics' Building.    In  the  Engineering  Laboratory  is  one  of  the  world's 
largest  testing  machines  (capacity  4,000,000  pounds)  for  trial  oi  struc- 
tural members.     Materials  for  Boulder  Dam,  the  San  Francisco-Oak- 
land Bay  Bridge,  and  other  important  public  projects  were  tested  here. 

10.  LAWSON  ADIT,  extending  under  Charter  Hill,  a  shaft  con- 
structed by  students  of  mining  engineering,  is  a  laboratory  for  mine-fire 
and  mine-rescue  work,  and  for  actual  mining  experience. 

11.  The  HEARST  MEMORIAL  MINING  BUILDING,  of  Ital- 
ian Renaissance  design,  was  given  in  1907  by  Phoebe  Apperson  Hearst 
in  memory  of  her  husband,  Senator  George  Hearst.     It  has  classrooms 
for  mining  engineering  students,  the  Pacific  Coast  Experiment  Station 
of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines,  and  the  MUSEUM  OF  PALEON- 
TOLOGY (open  8-5  Mon.  and  Fri.,  9-12  Sat.),  which  contains  the  largest 
paleontological  collection  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

12.  The  ANTHROPOLOGY  MUSEUM,  houses  an  extensive  an- 
thropological exhibit. 

13.  BACON   HALL,   a   red   brick  structure,   is  headquarters  of   the 
department  of  geological  sciences  and  the  division  of  seismology.     Its 
GEOLOGICAL  SCIENCES  EXHIBIT  is  open  to  the  public  8:30-12  and  1-5 
Mon.  and  Fri.;  8:30-12  Sat. 

14.  The  CHEMISTRY  GROUP  includes  Gilman  Hall,  built  in  1918 
and  named  for  Daniel  Coit  Gilman,  the  university's  second  president, 
who  organized  the  chemistry  department  in  1872. 

15.  The  HYDRAULIC  TIDAL  MODEL  TESTING  BASIN  was 
built  by  the  U.  S.  War  Department  for  investigation  of  problems  of 
erosion  and  deposition  in  the  rivers  and  harbors  and  on  the  shore  line 
of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

1 6.  The  CHARLES  FRANKLIN  DOE  MEMORIAL  LIBRARY 
(open  during  regular  terms  8  a.m.- 10  p.m.  Mon.-Fri.,,  8-6  Sat.}  I-IO 
Sun.)   has  a  collection  of  more  than  900,000  volumes  and  more  than 
16,000  serial  publications.     The  original  collection  was  made  early  in 
university  history  from  the  Michael  Reese  fund  of  $50,000;  since  then 
the  library  has  acquired  the   Henry  Douglas  Bacon  Art  and  Library 
Collections ;  the  Library  of  French  Thought ;  the  Alexander  F.  Morri- 
son Library  for  recreational  reading;  and  the  Bancroft  Library  with  its 


BERKELEY        185 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 

CALIFORNIA 


KEY 

LOWER  CAMPUS 

1.  SatherGate 

2.  Wheeler  Hall 

3.  The  Life  Science.  Building 

4.  The  Agriculture  Group 

5.  The  Prtsiderrt't  House 

6.  Haviland  Hall 

7.  The  Student.1  Ob»er»atory 

I.  The  School  of  Architecture  Buildin3 
9.  The  Engineering  Group 
10.  Law**  Adit 

1.  The  Hearst  Memorial  Mining  Building 

2.  The  Anthropology  ' 

3.  Bacon  Hall 

4.  The  Chemistry  Group 

5.  The  Hydraulic  Tidal  Model  Testing  Basin 

6.  The  Charles  Franklin  Doe  Memorial  Library 

7.  The  Campanile 

8.  Stephens  Union 
».  Eshteman  Hall 

20.  University  Art  Museum  and  Gallery 

UPPER  CAMPUS 

21.  The  Hearst  Greet  Theater 

22.  The  Institute  of  Child  Welfare 

23.  International 

24.  California  Memorial  Stadium 

25.  Botanical  Garden 

OTHER  POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

26.  The  Pacific  School  of  Religion 

27.  Tilden  Park 

28.  Cragmont  Rock  Park 

29.  Berkeley  Aquatic  Part 


1 86        CALIFORNIA 

75,000  volumes  and  manuscripts  relating  to  Spanish-American  and 
western  American  history.  The  neoclassic  building,  constructed  in  1911, 
is  adorned  with  Corinthian  pilasters  which  rise  in  support  of  a  heavy 
modillioned  cornice.  The  School  of  Librarianship  and  the  Bureau  of 
Public  Administration  are  in  this  building. 

17.  The  CAMPANILE  (elevator  service  9-5  daily,  fee  10$),  designed 
by  John  Galen  Howard,  was  built  in  1914  through  a  bequest  by  Jane 
K.  Sather.     Designed  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style,  with  pyramidal 
roof,  belfry,  and  pinnacles,  it  recalls  the  lofty  campanile  in  St.  Marco 
square  in  Venice.     It  is  constructed  of  granite,  397  feet  high,  36  feet 
square,  with  a  clock  on  its  four  sides,  and  an  observation  platform  at  the 
top.     The  belfry  contains  12  bells,  cast  in  England.     A  Gutzon  Bor- 
glum  bust  of  Lincoln  stands  at  the  south  base. 

18.  STEPHENS  UNION  is  of  Tudor  Gothic  design  with  turrets, 
buttresses,  leaded  casements  and  oriel  bays.     Dedicated  in  1923  to  the 
late  Henry  Morse  Stephens,  professor  of  history  at  the  university,  it 
is  the  center  of  student  social  life  and  extra-curricular  activities. 

19.  ESHLEMAfsT  HALL  is  the  headquarters  of  student  publications, 
including  the  Daily  Californian,  the  Blue  and  Gold,  the  Pelican,  and 
the  Occident.     It  was  built  in   1930  and  dedicated  to  John   Martin 
Eshleman,  an  alumnus  and  former  Lieutenant  Governor  of  California. 

20.  UNIVERSITY  ART  MUSEUM  AND  GALLERY  (open  10-5 
weekdays,  subject  to  change),  is  a  low  brick  structure  adorned  with 
exterior  frescoes  and  two  Chinese  lions  guarding  the  entrance.     Among 
its  permanent  exhibits  are  a  portion  of  the  Albert  Bender  collection  of 
Chinese  art  and  a  collection  of  Russian  icons. 

Other  buildings  on  the  lower  campus  include  California  Hall,  con- 
taining the  administrative  office;  Le  Conte  Hall,  housing  the  depart- 
ments of  physics  and  optometry;  Bowles  Hall,  the  only  dormitory  on 
the  campus;  Boalt  Hall  of  Law;  and  South  Hall,  a  notable  example  of 
the  architecture  of  the  elegant  eighties. 

UPPER  CAMPUS 

21.  The  HEARST  GREEK  THEATER  is  designed  in  the  manner 
of  an  ancient  amphitheater.     Built  of  concrete,   it  has  a  semicircular 
auditorium   seating   7,154   persons,    and   a   stage   adorned   with    Doric 
columns  and  pilasters.     The  theater,  which  is  the  center  of  university 
musical  and  dramatic  activities,  was  presented  by  William  Randolph 
Hearst  in  1903.     Classic  dramas  are  occasionally  given. 

22.  The   INSTITUTE   OF   CHILD   WELFARE,   2739   Bancroft 
Way,  an  off-campus  university  institution  organized  through  the  Laura 
Spellman  Rockefeller  Memorial  Foundation,  carries  on  a  series  of  long- 
time research  projects  in  the  psychological  development  of  children.     A 
nursery  school  serves  as  a  basis  for  these  studies. 

23.  INTERNATIONAL  HOUSE  (open  by  arrangement},  Bancroft 
Way  and  Piedmont  Ave.,  is  a  gift  of  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  and  was 
completed  in   1930  as  a  residence  for  foreign  students,  of  whom  450, 


«C««<CC«««««K««tt^^ 


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SAN  FRANCISCO-OAKLAND  BAY  BRIDGE 


GOLDEN  GATE  BRIDGE 


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SAN  FRANCISCO  SKYLINE 


IN  THE  HARBOR,  SAN  FRANCISCO 


DEVASTATED  AREA.    SAN  FRANCISCO  FIRE  AND  EARTHQUAKE  (1906) 


CALIFORNIA  STREET  FROM  NOB  HILL  (1900)   SAN  FRANCISCO 


i 


ELEPHANT  TOWERS  AND  TOWER  OF  THE  SUN 

GOLDEN  GATE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION 

COURT  OF  PACIFIC  A 

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CALIFORNIA  STATE  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO  BUILDINGS 


GOLDEN  GATE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION 


DR.  SUN  YAT  SEN  MEMORIAL 


Bufano 


SAN  FRANCISCO 


!!!)!»!! 


THE  CAPITOL,  SACRAMENTO 


SUTTER'S  FORT  SACRAMENTO 


"Si" 


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RESIDENTIAL  SECTION,  FRESNO 


OLD  WHALING  STATION,  MONTEREY 


BERKELEY        187 

representing  30  nationalities,  live  here.  Of  modified  Spanish-Moorish 
design  it  is  distinguished  by  its  'deep  arcades,  tile  roofs  and  lofty  domed 
towers.  Lectures  and  concerts  are  given  in  the  auditorium. 

24.  CALIFORNIA  MEMORIAL  STADIUM,  seating  capacity  78,- 
ooo,  was  built  in  1923  at  a  cost  of"  $1,750,000,  in  memory  of  students 
who  died  in  the  World  War.     Football,  soccer,  and  rugby  games,  and 
commencement  exercises  are  held  here. 

25.  BOTANICAL  GARDEN   (open  9-4  daily),  in  Strawberry  Can- 
yon above  the  Memorial  Stadium,  is  a  35-acre  tract  devoted  to  plant 
culture.     The  collection  includes  5,000  rare  rhododendrons,  and  2,000 
cacti  and  succulents,   growing  in   natural  settings   of  sand   and  stone. 
There  is  an  open-air  theater,  a  memorial  to  Stephen  Mather,  first  di- 
rector of  the  National  Park  Service,  in  a  five-acre  tract  of  pine  and 
redwood. 

OTHER  POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

26.  The  PACIFIC   SCHOOL  OF  RELIGION    (open   by  appoint- 
ments, guides),  1798  Scenic  Ave.,  is  a  graduate  theological  school,  in- 
terdenominational and  co-educational.    An  A.B.  degree  is  a  prerequisite 
for  entrance,  and  the  school  trains  for  all  branches  of  religious  work. 
There  are  three  buildings,  the  Administration  Building  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture in  gray  cut  stone;  the  gray  stucco  Dormitory,  of  Tudor  design; 
and  the  HOLBROOK  MEMORIAL  LIBRARY  (open  8-6  Mon.;  7-6  Tues.- 
Fri.,  g-i2  Sat.),  the  twin  of  the  Administration  Building  in  structure. 
The    library    houses    a    collection    of    30,000    volumes,    including    a 
"Breeches"  Bible,  Geneva,  1560;  Babylonian  cuneiform  tablets;  fourth 
century  Biblical  inscriptions  on  papyrus;,  and  an  extremely  rare  copy 
of  the  inscription  on  the  Nestorian  Monument  in  China.     An  arche- 
ological  exhibit  has  relics  dating  from  3500  B.C.  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era. 

27.  TILDEN  PARK,  in  Wildcat  Canyon  over  the  hills  from  Berk- 
eley, is  a  part  of  the  io,ooo-acre  East  Bay  Regional  Park.     Lately  a 
rough,  hilly  country  of  manzanita  and  scrub  oaks,  and  abounding  in 
birds  and  small  mammals,  the  park,  improved  with  WPA  labor,  in- 
cludes a  golf  course,  scenic  drives,  and  three  camp  districts. 

28.  CRAGMONT  ROCK  PARK,  Regal  Rd.  and  Hillside  Ave.,  a 
neatly  landscaped  four-acre  plot,  rises  from  the  lawns  around  it  to  the 
abrupt  outcropping  of  rock  that  gives  the  park  its  name,  and  at  800 
feet  altitude  has  a  lookout  station  with  a  fine  view  of  San  Francisco 
Bay,  the  bridges,  and  Golden  Gate  directly  opposite. 

29.  BERKELEY  AQUATIC  PARK,  flanked  for  more  than  a  mile 
by  the  Berkeley  bayshore  and  US  40,  is  built  in  the  bay,  and  is  com- 
posed largely  of  the  lagoon  thus  formed.     Water  depth  ranges  from 
3  to  15  feet  and  is  controlled  by  floodgates.     Small  boats  can  be  rented 
at  the  boathouse,  there  are  facilities  for  model  yacht  racing,  and  the 
lagoon  is  a  wildfowl  sanctuary. 


Fresno 


Railroad  Stations:     Mariposa   and  H   Sts.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines ;   Tulare 

and  Q  Sts.  for  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Ry. 

Bus  Stations:     Mariposa   and  H  Sts.  for  Pacific  Greyhound,  Huntington  State 

Lines,  Moyer  Stages;  Mariposa  St.  and  Broadway  for  Santa  Fe  Trailways. 

Airport:     Chandler  Municipal  Airport,  1.5  m.  W.  on  Kearney  Blvd.  for  United 

Air  Lines,  Transcontinental  &  Western  Air;  taxi  50^. 

Taxis:     25^  for  first  ]/2  m.,  10^  for  each  additional  ^  m. ;  no  charge  for  extra 

passengers. 

City  Busses:    Basic  fare  7^,  "short  haul"  fare  $<£  in  business  district,  tokens,  3 

for  20^,  free  transfers. 

Accommodations:     Fifty-nine  hotels,  six  tourist  camps. 

Information  Service:  San  Joaquin  Valley  Tourist  &  Travel  Assn.,  1044  Fulton 
St.;  California  State  Automobile  Assn.  (AAA),  660  Van  Ness  Ave.;  National 
Auto  Club,  1252  Broadway;  Fresno  County  Chamber  of  Commerce,  2345  Fresno 
St.;  California  State  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Fulton  and  Tulare  Sts.;  Central 
California  Tourist  Assn.,  T.  W.  Patterson  Bldg. 

Radio  Stations:     KMJ   (580  kc.)  ;  KARM   (1310  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:     White  Theater,   1300  Broadway,   stock 

and   road   shows;    University   Street  Playhouse,    1000   University  Ave.,   college 

plays;  8  motion  picture  houses. 

Swimming:     Frank  H.  Ball  Playground  pool,  Mayor  Ave.  and  Inyo   St.,   10^, 

children  5^;  Crown  Plunge,  1730  H  St.,  25^,  children  15$;  De  Vaux's  Del  Mar 

Rose  Pool,  Moroa  and  Rialto  St.,  25^,  children  15^;  Prescott's  Swimming  Pool, 

California  St.,  20^,  children   10^;   Weymouth's   Swimming  Pool,  White  Bridge 

Rd.,  25$,  children  15^. 

Golf:     Fort  Washington  Golf  Club,  Blackstone  Ave.  and  Friant  Rd.,  18  holes, 

$i  weekdays,  $2  Sat.,  Sun.,  and  holidays,  monthly  tickets,  $10;  Fresno  municipal 

Golf  Course,  Herndon  Ave.,  */2  m.  S.  on  US  99,   18  holes,   50^  weekdays,  75^ 

Sat.,  Sun.,  and  holidays,  monthly  tickets,  $4.50. 

Tennis:     Roeding  Park,  Belmont  and  Thome  Aves.,  free,  four  lighted  courts 

25$  a  half  hour.     Courts  at  Fresno  State  College  open  to  public  when  not  in 

use  by  students. 

Annual  Events:     Raisin  Day,  second  Sat.  in  May;   West  Coast  Relays,   same 

day,  at  Fresno  State  College;  Fresno  District  Fair,  Sept.;  Fresno  Junior  Tennis 

tourney,  about  Oct.  i. 

FRESNO  (292  alt.,  52,513  pop.),  world's  "raisin  center"  and  prin- 
cipal marketing,  shipping  and  purchasing  point  for  the  fertile  San 
Joaquin  Valley,  is  almost  in  the  geographical  center  of  the  State. 

Tall  modern  buildings  rise  abruptly  from  the  flat  valley  floor,  sur- 
rounded by  residential  sections  planted  with  trees  to  provide  shade  in 
the  sweltering  heat  of  summer.  The  business  district,  in  the  central 
and  oldest  part  of  town,  grew  around  the  railroad  station,  with  the 
streets  parallel  to  the  tracks  and  diagonal  to  the  cardinal  points.  Later 
streets  were  squared  with  the  compass,  and  a  set  of  45-degree  intersec- 
tions resulted,  all  around  the  original  square.  Residential  preference 

188 


FRESNO        1 89 

has  extended  the  city  mainly  to  the  northward  and  eastward,  where 
homes  are  set  back  from  the  street  along  broad  avenues  lined  with 
eucalyptus  and  palm  trees. 

From  the  city  limits  the  vineyards  radiate  in  seemingly  endless  rows, 
set  exactly  10  feet  apart.  The  grapes  ripen  in  August,  September,  and 
October,  and  are  placed  on  trays  to  dry  in  the  sun.  With  these  agri- 
cultural environs,  and  with  the  country's  largest  fig  gardens  only  four 
miles  away,  Fresno  naturally  is  predominantly  a  farming  community, 
despite  its  skyscrapers,  neon  lights,  modern  store  fronts,  and  busy 
traffic.  Farm  markets  are  held  on  Fresno  Street  alongside  Courthouse 
Park  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  and  fresh  vegetables, 
fruits,  and  flowers  are  sold  direct  to  the  consumer.  Farm  workers  and 
growers  throng  the  streets  on  Saturday  nights,  and  the  Fresno  Dis- 
trict Fair  in  September  is  an  event  of  major  local  importance 

Across  the  Southern  Pacific  tracks,  opposite  the  business  district,  is 
the  foreign  section  where  curious  articles  of  food  are  displayed  in  shop 
windows,  Spanish  motion  pictures  and  Japanese  plays  are  advertised, 
and  men  of  many  nations  idle  on  the  sidewalks.  Armenians  outnumber 
all  others  in  the  15  percent  of  Fresno's  population  that  is  of  foreign 
extraction.  Forced  out  of  Armenia  by  hardships  and  persecution,  they 
found  the  Fresno  area  similar  in  soil  and  crops  to  that  of  their  home- 
land, and  settled  here  in  numbers.  There  are  two  Armenian  restaurants 
specializing  in  native  dishes,  three  Armenian  weekly  newspapers,  and 
many  small  retail  businesses  are  Armenian-owned. 

Fresno,  unlike  many  California  cities,  is  purely  an  American 
growth.  Spanish  and  Mexican  expeditions  passed  up  the  site  as  desolate 
and  barren.  Indian  troubles  scared  away  settlers  of  the  period  pre- 
ceding the  gold  rush,  and  the  Forty-niners,  bound  for  the  Sierra  foot- 
hills, hurried  across  the  valley  to  the  diggings.  After  the  gold  rush, 
the  Americans  turned  to  stock  raising,  and  the  site  of  Fresno  supported 
thousands  of  cattle. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  on  this  site  is  supposed  to  have  been 
made  in  the  i86o's  by  A.  J.  Manssen,  a  Hollander,  who  sank  a  well, 
built  a  watering  trough,  and  put  up  this  sign : 

HORSE  RESTAURANT 

Bring  Your  Horse  in 

One  Horse  by  Fresh  Water  One  Bet 

One  Day  Hay  Water  3  Bet 

By  "bet"  he  meant  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  a  "bit." 

A  few  families  joined  Manssen,  but  the  place  remained  "the  sorriest 
and  most  woe-begone  little  settlement  on  the  map"  until  1872,  when 
it  became  a  station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  which  pushed 
through  the  valley  that  year.  The  railroad  builders  staked  out  a  town, 
which  they  called  Fresno  (Sp.,  ash  tree)  Station,  for  the  name  of  the 
county.  The  ash  trees  were  in  the  foothills,  and  not  near  the  embryo 
town. 

In  1874  Millerton,  the  only  important  settlement  in  the  area,  voted 
to  relinquish  the  county  seat  to  Fresno  Station;  and  soon  after,  practi- 


I9O        CALIFORNIA 

cally  the  whole  population  of  Millerton  moved  to  the  new  county  seat 
in  order  to  be  on  the  railroad  line.  In  those  days  Fresno's  main  street 
was  "a  rough  depression,  billowy,  dusty  in  dry  weather  and  in  winter 
a  mudhole  for  its  three  blocks  to  the  railroad  station."  The  country- 
side was  so  bare  that  boys  had  to  play  hide-and-seek  in  the  graveyard. 
Cows,  horses,  dogs,  and  pigs  wandered  about  in  the  streets,  and  flocks 
of  sheep  were  driven  through  the  town. 

With  the  spread  of  controlled  irrigation  and  the  realization  that 
the  soil  was  extremely  fertile,  new  crops  were  developed  and  the  town 
grew  fast.  Partly  through  the  efforts  of  Agoston  Haraszthy,  Hungarian 
financier  and  investor,  grape  raising  was  popularized  in  California  (see 
AGRICULTURE).  Americans  planted  vines  in  their  wheat  fields. 
Italians,  French,  and  Swiss  started  growing  grapes  on  2O-acre  parcels 
acquired  for  that  purpose. 

The  dry  white  wine  made  by  foreign  growers  was  of  indifferent 
quality,  but  the  continuous  sunlight  led  naturally,  after  about  1874, 
to  the  preparation  of  raisins.  An  output  of  103,000,000  pounds  in 
1894  overloaded  the  market,  and  the  price  dropped  to  two  cents  a 
pound.  The  Raisin  Growers  Association,  a  co-operative  group  organ- 
ized in  1898  for  the  protection  and  efficient  handling  of  the  raisin  in- 
dustry, still  controls  the  bulk  of  the  crop.  During  the  World  War 
profits  were  large  because  raisins  were  a  convenient  food  to  pack  and 
ship.  When  it  was  discovered  that  raisins  are  rich  in  iron,  an  advertis- 
ing campaign  was  launched  with  the  slogan  "Have  you  had  your  iron 
today  ?"  and  raisins  sold  in  five-cent  packages  at  candy  counters.  Today 
60  per  cent  of  the  United  States  raisin  production  comes  from  the 
Fresno  district. 

In  1886,  Frank  Roeding  and  his  son  had  begun  experiments  with 
Smyrna  fig  culture  at  their  own  expense  and  in  the  face  of  open  ridicule 
from  other  horticulturists.  In  June,  1889,  they  learned  the  secret  of 
caprification  (cross-fertilization  of  the  Smyrna  fig  by  the  fig  wasp),  and 
the  industry  was  at  last  able  to  compete  with  foreign  importations. 

With  a  population  of  12,470  in  1900,  Fresno  adopted  its  first  city 
charter.  Agriculture  progressed  rapidly  in  the  next  ten  years.  Cotton 
growing  was  introduced  in  the  valley  and  cotton  is  now  a  leading  prod- 
uct. Manufacture  of  sweet  wines  supplanted  that  of  the  dry  wines. 

Manufacturing  kept  pace  with  agricultural  growth,  and  Fresno  now 
ranks  fifth  among  California  cities  as  an  industrial  center.  It  has  370 
manufacturing  establishments  including  flour  and  lumber  mills,  machine 
shops  and  foundries,  potteries,  brickwork,  and  soap  factories. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

COURTHOUSE  SQUARE,  Van  Ness  Ave.  at  Mariposa  St.,  a 
central  park  two  blocks  square,  is  dominated  by  the  neo-Classic  FRESNO 
COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  a  symmetrical  three-story  edifice  with  flat  balus- 
traded  roof,  pedimented  Corinthian  entrance  portico,  and  a  dome  and 
cupola.  A  fountain,  the  BOY  WITH  THE  LEAKING  BOOT,  the  figure  of 


FRESNO        191 

a  lad  holding  a  worn  shoe  with  water  coming  out  a  hole  in  the  toe,  was 
presented  by  the  Salvation  Army  in  1895.  The  STATUE  OF  DR.  CHES- 
TER ROWELL,  by  Haig  Patigian,  shows  the  doctor  at  a  patient's  bedside. 
Dr.  Rowell  (1844-1912)  was  an  early  mayor  of  Fresno,  builder  of  the 
city's  first  skyscraper,  and  a  State  senator.  There  is  also  a  bandstand 
where  weekly  concerts  are  held  in  summer. 

The  FRESNO  MEMORIAL  AUDITORIUM,  2435  Fresno  St., 
erected  by  the  city  in  1932  in  honor  of  the  war  dead,  is  a  massive  con- 
crete structure  in  modern  classic  style,  used  for  civic  gatherings,  con- 
certs, and  dances.  On  the  balcony  is  the  FRESNO,  COUNTY  HISTORICAL 
MUSEUM  (open  3-5  weekdays),  containing  firearms,  gold-mining  equip- 
ment, and  articles  used  by  early  settlers. 

FRESNO  STATE  COLLEGE,  noi  University  Ave.,  an  institu- 
tion for  the  training  of  teachers,  has  a  student  body  of  about  2,000. 
Most  of  the  buildings  on  the  27-acre  campus  are  modern  two-story 
concrete  structures  with  red  tile  roofs,  designed  in  the  Spanish  mission 
tradition  with  arched  windows  and  arcades.  The  REFERENCE  LIBRARY 
(open  8-5  Mon.-Fri.)  in  the  main  group  of  buildings  has  32,000  vol- 
umes. The  college  was  organized  in  1921  through  union  of  the  local 
junior  college  and  the  normal  school.  Summer  school  is  held  at  Hunt- 
ington  Lake  (see  TOUR  3b). 

ROEDING  PARK,  Belmont  and  Thorne  Aves.,  157  acres  in  area, 
is  planted  with  650  species  of  trees  and  shrubs,  through  which  guinea 
hens  and  peafowl  wander.  The  Zoo  (open  9-5  daily)  has  about  90 
animals  and  170  wildfowl. 

The  JAPANESE  BUDDHIST  TEMPLE  (open  9-8  daily),  1340 
Kern  St.,  erected  in  1902,  is  a  three-story  building  with  stucco  finish, 
scrolled  tile  roof,  and  an  ornamental  carved  entrance  of  white  wood 
with  swastikas  set  into  the  portico.  Some  of  the  sacred  ashes  of  Buddha, 
brought  from  India,  are  guarded  in  the  temple.  The  congregation  of 
700  is  served  by  two  Japanese  priests.  Services  are  .held  Sunday  eve- 
nings at  8  o'clock  before  an  altar  finished  in  gold  leaf.  Special  services 
in  April  celebrate  the  birth  of  Buddha. 

The  SUN  MAID  RAISIN  PLANT  (open  8:30-4:30  weekdays, 
July-Jan.;  guides),  Butler  Ave.  and  Hazlewood  Blvd.,  the  largest 
raisin-packing  plant  in  the  world,  occupies  many-windowed  gray  con- 
crete buildings  that  cover  several  acres.  Trucks  deliver  sun-dried  grapes 
from  the  vineyards.  The  grapes  are  run  through  a  series  of  machines 
that  grade,  stem,  seed,  and  process  them,  after  which  they  are  packaged 
for  the  trade.  Tiny  packages,  15  or  20  raisins  in  each,  are  prepared  for 
sale  in  China,  where  it  is  believed  that  eating  raisins  insures  the  birth 
of  male  children.  The  seeds  are  bricked  for  fuel,  and  the  stems  are 
sold  for  cattle  feed. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

General  Grant  National  Park,  60  m. ;  Sequoia  National  Park,  73.5  m.  (see 
SEQUOIA  AND  GENERAL  GRANT  NATIONAL  PARKS);  Yosemite  Na- 
tional Park,  75.8  m.  (see  YOSEMITE  NATIONAL  PARK). 


««<<CC«««C<C«<«««<<<<CC<<«KC<«^^ 


Hollywood 


Bus  Stations:     Union  Bus  Terminal,   1625  N.  Cahuenga  Blvd.  for  Greyhound 

Lines,  Inland  Stages,  Pacific  Electric  Motor  Coach;  Pasadena-Ocean  Park  Stage 

Line,  Inc.,  1646  N.  Cahuenga  Blvd.,  for  Union  Pacific  busses. 

Airports:     Union  Air  Terminal,  2627  N.  Hollywood  Way,  Burbank,  9  m.  N., 

for  Transcontinental  &  Western  Air,  Inc.,  United  Air  Lines,  and  Western  Air 

Express";   Grand  Central  Air  Terminal,  1224  Airway,  Glendale,  6  m.  NE.  for 

American  Airlines  and  Pan-American  Airways;  taxi  to  both  airports,  $i.5o-$2. 

Taxis:     20$  first  Y^  mile,  10^  each  additional  ^  mile. 

Streetcars  and  Busses:     Fare  6$  (streetcars  only)  and  10^;  20$  to  Santa  Monica. 

Accommodations:     21  hotels. 

Information  Service:  Automobile  Club  of  Southern  California,  6902  Sunset 
Blvd.;  Hollywood  Chamber  of  Commerce,  6520  Sunset  Blvd. 

Radio  Stations:    KNX  (1050  kc.)  ;  KFWB  (950  kc.)  ;  KMTR  (570  kc.)  ;  KFI 

(640  kc.)  ;  KECA  (1430  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:     Hollywood  Bowl,  Bolton  Road  i  block  S. 

of  junction  Highland  Ave.  and  Cahuenga  Blvd. ;  Pilgrimage  Play  Amphitheater, 

2580  N.  Highland  Ave.;  El  Capitan  Theater,  6838  Hollywood  Blvd.;  Hollytown 

Playhouse,   1743   New   Hampshire  Ave.;   Ben  Bard  Playhouse,   Wilshire  Blvd. 

and  Fairfax  Ave.;  road  shows.    Hollywood  Playhouse,  1735  N.  Vine  St.,  Federal 

Theater  shows.    Columbia  Square  Playhouse,  Sunset  Blvd.  and  Gower  St.;  CBS 

broadcasts;  National  Broadcasting  Co.  studios,  Sunset  Blvd.  and  Vine  St.,  daily 

broadcast  programs.    Twenty  motion  picture  houses. 

Boxing  and  Wrestling:     Hollywood  Legion  Stadium,  1628  N.  El  Centro  St. 

Tennis:     Poinsettia   Playground,   7431    Willoughby  Ave.,   day   and  night  play, 

free. 

Sightseeing  Tours  of  Motion  Picture  Studios:     Tanner  Gray  Line  Motor  Tours, 

(enter   only   Warner   Bros.-First   National    Studios,    Burbank),    leave    Biltmore 

Hotel,  5th  and  Olive  Sts.,  on  weekdays,  $4.50  per  person;  busses  pass  all  other 

major  studios,  but  do  not  enter.     Clifton  Motor  Tours,  Inc.  leave  from  618  S. 

Olive   St.  daily,  $1.50  per  person;   busses  pass   all   major   studios,   but  do   not 

enter. 

Annual  Events:  Easter  Sunrise  Services,  Hollywood  Bowl ;  "Symphonies  under 
the  Stars,"  Hollywood  Bowl,  summer,  several  times  weekly;  Pilgrimage  Play, 
in  Amphitheater,  July  and  August. 

HOLLYWOOD  (385  alt.,  153,294  pop.),  motion  picture  center  of 
the  world  and  as  such  the  focal  point  of  a  billion-dollar  industry,  is 
popularly  regarded  as  a  separate  entity  but  is  officially  the  Hollywood 
District  of  Los  Angeles.  Shaped  roughly  like  the  state  of  New  York, 
it  fits  into  the  parent  city  like  a  piece  of  a  jigsaw  puzzle,  occupying  the 
same  alluvial  plain  as  Los  Angeles,  and  lying  eight  miles  west  of  the 
city's  center  and  twelve  miles  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  northern 
half  of  the  Hollywood  District  spreads  upward  in  a  network  of  winding 
roads,  into  the  tawny  foothills  of  the  Santa  Monica  Mountains  (known 

192 


HOLLYWOOD        IQ3 

locally  as  the  Hollywood  Hills),  which  constitute  a  natural  boundary 
in  that  direction.  Hyperion  Avenue  and  Riverside  Drive,  along  the 
Los  Angeles  River,  mark  the  eastern  limits.  To  the  south,  at  Melrose 
Avenue,  Hollywood  merges  into  Los  Angeles;  to  the  west  it  is  linked 
to  Beverly  Hills. 

Hollywood  Boulevard,  running  due  east  and  west,  is  the  main 
thoroughfare.  Known  simply  as  "the  Boulevard,"  it  is  a  clue  to  Holly- 
wood's character:  a  contrast  in  sophisticated  luxury  and  small-town 
naivete.  Shops,  office  buildings,  movie  houses,  and  skyscrapers  make  it 
the  central  business  and  amusement  district ;  yet  it  is  also  a  promenade 
where  people  saunter  along  to  look  at  one  another  and  at  window  dis- 
plays. Costumes  worn  on  the  Boulevard,  as  elsewhere  in  Hollywood, 
are  informal  and  colorful.  There  are  men  in  polo  shirts  and  sports 
jackets;  women  in  a  variety  of  costumes,  slacks  and  dark  glasses  pre- 
dominating. White  is  popular  from  spring  to  fall.  At  night  thou- 
sands of  names  and  slogans  are  outlined  in  neon,  and  searchlight  beams 
often  pierce  the  sky,  perhaps  announcing  a  motion  picture  premiere,  per- 
haps the  opening  of  a  new  hamburger  stand. 

The  business  district  centers  at  Hollywood  Boulevard  and  Vine 
Street,  a  corner  made  famous  by  Hollywood  columnists  and  magazine 
writers.  Just  south  of  the  Boulevard,  on  the  east  side  of  Vine  Street, 
is  the  Hollywood  Brown  Derby  restaurant,  where  movie  fans  swarm 
at  the  entrance  with  autograph  books  in  hand,  waiting  for  celebrities. 

South  of  the  Boulevard  are  other  principal  thoroughfares,  laid  out 
according  to  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass.  Most  of  them  are 
lined  with  green  parkways,  pepper  trees  and  palms — familiar  sights  to 
those  who  remember  the  chase  scenes  in  old  two-reel  comedies.  Between 
Sunset  and  Santa  Monica  Boulevards  and  Hollywood  Boulevard  is  an 
agglomeration  of  stores,  taverns,  small  hotels,  bungalow  courts,  drive- 
in  markets,  apartment  houses,  and  small  homes. 

Some  of  the  houses  on  side  streets  are  small-town  style  frame  dwell- 
ings with  lawns,  hedges,  and  flower  gardens.  The  prevailing  type,  how- 
ever, is  the  one-story  stucco  bungalow:  white,  green,  yellow,  pink,  red, 
or  blue,  roofed  in  red  tile,  with  lawn  and  gardens  front  and  rear  and 
a  driveway  leading  back  to  a  two-car  garage.  A  palm  may  grow  on 
the  lawn  and  perhaps  a  pepper  tree  in  the  strip  between  sidewalk  and 
curb.  Sprinklers  water  the  grass  and  flowers  in  late  afternoons  and 
early  evenings  during  the  rainless  summer  months. 

In  contrast  to  this  suburban  aspect  of  Hollywood  are  the  small  inde- 
pendent studios  on  Sunset  Boulevard  near  Gower  Street,  which  grind 
out  features,  westerns,  comedies,  and  "quickies."  Cowboys  in  chaps 
and  sombreros  and  extra  girls  in  the  traditional  slacks  and  dark  glasses, 
bright  kerchiefs  protecting  their  freshly  waved  hair,  lunch  at  corner 
hot  dog  stands  or  gossip  and  talk  shop.  Even  "featured"  players  in 
make-up  often  cross  Sunset  to  a  line  of  hamburger  stands  for  snacks 
between  shots. 

Farther  west  on  Sunset  Boulevard,  toward  Beverly  Hills,  is  a  sec- 
tion popularly  known  as  "the  Strip."  Here  are  the  Trocadero  and 


194        CALIFORNIA 

other  movie  colony  night  spots,  high-priced  antique  shops,  salons,  gift 
shops,  restaurants  hung  with  Venetian  blinds,  couturiers  and  modistes, 
theatrical  agencies;  most  of  them  white-painted  modified  Georgian- 
Colonial  buildings  with  green  shutters. 

Motion  picture  influence  is  visible  in  another  purely  Hollywood  con- 
tribution :  drive-in  barbecue  stands,  restaurants,  and  bars,  built  of 
papier-mache  to  represent  fairy-story  castles,  tumble-down  houses,  gar- 
gantuan fish,  ice  cream  cones,  and  lop-eared  puppies.  Each  stands  on  a 
large  parking  area,  and  waitresses  in  slacks  and  brass-buttoned  jackets 
hook  trays  over  open  car  windows  to  serve  the  customers  in  their 
automobiles. 

Hollywood  probably  attracts  more  types  and  nationalities  than  any 
city  of  its  size  in  the  world.  Here  are  the  nobility,  ex-nobility,  and 
pseudo-nobility  of  a  dozen  countries;  the  artistically  inclined  from  every 
corner  of  the  world  who  aspire  to  movie  jobs;  and  average  Americans 
who  live  here  because  they  like  the  climate,  or  were  born  here.  Pre- 
cocious children  from  all  over  the  country  are  brought  to  Hollywood 
in  hope  of  breaking  into  motion  pictures.  Dozens  of  dance  studios  and 
dramatic  schools  attempt  to  train  children  and  adults  for  screen  careers. 
About  75  percent  of  the  population  is  connected  in  some  way  with  the 
motion  picture  industry. 

Many  actors  and  extras  still  live  in  Hollywood,  but  most  of  the 
stars  prefer  Beverly  Hills,  Bel  Air,  Brentwood,  and  ranches  in  the  San 
Fernando  Valley.  In  the  first  flush  of  cinema  prosperity  Hollywood 
society  went  in  for  extravagance  and  informality,  evidenced  by  carefree 
parties  and  sporty  cars.  Now  top-flight  movie  society  affects  white  ties 
and  evening  gowns,  with  the  accent  on  dignity  and  position,  but  the 
yardstick  of  eminence  is  still  the  number  of  digits  in  the  salary. 

The  first  habitation  on  the  site  of  Hollywood  was  an  adobe  dwelling 
built  by  Don  Tomas  Urquidez  in  1853.  In  the  sixties  and  early  sev- 
enties much  of  the  valley  was  laid  out  in  i6o-acre  farms,  and  families 
of  immigrants  from  all  over  the  world  settled  here.  The  present  name 
dates  from  the  boom  of  1887  when  Horace  H.  Wilcox  opened  a  real 
estate  subdivision,  which  his  wife  christened  Hollywood. 

In  1896,  the  year  T.  L.  Tally  opened  his  "Phonograph  and  Vita- 
scope  Parlor"  in  Los  Angeles,  with  four  peep  holes  for  spectators,  Holly- 
wood was  still  a  crossroads  where  the  arrival  of  the  Toluca  stage  to 
San  Fernando  Valley  was  the  event  of  the  day.  Open  country  sepa- 
rated it  from  Los  Angeles.  One  of  the  first  ordinances  of  the  village 
government,  incorporated  in  1903  by  vote  of  the  177  male  inhabitants, 
made  it  a  misdemeanor  to  drive  bands  of  more  than  2,000  sheep  through 
the  streets. 

In  1910,  when  it  had  a  population  of  4,000,  Hollywood  traded  its 
civic  independence  for  a  share  in  Los  Angeles'  water  supply,  but  held 
tenaciously  to  its  identity,  choosing  to  appeal  as  a  home-owning  center 
and  emphasizing  its  schools  and  churches,  frostless  citrus  groves,  winter 
flower  and  vegetable  gardens. 

At   about   this   time   an   ironic   fate   selected   this   ultra-respectable, 


HOLLYWOOD         IQ5 

church-going  village  as  headquarters  for  a  new  form  of  amusement :  the 
motion  picture.  Independent  film  companies,  trying  to  escape  a  monop- 
oly in  the  East,  took  refuge  in  Hollywood  and  under  its  almost  con- 
tinuous sun  began  shooting  scenes  in  orange  grove  and  canyon,  ranch 
house  and  barn. 

The  Horsley  brothers,  operating  under  the  name  of  the  Nestor  Com- 
pany, were  the  first  producers  to  settle  in  Hollywood;  they  leased  the 
old  Blondeau  Tavern  and  barn  at  Sunset  Boulevard  and  Gower  Street 
in  October,  1911,  converted  it  into  a  studio,  and  made  the  first  Holly- 
wood picture,  The  Law  of  the  Range.  Wilcox  had  opened  the  original 
subdivision  as  a  temperance  colony,  and  the  sudden  appearance  of  bois- 
terous show  people  and  cowboys  parading  the  hitherto  quiet  streets  in 
the  best  wild-west  fashion  came  as  a  rude  shock  to  the  inhabitants.  The 
villagers  at  first  considered  the  "fillums"  and  those  who  made  them 
disreputable  and  somewhat  sinful,  and  resented  their  intrusion.  But  the 
pioneers  were  followed  by  other  independents,  and  eventually  members 
of  the  eastern  producers'  trust  took  advantage  of  the  climate  and  low 
rents  in  Hollywood.  When  Cecil  B.  De  Mille  moved  his  troupe  west, 
he  is  said  to  have  had  tickets  for  Flagstaff,  Arizona.  Deciding  that 
Flagstaff  didn't  "look  western  enough"  he  too  went  on  to  Hollywood. 

The  town  boomed.  In  the  1920'$  motion  pictures  became  a  billion 
dollar  industry.  Sound  films  necessitated  better  writing,  direction,  act- 
ing, and  management.  There  was  an  increasing  trek  westward  from 
Broadway  and  other  centers.  While  "Hollywood"  is  commonly  used 
to  designate  the  motion  picture  industry  as  a  whole,  most  of  the  major 
producing  units  are  not  in  the  Hollywood  District,  but  are  scattered 
through  the  outlying  areas. 

In  1935  the  motion  picture  industry  in  the  United  States  averaged 
more  than  $20,000,000  a  week  income  from  attendance;  its  financial 
center  is  Wall  Street,  but  its  workshops  and  factory  is  Hollywood  (see 
THE  MOVIES).  Because  of  locally  available  talent,  Hollywood  is 
also  an  important  broadcasting  center.  Major  companies  have  large 
local  studios  in  which  many  Nation-wide  broadcasts  originate. 

Other  industries  have  grown  up  in  connection  with  motion  pictures. 
Two  international  film  companies  manufacture  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  feet  of  "celluloid."  The  make-up  business,  founded  to  supply  studios 
with  grease  paint  and  powder,  outgrew  its  origin  when  the  appeal  of 
goods  stamped  "Hollywood"  was  felt.  Lipsticks,  rouges,  creams,  pow- 
ders, unguents,  and  lotions  are  now  turned  out  on  a  mass  production 
basis  for  Nation-wide  distribution. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

HOLLYWOOD  BOWL  (always  open;  adm.  prices  vary  during 
season)  end  of  Bolton  Rd.,  I  block  S.  of  Highland  Ave.  and  Cahuenga 
Blvd.  intersection,  is  a  6o-acre  natural  amphitheater  framed  by  chap- 
arral-covered hills.  The  white-walled  platform  is  surmounted  by 
a  removable  sounding  shell,  designed  by  Lloyd  Wright,  and  the  acous- 


196        CALIFORNIA 

tics  are  such  that  an  unaided  voice  on  the  stage  can  be  heard  in  the 
back  row.  "Symphonies  under  the  Stars,"  held  yearly  since  1922,  grand 
opera,  and  the  Easter  Sunrise  Service  are  presented  here.  The  bowl 
has  more  than  20,000  seats,  and  the  sloping  runways  provide  standing 
room  for  10,000.  Near  the  entrance  is  a  large  bowl  for  voluntary  con- 
tributions. The  top  is  covered  with  wire  netting  and  the  accumulated 
coins  are  removed  only  at  the  end  of  the  season.  No  one  has  ever 
tampered  with  the  netting  to  pilfer  the  heap  of  silver  and  copper. 

The  PILGRIMAGE  PLAY  AMPHITHEATER  (open  during 
performances;  adm.  50$-$i.5o),  2580  Highland  Ave.,  is  a  natural  am- 
phitheater where  a  play  based  on  the  life  of  Christ  is  enacted  nightly 
during  July  and  August.  The  Pilgrimage  Play  was  written  by  Mrs. 
Christine  Wetherill  Stevenson  in  collaboration  with  H.  Ellis  Reed,  and 
first  produced  in  1920.  A  large  wooden  cross  on  the  hillside,  lighted  at 
night,  is  a  guidepost  to  the  theater. 

The  JAPANESE  GARDENS  (open  10-6  daily;  adm.  25$,  chil- 
dren with  adults  free),  Orchid  and  N.  Sycamore  Aves.  (also  known  as 
the  California  Scenic  Gardens  and  Home),  were  built  and  decorated 
at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000  by  Adolph  and  Eugene  Bernheimer  in  1913. 
The  elaborately  landscaped  hillside  estate  contains  more  than  30,000 
trees,  many  rare  tropical  shrubs,  several  goldfish  pools,  and  a  Japanese 
shrine.  Overlooking  the  Japanese  terraces  is  the  14-room  Yama  Shiro, 
(castle  on  the  hill),  designed  in  the  manner  of  a  Buddhist  Temple  of 
the  ancient  Shoguns.  It  is  filled  with  rare  objects  of  Japanese  and 
Buddhist  art.  There  is  also  a  miniature  garden  with  dwarf  trees, 
canals,  waterfalls  and  reproductions  of  ancient  dwellings. 

GRAUMAN'S  CHINESE  THEATER,  6925  Hollywood  Blvd., 
a  spectacular  adaptation  of  the  Chinese  style  of  architecture,  designed 
by  Meyer  and  Haller,  is  the  scene  of  Hollywood's  super  premieres, 
where  stars  and  film  moguls  attend  opening  performances  of  new  films 
with  the  ballyhoo  of  searchlights,  floodlights,  microphones  and  loud- 
speakers, and  roped-off  aisles  covered  with  carpet. 

The  facade,  in  the  form  of  a  U-shaped  forecourt  with  a  Chinese 
gate,  set  between  terminal  piers,  suggests  the  approach  to  an  ancient 
temple  garden.  Four  large  obelisks,  embellished  with  oriental  decora- 
tions, surmount  the  two  colossal  piers.  In  the  forecourt  is  a  grove  of 
palm  trees  and  other  shrubs,  and  concrete  slabs  bearing  the  hand  and 
foot  prints  of  stars  and  their  messages  of  congratulation.  At  the  end 
of  the  forecourt  a  colorful  pagoda  forms  the  entrance  to  the  theater, 
roofed  in  bronze  aged  to  the  color  of  jade  green,  and  supported  by  two 
coral-red  octagonal  columns  mounted  with  wrought-iron  masks.  Under 
the  curved  roof,  and  deeply  set  between  the  flanking  piers,  is  a  great 
stone  dragon,  modeled  in  relief  on  a  slab  30  feet  high. 

The  EGYPTIAN  THEATER,  6712  Hollywood  Blvd.,  now  a 
second-run  movie  house,  is  the  spot  where  the  Hollywood  premieres 
originated  as  a  scintillating  social  event,  with  the  showing  of  Robin 
Hood  in  1922.  An  Egyptian  god  in  the  forecourt  bears  out  the  motif 
of  the  building. 


H  O  LL  YWOOD        197 

The  CROSSROADS  OF  THE  WORLD,  6673  Sunset  Blvd.,  is 
a  shopping  area  in  which  most  of  the  stores  and  cafes  represent  foreign 
countries  architecturally  and  in  their  wares.  The  shops  face  wide  foot 
lanes  radiating  from  a  central  patio;  above  them  is  a  large,  slowly  re- 
volving terrestrial  globe. 

DE  LONGPRE  PARK,  De  Longpre  and  Cherokee  Aves.,  with 
landscaped  lawns,  bamboo,  and  palms,  is  named  for  the  celebrated 
French  painter,  long  a  Hollywood  resident.  In  the  center  of  the  park 
is  a  bronze  statue  Aspiration,  a  nude  male  surmounting  a  globe,  by 
Roger  Noble  Burnham,  erected  as  a  memorial  to  Rudolph  Valentino, 
super-lover  of  the  silent  screen,  who  died  in  1926. 

The  NATIONAL  BROADCASTING  COMPANY  STUDIOS 
(open  10-10  daily;  studio  tour  40$,  guides") ,  Sunset  Blvd.  and  Vine  St., 
occupy  a  three-story  concrete  building,  designed  in  the  modern  "Inter- 
national" style,  forming  a  composition  of  low  horizontal  lines  and 
masses  relieved  by  a  higher  corner  pavilion  with  deep  vertical  fen- 
estration.  The  outer  walls  are  a  light  shade  of  blue-green.  The 
building,  designed  by  the  Austin  Company  of  Los  Angeles,  was  opened 
in  1938,  and  contains  eight  studios,  four  of  which  are  built  as  indi- 
vidual sound  stages  after  the  motion  picture  plan,  and  seat  350  per- 
sons each. 

COLUMBIA  SQUARE  PLAYHOUSE  (open  10-10  daily;  studio 
tour  4.0$,  guides),  Sunset  Blvd.  and  Gower  St.,  opened  in  1938,  is  the 
Hollywood  headquarters  of  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System.  The 
work  of  William  Lescaze,  the  building  is  entirely  modern  in  design.  It 
has  a  five-story  central  unit  of  concrete  and  glass,  with  long  horizontal 
lines  and  corner  fenestrations,  and  lower,  outflung  studio  sections. 
Visitors  can  watch  rehearsals  and  some  of  the  14  weekly  broadcasts  that 
originate  in  the  seven  "streamlined"  studios,  peer  behind  the  scenes  at 
the  master  control,  and  see  the  laboratory  for  the  development  of  special 
sound  effects. 

HOLLYWOOD  CEMETERY,  6076  Santa  Monica  Blvd.,  is  the 
flower-bordered  and  elaborately  landscaped  resting  place  of  many  Holly- 
wood notables,  including  Rudolph  Valentino,  John  Gilbert,  and  William 
Desmond  Taylor.  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  long-time  publisher  of  the  Los 
Angeles  Times,  and  William  Andrews  Clark,  Jr.,  multimillionaire 
patron  of  the  Los  Angeles  Philharmonic  Orchestra,  are  also  buried 
here.  As  a  publicity  stunt,  a  veiled  woman  was  supposed  to  decorate 
Valentino's  grave  on  each  anniversary  of  his  death.  More  and  more 
veiled  ladies  appeared  each  year,  and  the  whole  thing  was  finally  called 
off. 

In  the  CENTRAL  CASTING  OFFICE,  5504  Hollywood  Blvd., 
20,000  actors,  bit  players,  and  extras  are  registered.  On  short  notice  it 
can  supply  types  of  actors  ranging  from  Siberian  Samoyeds  to  British 
Members  of  Parliament. 

BARNSDALL  PARK,  Hollywood  Blvd.  and  Vermont  Ave.,  with 
an  area  of  10  acres,  has  a  wading  pool  for  children,  picnic  tables,  and 
cooking  conveniences.  The  donor,  Miss  Alice  Barnsdall,  retains  an 


198        CALIFORNIA 

encircling  strip  of  land  valued  at  $2,000,000,  where  she  advertises  her 
social  and  political  views  on  signboards. 

The  CALIFORNIA  ART  CLUB  (open  2-5  daily;  adm.  25$,  free 
Thurs.),  1645  N.  Vermont  Ave.,  is  a  white  arcaded  granite  building 
designed  by  Frank  Lloyd  Wright  in  a  modified  Aztec  style  and  erected 
in  1915  as  Miss  Barnsdall's  family  house.  It  is  considered  a  good  ex- 
ample of  Wright's  "organic"  architecture,  its  low  mass  designed  to 
blend  into  the  setting.  The  guest  house,  a  smaller  residence  on  the 
west  side  of  the  park,  has  a  first  story  designed  by  Wright,  and  the 
second  story  closely  follows  Wright's  basic  idea.  The  Art  Club  has  a 
permanent  exhibit  of  handicraft  and  California  relics,  and  occasionally 
exhibits  the  work  of  contemporary  artists. 

MOTION  PICTURE  STUDIOS 

(Studios  are  not  open  to  the  public.} 

HOLLYWOOD:  Paramount  Pictures,  Inc.,  5451  Marathon  St.;  RKO 
Studios,  Inc.,  780  N.  Gower  St. 

LOS  ANGELES:  Charlie  Chaplin  Studios,  1416  N.  La  Brea  Ave.;  Walt 
Disney  Studios,  2719  Hyperion  Ave.;  Samuel  Goldwyn,  Inc.  of  California, 
1041  N.  Formosa  Ave.;  United  Artists  Studio  Corp.,  1041  N.  Formosa  Ave.; 
Grand  National  Studios,  Inc.,  7250  Santa  Monica  Blvd.;  Schulberg  Studios, 
Inc.,  650  N.  Bronson  Ave. 

UNIVERSAL  CITY:     Universal  Pictures  Co.,  Inc.,  Lankershim  Blvd. 

CULVER  CITY:  General  Pictures,  9499  Washington  Blvd.;  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer  Studios,  10202  Washington  Blvd.;  Hal  Roach  Studios,  8822 
Washington  Blvd.;  Selznick  International  Pictures,  Inc.,  9336  Washington 
Blvd. 

BURBANK:     Warner  Bros.  First  National  Studios,  4000  S.  Olive  Ave. 

NORTH  HOLLYWOOD:    Republic  Productions,  Inc.,  4024  Radford  Ave. 

HOMES  OF  MOVIE  STARS 

All  homes  are  of  course  private,  but  viewing  them  from  the  outside  is  a 
popular  tourist  diversion.  Sightseeing  busses  leave  downtown  Hollywood 
for  tours  of  these  and  other  homes. 

IN  BEVERLY  HILLS 

RICHARD  BARTHELMESS  ESTATE,  501  Sunset  Blvd.,  is  a  two-story 
English  type  dwelling  in  landscaped  grounds  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall. 

GROUCHO  MARX'S  HOME,  710  N.  Hillcrest  Road,  a  Monterey  style 
house  of  whitewashed  brick. 

HOME  OF  JOAN  BLONDELL  AND  DICK  POWELL,  711  N.  Maple 
Drive,  is  a  massive  two-story  building,  antique  in  appearance,  fronted  by 
a  neat  lawn. 

HOME  OF  GEORGE  BURNS  AND  GRACIE  ALLEN,  720  N.  Maple 
Drive,  is  a  two-story  white  frame  and  brick  structure  partly  covered  with 
vines,  with  formal  garden,  swimming  pool,  and  playground  for  the  Burns 
children.  Gracie's  dressing  room,  according  to  Paramount,  contains  hun- 
dreds of  bottles  of  rare  perfumes. 

WALLACE  BEERY'S  HOME,  816  N.  Alpine  Drive,  is  of  modified  Nor- 
man-Colonial style.  Flower  pots  under  the  windows  add  bright  spots  of 
color.  A  game  room  houses  Beery's  hunting  trophies. 

EDWARD  G.  ROBINSON'S  HOME,  910  N.  Rexford  Drive,  a  two-story 
English  type  white  brick  house  surrounded  by  low  walls,  contains  the 


HOLLYWOOD        1 99 

owner's  collection  of  modern  French  paintings  and  his  comprehensive  musi- 
cal library. 

JOE  E.  BROWN'S  HOME,  707  N.  Walden  Drive,  is  a  two-story  stucco 
Spanish  dwelling.  Brown  has  a  special  room  for  hundreds  of  autographed 
baseballs,  "big  game"  footballs,  and  trunks  and  boxing  gloves  of  cham- 
pions, from  Jim  Corbett  to  Gene  Tunney. 

LIONEL  BARRYMORE'S  HOME,  802  N.  Roxbury  Drive,  a  white  stucco 
Spanish  type  dwelling,  is  without  front  windows,  to  insure  privacy. 

MARION  DAVIES'  HOME,  1700  Lexington  Road,  one  of  the  star's  three 
palatial  residences,  is  a  rambling  brick  and  stucco  house  on  a  tree-studded 
knoll. 

CHARLIE  CHAPLIN'S  HOME,  1085  Summit  Drive,  a  tile-roofed  three- 
story  yellow  stucco  house,  is  screened  from  view  by  towering  trees. 

FRED  ASTAIRE'S  HOME,  1121  Summit  Drive,  a  two-story  white  stucco 
Monterey  style  house,  has  landscaped  gardens  and  a  fine  tennis  court. 

PICKFAIR,  a  2o-acre  landscaped  estate,  formerly  the  home  of  Mary 
Pickford  and  Douglas  Fairbanks,  is  occupied  by  Miss  Pickford  and  Buddy 
Rogers.  The  three-story  white  stucco  and  frame  house  was  formerly  a 
hunting  lodge. 

HAROLD  LLOYD'S  ESTATE,  Green  Acres,  1225  Benedict  Canyon,  sec- 
ond largest  in  southern  California,  includes  a  25-room  house  with  27  tele- 
phones, canoe  stream  and  waterfall,  private  9-hole  golf  course,  handball 
court,  swimming  pool,  and  a  four-room  playhouse  for  the  Lloyd  children. 
Mr.  Lloyd  breeds  great  Danes  and  St.  Bernards. 

ROBERT  MONTGOMERY'S  HOME,  144  Monovale  Drive,  a  two-story 
white  frame  building  of  New  England  design,  is  perched  on  a  hill  and 
surrounded  by  a  rustic  rock  garden  and  sloping  lawn. 

FREDERIC  MARCH  AND  FLORENCE  ELDRIDGE'S  HOME,  1026 
Ridgedale  Drive,  is  a  three-story  French-Norman  house  with  a  swimming 
pool  in  the  rear. 

CONSTANCE  BENNETT'S  HOME,  280  Carolwood  Drive,  is  a  white- 
washed brick  house  with  shuttered  windows,  reached  by  a  winding  drive- 
way. 

GINGER  ROGER'S  HOME,  1605  Gilcrest  Drive,  a  one-story  house  of 
irregular  field  stone  and  frame,  is  on  the  highest  point  in  Beverly  Hills. 
There  is  a  shining,  well-stocked  soda  fountain  in  the  house,  to  fulfill  a 
childhood  dream. 

IN  BRENTWOOD  HEIGHTS 

GRETA  GARBO'S  HOME,  350  N.  Cliffwood  Ave.,  is  a  one-story  Span- 
ish-style stucco  house  with  blue  awnings  and  flower  urns.  A  five-foot 
white  brick  wall  insures  privacy. 

JOAN  CRAWFORD'S  HOME,  426  N.  Bristol  Ave.,  is  a  two-story  white 
stucco  house  of  modified  Colonial  design,  set  in  landscaped  grounds.  In  the 
right  wing  is  a  private  motion  picture  theater. 

ZASU  PITTS'  HOME,  241  N.  Rockingham  Ave.,  is  a  two-story  white 
stucco  building  fronted  by  a  landscaped  lawn. 

SHIRLEY  TEMPLE'S  HOME,  227  Rockingham  Road,  is  a  two-story 
house  in  the  English  country  style,  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall  with  an 
iron  gate. 

IN  BEL  AIR,  WESTWOOD 

CLAUDETTE  COLBERT'S  HOME,  615  N.  Faring  Road,  is  a  two-story 
white  stucco  building,  fronted  by  a  lawn  with  a  single  live  oak. 

JOAN  BENNETT'S  HOME,  515  S.  Mapleton  Drive,  is  a  two-story  white 
painted  brick  mansion  of  Norman  design,  surmounted  by  two  large 
chimneys. 

CAROLE  LOMBARD'S  HOME,  609  St.  Cloud  Road,  called  "The  Farm," 
is  a  two-story  brick  building,  painted  white,  almost  hidden  by  trees  and 
shrubs. 


2OO        CALIFORNIA 

JEANNETTE  MacDONALD  AND  GENE  RAYMOND'S  HOME,  783 
Bel  Air  Road,  is  a  two-story  English  country  style  house,  of  white  stucco 
and  irregular  field  stones,  with  many  gables  and  imitation-thatched  roof 
that  give  it  a  fairy-tale  appearance. 

LORETTA  YOUNG'S  HOME,  10539  Sunset  Blvd.,  is  a  two-story  brick 
and  frame  structure,  painted  white  with  green  shutters,  and  built  on  a  knoll. 

W.  C.  FIELD'S  HOME,  655  Funchall  Road,  a  mission  style  white  stucco 
residence,  is  at  the  end  of  a  winding  road. 

HOME  OF  JANE  WITHERS,  10731  Sunset  Blvd.,  a  one-story  white 
frame  building  with  blue  window  shutters  is  somewhat  reminiscent  of  a 
doll's  house.  On  the  grounds  is  a  two-story  playhouse  containing  a  soda 
fountain,  800  dolls,  a  motion  picture  theater,  and  guest  rooms.  In  the  rear 
of  the  house  is  a  miniature  zoo. 

FREDDIE  BARTHOLOMEW'S  HOME,  226  Tilden  Ave.,  is  a  two-story 
white  stucco  and  frame  house  on  a  quiet  residential  street,  lined  with 
silk  oak  trees. 


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Long  Beach 


Bus  Stations:     221  E.  First  St.  for  Greyhound  Lines,  Motor  Transit  and  Motor 

Coach ;  49  American  Ave.  for  Union  Pacific  System,  Chicago  and  Northwestern 

Stage   Lines,    and    Interstate   Transit  Line;    56    American   Ave.   for    Santa    Fe 

Trailways. 

Airport:     Long   Beach    Municipal    Airport,    Spring    and    Cherry   Ave.,   4.5   m. 

NE. ;  no  scheduled  service. 

Taxis:     Zone  system,  fares  15^-25^,  additional  passenger  10^-15^;   also  meter 

cabs.     Flat  rate,  municipal  Navy  landing  to  central  points,  10^. 

Streetcars  and  Busses:     Streetcars  7^,  busses  5$. 

Traffic  Regulations:     Parking  meters  in  business  district,  5$  per  hour. 

Accommodations:  88  hotels,  n  tourist  camps;  Long  Beach  Municipal  Trailer 
camp  on  beach. 

Information  Service:     Chamber  of  Commerce,  109  American  Ave. 

Radio  Stations:    KFOX   (1250  kc.)  ;  KGER  (1360  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Municipal  Auditorium,  S.  end  of  Ameri- 
can Ave.,  concerts;  21  motion  picture  houses. 

Golf:     Municipal  course  in  Recreation  Park,  E.  yth  St.  at  West  Blvd.,  18  holes, 
75$;  9  holes,  50$;  $i  Sun.  and  holidays.     Monthly  tickets,  $3.50  to  $5. 
Tennis:     Public  courts  in  Recreation  Park,  E.  loth  St.  at  West  Blvd.,  free. 
Swimming:     Surf  on  ocean  beach;  still-water  in  Alamitos  Bay  and  at  S.  end 
of  American  Ave.;  still-water  and  salt-water  plunge,  Marine  Stadium,  Recrea- 
tion Park. 

Boating:  Rowboats  and  canoes,  Alamitos  Bay,  25$  to  50$  per  hour,  $i  to  $2 
per  day. 

Fishing:  Fishing  boats,  $2  and  $3  per  day,  leave  frequently  between  2  and 
7:30  a.m.  from  Pier  B,  S.  end  of  Santa  Clara  Ave.  Barges,  $i  per  day, 
reached  by  boat  from  Belmont  Pier  at  S.  end  of  39th  PI.;  departures  at  i-^  hr. 
intervals,  8  a.m.-3  p.m.;  prices  include  bait  and  tackle.  Surf  and  pier  fishing. 

Annual  Events:  New  Year's  Eve  Penny  Scramble,  in  which  $100  in  pennies  is 
scattered;  Twins'  Convention,  May;  Baby  Parade,  Sept.  Bonfire  and  Costume 
Parade,  Oct. 

LONG  BEACH  (47  alt.,  142,032  pop.),  California's  fifth  largest 
city,  spreads  over  a  level  plain  to  the  edge  of  sandy  bluffs  overlooking 
the  8^2-mile-long,  crescent-shaped  beach  of  San  Pedro  Bay.  From  the 
shore  it  stretches  north,  laid  out  as  evenly  as  a  checkerboard,  to  the 
diagonal  spur  of  low,  barren  knolls  dominated  by  Signal  Hill  on  the 
northeast,  palisaded  with  oil  derricks  and  dotted  with  tanks  and  stucco 
bungalows,  and  spills  over  the  slopes  to  the  level  plain  beyond.  On  the 
east  Long  Beach  extends  over  rolling  slopes  to  the  edge  of  vacant  fields  ; 
on  the  west,  to  the  mills  and  warehouses  along  levee-embanked  Los 
Angeles  River  (now  a  flood  control  channel).  At  its  southeast  tip  are 
the  winding  lagoons  of  Alamitos  Bay ;  to  the  southwest  are  the  channels 
and  breakwaters  of  Long  Beach  Harbor. 

201 


2O2        CALIFORNIA 

Against  the  wide  expanse  of  San  Pedro  Bay  are  silhouetted  tall  office 
buildings,  beach  clubs,  and  hotels.  Along  the  bluffs,  from  Long  Beach 
Harbor  on  the  west  to  Alamitos  Bay  on  the  east,  curves  broad  Ocean 
Boulevard,  skirting  first  the  shops,  hotels  and  theaters  of  the  business 
district,  then  the  tree-shaded  mansions,  lawns,  and  gardens  of  the  resi- 
dential section.  From  the  garish  seaside  amusement  zone  below  the 
bluffs,  the  business  and  shopping  district  extends  northward  along  Pine 
and  parallel  streets.  The  rest  of  the  city,  laid  out  following  the 
cardinal  points  of  the  compasses,  extends  west,  north,  and  east — its  chief 
boulevards  lined  with  cafes,  markets,  garages,  used-car  lots ;  its  residence 
streets  bordered  with  frame  and  stucco  bungalows  in  the  shade  of  palms 
and  peppertrees.  In  the  east  end,  on  sandy  slopes  overlooking  the  ocean, 
on  lagoons  arid  winding  canals  around  Alamitos  Bay,  perch  the  white 
stucco  houses  of  the  newer  Belmont  Shore  and  Naples  districts. 

Long  Beach  is  several  towns  in  one — a  seaside  resort,  a  haven  for 
elderly  retired  persons,  and  an  industrial  center  drawing  its  income  from 
oil,  shipping,  and  manufacturing.  Its  population  is  correspondingly 
diverse — including  amusement  zone  barkers,  sailors  and  Naval  officers 
and  their  families,  oil  and  factory  workers,  retired  farmers  and  trades- 
men from  the  Middle  West.  Eighty-nine  percent  of  the  people  are 
native-born  whites.  Although  great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  depend 
on  the  city's  industrial  payroll  for  their  living,  they  are  outnumbered 
by  the  preponderance  of  elderly  emigres  from  the  Middle  West,  at- 
tracted here  by  the  sunny  climate,  the  seaside  location,  and  the  low  cost 
of  living.  It  was  in  Long  Beach  that  Dr.  Francis  Townsend,  a  local 
physician,  first  won  support  for  his  old-age  pension  movement. 

The  strip  of  mud  and  sand  on  which  Long  Beach  was  built,  long 
the  bartering  place  of  Indians  from  Santa  Catalina  Island  and  the 
mainland,  was  part  of  the  vast  2OO,ooo-acre  tract  granted  in  1784  by 
the  King  of  Spain  to  Manuel  Nieto  in  payment  for  his  services  in  the 
royal  army.  Divided  into  Rancho  los  Alamitos  (little  cottonwoods) 
and  Rancho  los  Cerritos  (little  hills),  it  passed  in  1840,  after  Nieto's 
death,  into  the  hands  of  John  Temple  and  Abel  Stearns,  both  Massa- 
chusetts Yankees  who  married  into  Spanish  families,  and  became  Mexi- 
can citizens  and  wealthy  landowners.  Around  their  homes  centered  the 
social  life  of  the  region,  marked  by  bull  fights,  horse  races,  and  rodeos 
in  which  the  two  families  and  their  servants  carried  on  a  friendly 
rivalry,  the  winner  sponsoring  a  celebration  at  which  casks  of  wine  were 
opened,  an  ox  was  barbecued,  and  dancing  and  merrymaking  lasted  far 
into  the  night.  The  drought  of  1863-64  killed  off  so  many  of  their 
sheep,  cattle,  and  horses  that  the  owners  lost  their  land  through  fore- 
closures. It  was  bought  by  Llewellyn  Bixby  and  Benjamin  and  Dr. 
Thomas  Flint. 

Home  owners  were  first  attracted  in  1881  when  W.  E.  Willmore 
subdivided  10,000  acres  of  barley  field  and  sold  it  for  $12.50  to  $25  an 
acre,  naming  his  community  Willmore  City.  The  only  connection  with 
the  outside  world  was  a  horse  and  buggy  and  later  a  four-horse  stage 
coach  to  Wilmington,  until  a  wooden  car  track  was  laid  for  a  horse-car 


LONG     BEACH        2O3 

line  known  as  the  "Get  Off  and  Push  Railroad"  because  the  passengers 
had  to  supply  locomotive  power  when  the  horses  balked.  When  Will- 
more  City  went  bankrupt  in  1888,  it  was  re-named  Long  Beach — just 
in  time  to  advertise  itself  as  a  seaside  resort  to  the  throngs  of  new  settlers 
attracted  by  the  southern  California  real  estate  boom  of  the  same  year. 
Its  later  growth  was  slower  and  steadier.  The  development  of  the  sur- 
rounding territory  (54  towns,  including  Los  Angeles)  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  small  industries  supplying  the  increasing  demand  for 
manufactured  articles.  Not  until  discovery  of  the  Signal  Hill  oil  field 
in  1921,  however,  did  Long  Beach  acquire  large  industries.  The  oil 
boom,  opening  the  region  to  frenzied  speculation,  brought  an  influx  of 
men  and  money  that  transformed  it  almost  overnight  into  a  rapidly 
growing  city. 

After  the  gradual  subsidence  of  the  oil  boom,  Long  Beach  .continued 
to  grow  slowly  and  peacefully,  its  serenity  seldom  disturbed — except 
when  the  run-off  from  winter  rains  forced  inhabitants  in  low-lying  sec- 
tions to  take  to  rowboats — until  the  earthquake  of  March  1933.  The 
shock  leveled  buildings  throughout  the  city,  including  most  of  the  Long 
Beach  schools,  killed  I2O  persons  and  destroyed  property  valued  at 
$40,000,000.  The  extent  of  the  destruction  was  attributed  largely  to 
lax  building  standards.  A  widespread  rebuilding  program  was  im- 
mediately undertaken  under  more  rigid  restrictions. 

The  oil  industry  still  plays  the  dominant  role  in  the  Long  Beach 
industrial  scene.  Second  in  importance  is  fish  canning,  carried  on  by 
eight  large  canneries  which  pack  tons  of  tuna  and  mackerel.  The  three 
largest  manufacturing  plants  produce  motor  cars,  soap,  and  vegetable 
oil.  The  shipping  industry  accounts  for  a  growing  share  of  the  city's 
income.  And,  like  most  southern  California  cities,  Long  Beach  relies 
on  the  tourist  trade  as  an  important  factor  in  its  economic  well-being. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

The  CIVIC  CENTER,  Broadway  between  Pacific  and  Cedar 
Aves.,  consists  of  the  City  Hall,  the  Municipal  Utilities  Building,  and 
the  Veterans'  Memorial  Building — all  modern  reinforced  concrete 
structures.  The  Veterans'  Building  is  notable  for  the  restrained  and 
effective  sculpture  on  its  facade. 

LINCOLN  PARK,  Ocean  Blvd.  between  Pacific  and  Cedar  Aves., 
is  a  5-acre  tract,  green  with  lawns  and  shade  trees,  where  idlers  pitch 
horseshoes  or  sun  themselves  on  benches. 

The  CENTRAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  (open  9-9  weekdays],  in 
the  center  of  the  park,  erected  1936-37  to  replace  the  library  destroyed 
in  the  1933  earthquake,  is  built  of  earthquake-proof  reinforced  concrete. 
It  is  cruciform  in  plan,  designed  in  formal  modern  style.  The  flat  roof- 
line  is  unbroken,  except  by  the  pediment  of  the  facade,  surmounting  the 
vertical  lines  of  the  main  entrance  and  second-story  trio  of  windows. 
The  two  unified  groups  of  window  channels  running  up  the  face  of  the 
building  on  either  side  of  the  main  entrance  accent  the  vertical  treat- 


2O4        CALIFORNIA 

ment.  In  the  first  floor  hall  is  a  mural,  a  series  of  scenes  from  English 
and  American  literature,  by  Suzanne  Miller  of  the  Federal  Art  Project. 
The  library  has  148,365  volumes. 

The  MUNICIPAL  MARKET  (open  7-12  ?n.  Tues.,  Thurs., 
Sat.),  a  public  food  bazaar  of  temporary  canvas  booths  set  up  along  the 
sidewalk  on  the  north  and  west  sides  of  the  park,  provides  a  colorful 
display  of  fruit  and  garden  produce,  seafoods,  honey,  nuts,  homemade 
bakery  goods,  and  home-cured  meats  and  fish.  In  about  150  stalls, 
members  of  16  racial  groups  sell  their  goods  under  rigid  municipal 
inspection. 

The  PIKE,  or  Amusement  Zone,  S.  end  of  Pacific  Ave.,  is  flanked 
by  theaters,  reptile  exhibits,  dance  pavilions,  side  shows,  curiosity  shops, 
shooting  galleries,  "oriental  stores,"  penny  arcades,  and  cafes.  Here, 
against  a  flamboyant  background  of  flags  and  posters,  side-show  barkers 
spiel  incessantly.  The  attractions  include  an  underground  imitation  of 
Los  Angeles'  Olvera  Street,  with  "Mexican"  and  "Indian"  stands,  the 
"Million-Dollar  Bathhouse,"  and  the  Silver  Spray  Pier  with  its  roller 
coaster  and  amusement  concessions  extending  into  the  ocean. 

The  MUNICIPAL  AUDITORIUM,  S.  end  of  American  Ave., 
stands  on  a  landscaped  square  of  filled-in  land  in  the  placid  32-acre 
lagoon  sheltered  from  the  ocean  by  the  horseshoe-shaped  rock  embank- 
ment of  RAINBOW  PIER.  The  3 800 foot  pier  has  a  motor  driveway 
and  pedestrian  promenade.  A  massive  neo-classic  structure,  nine  stories 
in  height,  with  a  two-story  arcaded  gallery  in  the  rear  suggesting  the 
Coliseum  in  Rome,  the  auditorium  contains  three  assembly  halls,  the 
largest  of  which  seats  4,875.  On  its  facade  is  an  immense  tile  mosaic 
mural,  the  work  of  the  Federal  Art  Project.  The  Long  Beach  Munici- 
pal Band  presents  its  concerts  here  (3:30  and  7:30  Tues.,  Sat.,  2  :JO' 
Sun.).  The  lagoon  is  the  scene  of  year-round  bathing  and  boating,  of 
water  carnivals  and  fireworks  displays  on  festive  occasions. 

The  WAYSIDE  ART  COLONY,  74  Atlantic  Ave.,  covering 
about  half  a  city  block,  consists  largely  of  art  shops,  studios,  and  a 
private  art  school.  Activities  of  the  artists  or  "crafters,"  include 
needlework,  weaving,  wood  and  metal  working,  painting,  music,  and 
dancing.  The  colony  sponsors  many  exhibitions  of  the  work  of  Long 
Beach  artists.  The  brown,  shingle-roofed  buildings  of  the  colony  are 
designed  in  rustic  cottage  style  to  convey  an  "old  world  art  colony 
atmosphere." 

BIXBY  PARK,  Ocean  Blvd.  and  Cherry  Ave.,  10  acres  in  area,  is 
primarily  a  picnic  park,  noted  as  the  site  of  State  society  picnics.  Wide, 
slightly  rolling  lawns,  shaded  by  groups  of  oak,  pine,  cypress,  sycamore, 
and  palms,  overlook  the  boulevard  and  ocean.  The  Federation  of  State 
Societies  estimates  that  100,000  people  attended  the  Iowa  picnic  in  this 
park  in  1937. 

ALAMITOS  BAY,  S.E.  end  of  Second  St.,  has  a  popular  beach 
for  still-water  swimming,  boating,  and  water  sports.  From  the  bay  a 
labyrinth  of  canals  branch  into  the  residential  section  of  Naples  and  a 
long  arm  runs  inland  to  Recreation  Park.  ALAMITOS  STATE  PARK,  at 


LONG     BEACH        2O5 

the  tip  of  the  peninsula  sheltering  Alamitos  Bay  from  the  ocean,  is  a 
34-acre  recreation  park  with  facilities  for  picnicking  and  swimming 
(overnight  camping  prohibited).  On  the  bay  side  is  a  sandy  beach  pro- 
tected from  high  tides  by  a  rubble  wall. 

RECREATION  PARK,  entrance  7th  St.  and  West  Blvd.,  has 
picnic  facilities,  playgrounds,  a  salt-water  swimming  pool,  an  artificial 
lagoon,  and  the  MARINE  STADIUM,  which  was  constructed  for  the 
rowing  races  of  the  1932  Olympiad.  The  stadium,  bordered  by  public 
beaches,  is  the  scene  of  national  inter-collegiate  regattas.  The  park  also 
has  workshops  where  children  learn  to  build  toy  boats. 

SIGNAL  HILL,  climbed  by  Panorama  Dr.,  overlooks  the  spread- 
ing city  blocks  of  Long  Beach,  the  curving  shoreline,  and  the  ocean. 
On  its  slopes  is  the  independent  community  of  SIGNAL  HILL  (2,932 
pop.),  an  island  of  tanks,  steel  and  wooden  oil  derricks,  and  stucco 
bungalows  shaded  by  pepper-trees.  The  town  government  levies  taxes 
only  on  oil  wells.  The  hill,  once  an  Indian  signal  post  and  later  a 
lookout  point  for  signaling  incoming  ships,  was  sold  by  "Don  Juan" 
Temple  in  1866  for  74^  an  acre.  It  was  a  quiet  residential  suburb 
when  discovery  of  oil  in  1921  transformed  it  into  a  booming  oil  field 
that  reached  a  maximum  production  of  268,000  barrels  per  day.  In  the 
vicinity  now  (1939)  are  some  1,400  oil  derricks. 

The  LONG  BEACH  MUNICIPAL  AIRPORT,  Cherry  Ave. 
and  Spring  St.,  was  the  starting  point  for  Douglas  Corrigan's  "wrong- 
way"  flight  to  New  York  and  back  by  way  of  Ireland  in  1938.  A 
bronze  plaque  commemorates  the  flight. 

The  PROCTOR  AND  GAMBLE  PLANT  (tours  9:30,  10:30, 
2  and  3  Mon.-Fri.) ,  1601  W.  7th  St.,  covers  15  acres.  Visitors  can  see 
the  process  of  soap  manufacture  from  vegetable  oils  (principally  cocoa- 
nut,  cottonseed,  and  linseed)  in  all  its  stages. 

LONG  BEACH  HARBOR,  at  the  city's  southwest  tip,  approached 
by  Ocean  Blvd.  or  7th  St.,  consists  of  inner  harbor  channels  dredged 
from  tidal  flats  and  an  outer  harbor  sheltered  by  three  great  break- 
waters. Pipelines  radiate  from  the  28  miles  of  waterfront  to  adjacent 
oil  fields.  Boats  can  be  rented  for  a  cruise  through  Cerritos  Channel 
into  the  Los  Angeles  Inner  Harbor  and  back  through  the  outer  harbor. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Santa  Catalina  Island,  25  m.  (see  TOUR  2C). 


XZXXZZ&KK^^^^ 


Los  Angeles 


Railroad  Stations:  Central  Station,  Central  Ave.  at  E.  5th  St.  for  Southern 
Pacific  Lines  and  Union  Pacific  R.R. ;  Santa  Fe  Station,  Santa  Fe  Ave.  at  E.  ist 
St.  for  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.;  new  Union  Station,  Alameda  Blvd. 
between  Aliso  and  Macy  Sts.,  in  use  after  March  1939  (estimated)  for  Union 
Pacific  R.R.,  Southern  Pacific  Lines,  and  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry. ; 
Pacific  Electric  Ry.,  610  S.  Main  St.  and  423  S.  Hill  St.  (interurban). 
Bus  Stations:  Motor  Transit  Lines,  560  S.  Los  Angeles  St.  and  Union  Stage 
Depot,  202  E.  5th  St.;  Pacific  Electric  Ry.,  423  S.  Hill  St.;  Pasadena  Ocean 
Park  Stage  Line,  Inc.  (Hollywood  to  Pasadena  only),  1625  N.  Cahuenga  Blvd. 
(all  interurban).  Central  Bus  Depot,  603  S.  Main  St.  for  Santa  Fe  Trail  ways, 
Burlington  Trailways  (Nat'l.  Trailways  System),  and  Airline  Bus  Co.;  Union 
Pacific  Stage  Depot,  451  S.  Main  St.  for  Union  Pacific-Chicago  and  North- 
western Stages,  and  Inter-State  Transit  Lines;  Union  Stage  Depot;  202  E.  5th 
St.  for  Original  Stage  Lines,  Mount  Wilson  Stages,  and  Inland  Stages;  Grey- 
hound Terminal,  560  S.  Los  Angeles  St.  for  Pacific  Greyhound  and  Inland 
Stages;  Independent  Bus  Depot,  218  E.  yth  St.  for  Dollar  Lines  and  Inde- 
pendent Stages ;  All  American  Bus  Depot,  629  S.  Main  St.  for  All  American 
Bus  Lines  and  Overland  Stages;  809  E.  5th  St.  for  Los  Angeles-Trona  Stages. 
Sightseeing  Tours:  Rosslyn  Hotel,  5th  and  Main  Sts.  and  depot  at  544  S.  Hill 
St.  for  Tanner-Gray  Line  (city  and  Southern  Calif.)  ;  Pacific  Electric  Bldg., 
6th  and  Main  Sts.,  and  Biltmore  Hotel,  5th  and  Olive  Sts.,  for  California  Parlor 
Car  Tours,  Inc.  (Los  Angeles  to  San  Francisco,  and  to  Yosemite). 
Streetcars  and  Busses:  Los  Angeles  Ry.  (yellow  cars,  local),  fare  7$,  four 
tokens  for  25$,  weekly  pass  $i ;  (yellow  busses,  local),  fare  10^,  weekly  com- 
bination pass  (also  good  on  P.E.  local  cars)  $1.50;  Pacific  Electric  Ry.  (red 
cars,  local),  fare  6$  local  zone,  10$  additional  zone,  and  up;  Los  Angeles  Motor 
Coach  Co.  (yellow  and  red  busses,  local),  fare  10^  local  zone,  15^  additional 
zone,  and  up. 

Airports:  Grand  Central  Air  Terminal,  1224  Airway,  Glendale,  for  American 
Airlines  and  Pan  American  Airways,  taxi  75^,  time  45  minutes;  Union  Air 
Terminal,  2627  Hollywood  Way,  Burbank,  for  United  Airlines,  TWA,  and 
Western  Air  Express,  taxi  $i,  time  55  minutes;  Catalina  Airport,  Wilmington, 
near  Catalina  Terminal,  to  Catalina  only  (Avalon)  fare  by  P.E.  44^  to  Wil- 
mington, free  fare  to  airport,  time  46  minutes  via  P.E.,  5  minutes  to  airport. 
Taxis:  Fare  20$  first  J4  mile,  10$  each  additional  y2  mile,  i  to  5  passengers. 
Piers:  Ships  berth  in  Los  Angeles  Harbor,  San  Pedro,  Wilmington,  West 
Basin,  and  at  Terminal  Island.  Coastwise  passage  on  occasional  freighters 
only.  For  travel  to  East  Coast,  outlying  possessions,  and  foreign  countries  con- 
sult telephone  directory  or  travel  bureaus. 

Boats  for  Santa  Catalina  Island:  Leave  Catalina  Terminal  (berths  184-185) 
foot  of  Avalon  Blvd.,  Wilmington,  10  a.m.  daily;  round  trip,  $3,  children  $1.50, 
automobile  storage  at  pier,  50$.  Boat  train  leaves  Pacific  Electric  Station,  Los 
Angeles,  daily,  9  a.m. 

Traffic  Regulations:  Speed  limit  20  m.  in  business  districts,  25  m.  in  residential 
districts.  Right  turn  against  red  from  right  hand  lane  after  full  stop,  but 
pedestrians  and  vehicles  proceeding  with  signal  have  right  of  way.  No  park- 
ing along  red  or  yellow  curb;  3  min.  limit  at  white  curb;  15  min.  limit  at 
green  curb;  otherwise  45  min.  parking  in  Central  Traffic  District  7-4:30;  no 
parking  4:30-6  p.m.  Unlimited  parking  6  p.m.-2  a.m.;  30  min.  limit  2-4  a.m.; 
unlimited  4-7  a.m. 

206 


LOS     ANGELES        2O7 

Information  Service:  All-Year  Club,  505  W.  6th  St.;  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Broadway  at  i2th  St.;  Automobile  Club  of  Southern  California,  2601  S.  Figueroa 
St.;  Pacific  Electric  Co.  Information  Bureau,  610  S.  Main  St.;  Times  Informa- 
tion Bureau,  ist  and  Spring  Sts. 

Street  Order  and  Numbering:  Numbered  streets  run  approximately  E.  and  W., 
and  are  divided  by  Main  St.  North  and  south  streets  are  divided  by  First  St. 
Houses  are  numbered  E.  and  W.  from  Main  St.,  and  N.  and  S.  from  ist  St. 

Accommodations:  860  hotels;  48  trailer  camp  sites;  licensed  by  City  Planning 
Commission;  auto  camps  numerous  on  major  highways  approaching  the  city. 

Radio  Stations:  KMTR  (570  kc.)  ;  KFI  (640  kc.)  ;  KEHE  (780  kc.)  ;  KHJ 
(900  kc.)  ;  KFWB  (950  kc.)  ;  KFVD  (1000  kc.)  ;  KNX  (1050  kc.)  ;  KRKD  and 
KFSG  (1120  kc.);  KGFJ  (1200  kc.)  ;  KFOX  (1250  kc.)  ;  KFAC  (1300  kc.)  ; 
KGER  (1360  kc.)  ;  KECA  (1430  kc.). 

Theaters,  Concert  Halls  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Belasco,  1050  S.  Hill  St., 
Biltmore,  530  W.  5th  St.,  Mayan,  1040  S.  Hill  St.,  Theatre  Mart,  605  N.  Juanita 
Ave.,  road  shows;  Philharmonic  Auditorium,  427  W.  fth  St.,  Shrine  Civic 
Auditorium,  665  W.  Jefferson  Blvd.,  Trinity  Auditorium,  847  S.  Grand  Ave., 
concerts;  Greek  Theater,  N.  end  of  Vermont  Ave.,  Griffith  Park;  181  motion 
picture  houses. 

Beaches:     Venice,  Playa  del  Rey,  El  Segundo,  and  Cabrillo  beaches;  lifeguards. 
Archery:     Public  ranges  at  Griffith  Park,  Glendale  Blvd.  at  Los  Angeles  River, 
and  Banning  Playground   (Wilmington). 
Baseball:     Wrigley  Field,  435  E.  42nd  Place. 

Boating  and  Yachting:  Boating  at  Echo  Park,  1732  Echo  Park  Ave.;  Hollen- 
beck  Park,  Cummings,  4th,  and  St.  Louis  Sts.  and  Boyer  Ave.;  Lincoln  Park, 
3600  N.  Mission  Road;  Westlake  Park,  Alvorado  St.  and  Wilshire  Blvd.;  aver- 
age charge  i  to  2  persons,  30^-40^;  3  to  6  persons,  40^-60$.  Yacht  Clubs, 
Balboa  Yacht  Club,  1806  S.  Bay  Front,  Balboa  Island;  Los  Angeles  Yacht 
Club,  foot  of  Terminal  Way,  San  Pedro;  California  Yacht  Club  (San  Pedro), 
Wilmington  Yacht  Anchorage  (Wilmington),  Main  Street  Yacht  Landing  (Wil- 
mington). 

Boxing:     Olympic  Stadium,  1801  S.  Grand  Ave. 

Fishing:  Boats  for  ocean  fishing  at  San  Pedro  or  Los  Angeles  Harbor.  Prices 
on  boats  accommodating  1 6  to  40  persons  average  $i  to  $2  per  day  per  person; 
charter  boats  $25  to  $50  per  day.  Game  fish  licenses,  $2  resident,  $3  non- 
resident. Surf  or  still  fishing  from  piers  and  at  beaches. 

Football:  Los  Angeles  Memorial  Coliseum,  3911  S.  Figueroa  St.,  Pacific  Coast 
Conference  games.  Gilmore  Stadium,  100  N.  Fairfax  Ave.,  Loyola  University 
and  professional  games,  October  to  January. 

Golf:  Griffith  Park,  Glendale  Ave.  at  Los  Angeles  River,  two  i8-hole  courses, 
greens  fee  75^  first  round,  35^  each  additional  round,  50^  for  2^2  hours  before 
sunset,  $i  Sat.  after  n  a.m.,  Sun.,  holidays,  with  50$  each  additional  round, 
$5  for  monthly  permit;  9-hole  course,  greens  fee  40^;  Holmby  Park,  Beverly 
Glen  Blvd.  and  Comstock  Ave.,  Westwood,  i8-hole  pony  course,  15$. 
Horse  Racing:  Hollywood  Park,  Inglewood,  summer  racing,  mutuels.  Santa 
Anita,  Arcadia,  winter  racing,  mutuels. 

Ice  Skating:  Pan  Pacific  Ice  Arena,  Beverly  Blvd.  between  La  Brea  and  Fair- 
fax Aves.,  early  winter  to  late  spring;  Polar  Ice  Palace,  615  N.  Van  Ness, 
September  to  May;  Tropical  Ice  Gardens,  end  of  Weyburn  Ave.  just  off 
Westwood  Blvd.,  365-day  season,  open  all  day. 

Midget  Auto  Racing:  Atlantic  Stadium,  Atlantic  and  Bandini  Blvds.,  Tues. 
nights  April  or  May  to  October;  Gilmore  Stadium,  100  N.  Fairfax  Ave.,  from 
April  to  Thanksgiving. 

Polo:     Riviera  Country  Club  Field,  Sunset  Blvd.  and  Capri  Drive;  Will  Rogers 
Memorial    Field,   Sunset   Blvd.    and   Chautauqua   Drive.     Games   nearly   every 
Sun.,  2:30. 
Riding:     Numerous  riding  academies;  bridle  paths  in  Arroyo  Seco  Parks,  Pearl 


2O8        CALIFORNIA 

St.  to  Ave.  57  and  California  St.  between  Crescent,  Ferrara,  and  Bredwell  Sts., 

and  in  Griffith  Park. 

Swimming:     16  municipal  swimming  pools;  admission  generally  5$  for  children 

under  16,  10$  for  children  16  to  20,  20$  for  adults;  outdoor  pools  open  during 

summer  months. 

Tennis:     Municipal  courts  at  33   recreation  centers;  free  in  daytime;   25^  per 

half    hour    for    floodlighted   courts    at   night.     Among   them    are:    Echo    (5)    2 

lighted,    1632    Bellevue;    El    Sereno    (2),    2501    Eastern    Ave.;    Exposition    (8) 

5  lighted,  3981   S.  Hoover  St.;   Griffith    (28)    6  lighted,   3401  Riverside  Drive; 
Harvard   (8)  4  lighted,  6120  Denker  Ave.;  Manchester    (4)   2  lighted,  8800  S. 
Hoover  St.;  North  Hollywood  (5)  3  lighted,  5301  Tujunga  Blvd.;  Poinsettia  (8) 

6  lighted,   7341    Willoughby  Ave.;    Rancho   Playground    (12)    4834   Exposition 
Blvd.;  Arroyo  Seco  Park    (5)    San  Pascual  Ave.;   Hollenbeck  Park    (2)    Boyle 
and  St.  Louis  Sts.;  Peck  Park   (4)   Summerland  Ave.,  San  Pedro. 
Wrestling:     Olympic  Stadium,  1801  S.  Grand  Ave.;  Eastside  Arena  Club,  3400 
E.  Pico  St.;  Huntington  Park  Coliseum,  2010  E.  Gage  Ave. 

Annual  Events:  Los  Angeles  Open  Golf  Tournament,  Griffith  Park,  Jan.;  In- 
ternational Polo  Matches,  Feb.-Mar.;  International  Tennis  Matches,  National 
A.A.U.  six-day  bicycle  race,  Mar.;  Easter  Sunrise  Services;  Los  Angeles  Yacht 
Club  Gold  Cup  Races,  Harbor,  Japanese  Spring  Festival,  Greek  Theater,  Apr.; 
Southern  California  Festival  of  Allied  Arts,  Carnival  Mascaras  (Mexican), 
Cinco  de  Mayo  Fete  (Mexican),  Kennel  Club  Show,  Ambassador  Hotel,  May; 
Ocean  Swim  Meet,  Ocean  Park-Venice,  June;  Nordlinger  Trophy  Race,  Los 
Angeles  Harbor,  July;  Nisei  Festival  (Japanese),  Western  Golf  Assn.  Amateur 
Championship  Matches,  Aug.;  Founding  of  Los  Angeles  Pageant,  Mexican  In- 
dependence Day  Celebration,  Annual  California  Yacht  Club  Race,  Harbor, 
Pacific  Southwest  Tennis  Matches,  Sept.;  Great  Western  Livestock  Show  and 
Rodeo,  San  Francisco  Opera  Company  (week  long),  Nov.;  Pacific  Coast  Intra- 
circuit  Polo  Championship,  Dec.;  Philharmonic  Orchestra  Season,  Nov.-Mar. 

LOS  ANGELES  (286  alt.,  1,238,048  pop.),  known  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth  as  the  mother  of  Hollywood,  that  dazzling  daughter  still 
sheltered  under  the  family  roof,  has  other  liens  on  fame  and  fortune. 
The  country's  fifth  largest  city,  in  area  the  nation's  largest  municipality, 
Los  Angeles  extends  one  thin  arm  to  embrace  the  harbors  of  San  Pedro 
and  Wilmington,  and  with  the  other  reaches  past  the  Santa  Monica  to 
the  San  Gabriel  Mountains. 

For  the  most  part,  its  451  square  miles  of  territory  are  level,  sloping 
gently  from  the  brush-  and  pine-clad  mountains  to  the  sandy  Pacific 
shore,  but  on  the  northern  limits  the  city  spills  over  into  canyons  and 
climbs  fire-scarred  foothills.  Amoeba-like,  it  has  grown  out  and  around 
many  independent  communities:  among  others,  Beverly  Hills,  Santa 
Monica,  Culver  City,  Universal  City,  Inglewood,  each  with  its  own 
business  district  and  enterprises.  On  all  sides  it  is  fringed  with  other 
cities,  towns,  villages,  and  subdivisions — so  numerous  that  wits  never 
tire  of  describing  the  scene  as  "nineteen  suburbs  in  search  of  a  city." 

In  more  than  one  sense  Los  Angeles  is  many  cities.  To  some  it  is  a 
slightly  unreal  stage  set,  some  elaborate  artifice  on  a  movie  lot,  as  they 
catch  a  first  glimpse  of  its  new  white  buildings  gleaming  in  the  sun 
between  the  cobalt  sea  and  the  purple  hills.  To  others  it  is  a  comfort- 
able cottage  on  a  quiet  street,  with  flowers  in  bloom  about  it  the  year 
round,  a  haven  of  rest  and  retirement  after  years  of  back-breaking  work 
on  a  midwestern  farm.  Some  know  it  for  its  ubiquitous  signboards 


LOS     ANGELES        2O9 

advertising'  everything  from  the  doctrine  of  the  latest  sect  to  a  sandy 
bluff  offered  cheap  as  a  "Choice  Site  for  a  Lawyer."  To  still  others  it 
is  a  fashionable  cafe,  a  luxurious  hotel,  a  boulevard  on  which  to  stroll 
and  see  and  be  seen  by  the  great  and  the  near-great,  a  paradise  for  the 
collector  of  autographs  and  the  hunter  of  social  lions. 

But  to  most  Angelenos  it  is,  like  any  other  city,  a  place  to  work. 
The  fifth  largest  industrial  center  of  the  country  in  1935,  it  cans  fruit, 
fish,  and  vegetables;  manufactures  long  ribbons  of  "celluloid"  on  which 
to  film  miles  and  miles  of  movies;  packs  meat  and  fashions  clothing, 
from  blue  jeans  to  today's  creations  of  the  reigning  movie  queens; 
fabricates  tires,  tubes,  and  airplanes;  builds  furniture  and  assembles 
automobiles.  It  is  an  oil  town,  the  production  and  refining  center  of 
one  of  the  greatest  of  our  petroleum  fields.  It  is  a  farm  town,  the 
trading  and  banking  center  of  one  of  the  world's  richest  ranch  and 
orchard  areas,  producing  great  quantities  of  berries,  winter  vegetables, 
and  citrus  fruits.  It  is  a  busy  seaport,  shipping  and  receiving  cargoes 
from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  And  there  is,  of  course,  its  tourist  trade, 
a  major  "industry."  Visitors  each  year  outnumber  settled  residents,  in 
1937  they  accounted  for  more  than  20  percent  of  all  retail  sales. 

Reflecting  its  rapid  expansion,  the  city's  population  is  largely  a 
transplanted  one.  From  census  to  census  a  steady  flow  of  newcomers 
has  created  virtually  a  new  city;  in  only  one  decade  since  1870  has  Los 
Angeles  failed  at  least  to  double  its  population.  Many  of  the  recent 
arrivals  are  from  the  Middle  West  and  the  East,  elderly  folk  who  have 
retired  on  a  moderate  income.  Others  have  been  drawn  by  the  business 
opportunities  offered  by  a  growing  community.  Others,  driven  from 
their  homes  by  depression,  droughts  and  dust  storms,  have  come  seeking 
a  new  start  in  the  City  of  the  Angels. 

Several  large  racial  and  language  groups  add  contrast  and  color  to 
the  vast  mosaic  of  the  city.  With  a  community  of  103,000  Mexicans 
brought  in  to  work  on  farms  and  in  canneries,  most  of  whom  live  north 
and  east  of  the  Plaza  in  some  of  the  worst  local  slums,  Los  Angeles  is 
the  fifth  largest  Mexican  city  in  the  world.  Living  almost  wholly  to 
themselves,  many  of  them  speak  only  their  mother  tongue.  Negroes 
comprise  the  next  largest  group,  numbering  38,000,  most  of  whom  are 
employed  as  unskilled  or  semiskilled  laborers,  although  a  few  are  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  business  and  professional  field.  At  night,  along 
Central  Avenue  between  E.  28th  and  E.  53rd  Streets,  their  night 
clubs  and  dance  spots  get  "hot,"  as  the  young  and  not-so-young  "swing 

*'", 

The  21,000  Japanese,  many  of  them  American  citizens,  have  their 

own  shops,  restaurants,  native-language  schools  and  newspapers,  cham- 
ber of  commerce,  and  American  Legion  post,  in  the  district  centering  on 
E.  First  Street,  between  Los  Angeles  Street  and  Central  Avenue.  Many 
of  the  Japanese  are  engaged  in  trade,  particularly  in  the  fruit  and 
vegetable  markets.  A  part  of  old  Chinatown  along  Alameda  Street 
near  the  Union  Passenger  Terminal  remains,  but  the  3,000  local  Chinese 
are  building  and  rapidly  moving  to  New  Chinatown,  north  of  Main 


2IO        CALIFORNIA 

Street.  The  Filipino  colony,  approximately  equal  in  number  to  the 
Chinese,  is  almost  entirely  male,  employed  for  the  most  part  as  domestic 
servants. 

The  growth  of  the  modern  city  dates  roughly  from  1880,  almost 
precisely  a  century  after  its  founding.  In  1769  a  party  of  explorers  and 
missionaries  under  Capt.  Caspar  de  Portola  discovered  an  Indian  village 
named  Yang-na  here,  and  impressed  with  the  fertile  river  valley,  named 
the  spot  Porciuncula  for  a  chapel  in  Italy  beloved  by  St.  Francis.  When 
Franciscan  padres  returned  two  years  later,  they  selected  a  site  nine 
miles  northeast  on  which  to  build  San  Gabriel  Mission  and  begin  their 
work  of  converting  the  Indians  and  cultivating  farms,  orchards,  and 
vineyards,  but  settlement  did  not  really  begin  for  another  decade.  On 
September  4,  1781,  as  the  American  Revolution  was  drawing  to  a  close 
on  the  other  side  of  the  continent,  Don  Felipe  de  Neve,  Governor  of 
California,  marched  from  San  Gabriel  with  a  handful  of  soldiers  and 
eleven  families  from  Mexico,  chiefly  Indians,  Negroes,  and  mulattoes. 
A  few  priests  from  San  Gabriel  Mission  assisted  him  as  with  solemn 
rites  and  ceremonies  he  founded  El  Pueblo  de  Nuestra  Senora  la  Reina 
de  Los  Angeles  de  Porciuncula  (The  Town  of  Our  Lady  the  Queen  of 
the  Angels  of  Porciuncula). 

Each  of  the  First  Families  of  Los  Angeles  was  given  a  plot  to  culti- 
vate and  a  lot  facing  the  Plaza,  the  large  square  that  for  a  century 
remained  the  hub  of  community  life.  It  took  three  years  for  the  strag- 
gling village  to  acquire  a  small  adobe  church  on  the  Plaza.  For  seven 
years  the  reins  of  government  were  in  the  hands  of  a  corporal,  Vicente 
Felix,  a  Spaniard  in  command  of  an  "army"  of  four  or  five  Mexican 
soldiers.  Discharged  soldiers  and  colonists  from  Mexico  drifted  in  from 
time  to  time;  by  1800  the  settlement  numbered  70  families,  living  in 
some  30  adobe  dwellings  and  engaged  chiefly  in  raising  grain  and 
cattle. 

The  old  pueblo  was  an  ugly  town,  with  crooked  and  ungraded 
streets,  down  which  caballeros  galloped  trailing  clouds  of  dust.  Lawns, 
sidewalks,  and  shade  trees  were  unknown.  Each  family  did  its  own 
butchering.  Huge  flocks  of  crows  acted  as  "white  wings,"  removing 
garbage  set  out  for  their  convenience  on  the  roofs.  Only  after  the 
"Plague  of  the  Crows"  was  an  effort  made  to  exterminate  them.  During 
epidemics  such  as  smallpox  the  people  were  ordered  to  stay  locked  up  at 
home,  to  keep  out  all  strangers,  and  "to  refrain  from  eating  red  peppers, 
spices,  and  unripe  fruit,  and  to  cleanse  themselves  with  a  good  bath 
every  eight  days;  and  to  burn  sulphur  in  the  houses." 

Intruders  from  the  outside  world  were  rare.  In  1805  the  Lelia 
Byrd  touched  at  San  Pedro,  the  first  American  vessel  to  anchor  here  in 
defiance  of  the  Spanish  law  prohibiting  trade  with  foreign  ships.  The 
master  of  the  ship  carried  back  to  the  United  States  along  with  a  cargo 
of  hogs  and  sheep,  a  glowing  account  of  the  wealth  of  California,  a 
report  that  brought  an  increasing  number  of  American  ships  to  these 
shores  in  the  next  few  years.  Captured  as  a  "pirate"  in  1818,  Joseph 
(rebaptized  Jose)  Chapman  became  the  first  English-speaking  settler. 


LOS     ANGELES        211 

Held  prisoner  for  a  time,  he  was  set  to  work,  being  a  skilled  carpenter, 
and  later  erected  the  church,  since  remodeled,  that  still  stands  facing 
the  Plaza;  he  capped  his  career  by  marrying  into  one  of  the  pioneer 
families.  After  the  secularization  of  the  missions  (1834-1837),  more 
American  traders,  miners,  and  adventurers  drifted  in,  embraced  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  married  Mexican  heiresses  and  became  Yankee 
dons.  During  the  storied  rancho  period  all  of  southern  California  was 
held  under  the  virtual  feudal  sway  of  a  handful  of  Mexican  cattle 
barons — Pico,  Figueroa,  Sepulveda,  Bandini,  and  others,  whose  wealth 
and  power  are  still  recalled  by  the  streets  and  places  that  bear  their 
names. 

In  1846,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War,  the  sleepy  pueblo  was 
a  nondescript  village  of  less  than  3,000,  but  with  the  seizure  of  Cali- 
fornia by  the  United  States  it  suddenly  became  a  rip-roaring  frontier 
town.  Times  were  good  after  1849  when  the  rush  of  gold-hunters  into 
the  country  to  the  north  created  an  insatiable  market  for  southern 
California  cattle.  Los  Angeles'  reputation  for  violence  was  almost  un- 
matched even  in  those  rough-and-ready  days;  its  lawlessness  was  such 
that  many  referred  to  it  as  Los  Diablos  (the  devils).  Violence  increased 
in  1854  to  a  murder  a  day,  some  accounts  said.  A  contemporary  account 
states  that  "criminals,  murderers,  bandits  and  thieves  were  hung  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law  or  without  the  law,  whichever  was  most  con- 
venient or  expedient  for  the  good  of  the  town."  The  town's  civic 
conscience  fell  so  low  that  the  editor  of  the  Star  despairingly  complained 
that  "her  bowels  are  absolute  strangers  to  sympathy,  when  called  upon 
to  practically  demonstrate  it."  Finally  in  1871,  as  the  result  of  the 
accidental  killing  of  a  white  man  by  a  Chinese,  a  mob  attacked  China- 
town, and  slaughtered  19  Chinese.  For  the  first  time  Los  Angeles  was 
front-page  news.  The  town  was  shocked  into  sudden  sobriety. 

The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  reached  Los  Angeles  in  1876  and 
the  Santa  Fe  in  1885.  Immediately  one  of  the  bitterest  railroad  rate 
wars  in  history  broke  out.  The  Santa  Fe  reduced  the  fare  from  the 
Mississippi  Valley  from  $100  to  $95;  the  Southern  Pacific  reduced  it 
to  $90.  Passengers  scurried  from  one  railroad  office  to  the  other  to 
obtain  the  latest  bargain.  At  the  height  of  hostilities  the  fare  dropped 
to  $15,  then  to  $5,  and  for  one  day  in  the  spring  of  1886  the  Santa  Fe 
advertised  "Kansas  City  to  Los  Angeles  for  a  dollar!"  Train  after 
train  rumbled  into  Los  Angeles,  packed  to  the  doors,  and  the  first  and 
gaudiest  of  its  real  estate  booms  was  under  way. 

Within  little  more  than  two  years  the  population  swelled  from 
12,000  to  50,000.  Many  swept  in  on  the  tidal  wave  were  homeseekers, 
but  most  came  to  make  a  fortune  in  real  estate,  and  to  make  it  quick. 
At  first  the  little  town  scarcely  knew  what  was  happening.  Buildings 
went  up  overnight.  Land  speculation  reached  fantastic  proportions. 
Lots  around  the  Plaza  sold  at  $1,000  a  front  foot;  subdivisions  were  laid 
out  from  Santa  Monica  to  San  Bernardino,  a  distance  of  70  miles;  pro- 
moters paid  cash  in  advance  for  full-page  advertisements  to  spur  the 
dilatorv : 


212        CALIFORNIA 

HE  OR  SHE 
That  hesitates  is  lost 

An  axiom  that  holds  good  in  real  estate,  as  well 

as  in  affairs  of  the  heart. 

Selah! 

Los  Angeles,  said  the  Times,  is  no  place  for  "dudes,  loafers,  paupers ; 
those  who  expect  to  astonish  the  natives,  those  afraid  to  pull  off  their 
coats,  cheap  politicians,  business  scrubs,  impecunious  clerks,  lawyers,  and 
doctors."  Money  talked,  and  talked  loudly,  until  1887  when  the  banks 
suddenly  refused  to  loan  on  real  estate  except  at  pre-boom  value.  The 
bubble  burst,  scores  of  paper  "millionaires"  found  themselves  penniless. 
Salvaging  what  they  could,  people  fled  the  city  at  the  rate  of  3,000  a 
month.  "Heroic  measures"  were  necessary.  Businessmen  united  with 
the  railroads  to  form  the  Los  Angeles  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which 
opened  in  Chicago  an  exhibit  of  local  produce  and  sales  literature.  The 
whole  middle  western  farm  belt  was  bombarded  with  advertising  that 
sang  of  sunshine,  oranges,  cheap  land,  easy  profits.  By  1892  the  popula- 
tion had  again  reached  the  boom-time  figure  of  50,000,  having  doubled 
within  two  years. 

And  already,  the  year  before,  a  prospecting  well  drilled  in  the  front 
yard  of  a  private  home  by  E.  L.  Doheny  and  C.  A.  Canfield  had  struck 
oil.  Soon  the  city  was  dotted  with  1,400  derricks,  in  chicken  yards,  back 
gardens,  and  front  lawns.  Children  of  a  generation  ago  rode  up  and 
down  on  the  slow-moving  walking  beams,  as  on  a  teeter-totter.  The 
wells  within  the  city  were  gradually  depleted,  but  oil  production  in  the 
vicinity  jumped  to  new  heights  with  the  discovery  in  1921  of  the  huge 
Signal  field  at  Long  Beach. 

Meanwhile  Los  Angeles  businessmen  were  agitating  for  the  develop- 
ment of  an  adequate  harbor  at  San  Pedro,  but  not  without  bitter  opposi- 
tion. Ocean  frontage  at  Santa  Monica  was  controlled  by  Collis  P. 
Huntington,  president  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  who  sought  to  have 
Congress  appropriate  $4,000,000  to  build  a  breakwater  and  harbor 
there.  The  Santa  Fe  Railway,  a  majority  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, and  other  business  groups  sent  lobbyists  to  Congress,  which  in  the 
end  selected  San  Pedro  and  appropriated  $2,900,000  to  start  the  work 
that  has  since  created  the  huge  artificial  harbor. 

The  want  of  an  adequate  water  supply,  always  a  vital  need  in  this 
land  of  much  sunshine  and  little  rain,  inspired  a  gigantic  project  to  pipe 
in  the  entire  flow  of  the  Owens  River,  238  miles  distant  in  the  High 
Sierra.  A  $22,500,000  bond  issue  to  finance  construction  was  pro- 
posed ;  as  part  of  the  campaign,  the  existing  supply  of  water  was  reduced 
by  running  it  into  sewers;  strict  prohibitions  were  issued  against  water- 
ing lawns  and  gardens;  with  the  hot  sun  burning  and  baking  the 
ground,  the  vote  on  the  bond  issue  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  In  1913 
the  Owens  River  was  on  its  way  to  Los  Angeles,  but  it  did  not  arrive. 
The  enormous  pipeline  had  been  built  only  as  far  as  the  arid  San 
Fernando  Valley,  which,  it  transpired,  had  been  taken  over  by  a  small 
group,  who  meanwhile  had  persuaded  the  city  to  annex  its  108,000 


LOS     ANGELES        213 

desert  acres.  The  bond  issue  had  stipulated  that  the  water  be  brought 
to  the  city ;  the  stipulation  was  ingeniously  met  by  extending  Los  Angeles 
to  the  water,  to  the  great  profit  of  those  who  then  subdivided  and  sold 
the  new  annex  to  the  city  for  as  much  as  $1,000  an  acre.  With  the 
diversion  of  the  river,  the  once  fertile  and  prosperous  Owens  Valley 
became,  in  Will  Rogers'  phrase,  "a  valley  of  desolation." 

In  the  face  of  bitter  opposition  from  open-shop  industrial  interests 
organized  into  the  powerful  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  Associa- 
tion, led  by  Gen.  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  publisher  of  the  Times,  labor 
unions  had  long  struggled  to  gain  a  foothold  in  Los  Angeles.  A  feud 
of  twenty  years  standing  had  been  precipitated  when  Otis  locked  out 
the  paper's  typographers  in  1890.  The  climax  came  early  in  the  morn- 
ing of  October  i,  1910,  when  an  explosion  wrecked  the  Times  build- 
ing, killing  20  men  (see  WORKINGMEN). 

During  the  now  fabulous  1920*5  the  city's  population  of  approxi- 
mately 600,000  more  than  doubled;  a  phenomenal  building  boom 
resulted,  with  contractors  working  vainly  to  meet  the  great  need  of 
housing.  Subdivisions  sprang  up  like  mushrooms  all  over  the  metro- 
politan area;  office  buildings,  apartment  houses,  and  theaters  were 
rapidly  erected  until  the  sole  reminders  of  the  town  of  Spanish  and 
early  American  days  were  a  few  adobe  houses  and  buildings  tucked 
away  here  and  there. 

Architecturally,  modern  Los  Angeles  is  a  potpourri  of  styles,  reflect- 
ing its  different  periods  of  almost  convulsive  growth.  There  are  many 
survivors  of  the  post-Civil  War  area,  with  their  cupolas  and  curlicues; 
many  brownstones  of  the  i88o's,  with  elaborate  ornament  and  great  bay 
windows  with  colored  glass;  a  large  number  of  frame  bungalows  and 
box-like  office  structures  of  the  first  two  decades  of  the  century.  The 
booming  I92o's  contributed  the  stucco  dwellings  and  apartment  houses, 
many  pseudo-Spanish  in  style,  as  well  as  the  skyscrapers,  the  movie 
"cathedrals,"  and  the  restaurants  of  bizarre  design — one  like  a  hat,  an- 
other like  a  rabbit,  a  third  like  an  old  shoe,  another  a  fish.  In  striking 
contrast  with  all  of  these  are  the  extremely  modern  houses  and  buildings 
of  concrete,  steel,  and  glass.  Prominent  also  on  the  landscape  are  huge 
gas  tanks,  gaunt  and  grimy  oil  derricks,  and  silvery  power  lines. 

Socially,  too,  Los  Angeles  is  a  medley  of  many  philosophies  and  ways 
of  life.  To  the  newcomer  southern  California  is  a  curiously  exciting 
combination  of  massive  mountains,  blue  sea,  Spanish  romance,  and 
Hollywood  glamor,  offering  many  of  them  a  welcome  change  from  the 
stereotyped  patterns  of  the  old  home  town.  Here  is  a  spirit  of  live  and 
let  live  that  encourages  the  transplanted  lowan  or  Bostonian  to  experi- 
ment with  the  unconventional  in  dress,  houses,  ideas,  and  religions. 
Countless  movements  flourish  in  Los  Angeles,  from  the  crusades  of  such 
religious  sects  as  the  Rosicrucians,  the  "Mighty  I  Am  Presence,"  and 
Aimee  Semple  McPherson's  Church  of  the  Four-square  Gospel,  to 
groups  organized  to  promote  a  score  of  economic  and  political  doctrines. 
If  Los  Angeles  has  been  called  "the  capitol  of  crackpots"  and  "the 
metropolis  of  isms,"  the  native  Angeleno  can  not  fairly  attribute  all  of 


214        CALIFORNIA 

the  city's  idiosyncrasies  to  the  newcomer — at  least  not  so  long  as  he 
consults  the  crystal  ball  for  guidance  in  his  business  dealings  and  his 
wife  goes  shopping  downtown  in  beach  pajamas.  His,  too,  are  many  of 
the  notions  given  form  in  grotesque  architectural  effects,  and  he  is  fre- 
quently of  the  crowd  that  rushes  movie  stars  on  their  appearance  in 
theater  lobbies  for  gala  premieres.  Yet  it  is  true  that  most  people  in 
Los  Angeles,  like  American  city-dwellers  everywhere,  live  in  the  usual 
apartments  and  suburban  houses,  work  in  stores,  offices,  and  factories 
by  day,  and  spend  their  evenings  quietly  at  home  listening  to  the  radio, 
playing  bridge,  or  reading  the  popular  magazines. 

Another  Los  Angeles  is  steadily  coming  to  the  fore — the  Los  An- 
geles of  libraries,  art  galleries,  concerts,  museums,  universities,  educa- 
tional and  scientific  institutions  of  all  kinds.  In  the  city  is  concentrated 
a  large  number  of  gifted  writers,  composers,  singers,  actors,  playwrights, 
painters,  cameramen,  and  other  workers  in  the  arts,  attracted  by  the 
motion  picture  studios.  Although  their  work  has  founded  no  native 
"school,"  it  exercises  a  worldwide  influence  through  radio  and 
movies. 

The  crash  of  1929  and  the  subsequent  depression  sharply  reduced  or 
entirely  destroyed  the  incomes  of  many  in  the  city,  working  hardship 
especially  on  the  elderly  people  who  had  retired  to  live  on  their  small 
investments.  Many  lost  their  homes  for  which  they  had  saved  a  life- 
time; one  reason  for  the  strong  appeal  of  the  Townsend  Plan  here. 
Much  southern  California  real  estate  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  banks 
where  a  large  part  of  it  remains.  After  a  period  of  relative  stagnation 
new  enterprises  have  been  started  and  old  ones  resumed.  The  city's 
congenital  optimism  has  not  been  destroyed,  and  it  finds  solid  ground  for 
its  hopes  as  homeseekers  and  tourists  increasingly  turn  their  eyes  once 
again  to  the  City  of  Angels. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

(Plaza  and  Civic  Center} 

1.  The  PLAZA,  bounded  by  Main,  Los  Angeles,  and  Marchessault 
Sts.  and  Ferguson  Alley,  lies  southeast  of  the  first  plaza,  laid  out  in 
1781  by  Gov.  Felipe  de  Neve,  founder  of  the  city,  whose  statue  stands 
on  the  circular  fountain  in  the  center  of  the  park.     Long  ago  floods 
forced  the  abandpnment  of  the  original  adobe  houses  clustered  about 
the  first  square.     Around  the  present  plaza  laid  out  between  1800  and 
1812,  the  pueblo's  aristocracy  built  their  homes.     Under  the  American 
regime  the  square  was  transformed  into  a  round  park  with  paths  radiat- 
ing from  the  center,  occupied  until  1873  by  a  water  tank.     The  Plaza 
is  today  the  scene  of  many  labor  demonstrations. 

2.  The  PLAZA  CHURCH  (always  open),  100  Sunset  Blvd.,  also 
known  as  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  the  Queen  of  the  Angels,  the  oldest 
in  the  city,  was  constructed  in  1818-22  under  the  supervision  of  Jose 
Chapman,  California's  first  Yankee.    The  mission  padres  at  San  Gabriel 


LOS     ANGELES        215 

donated  several  barrels  of  brandy  to  raise  the  funds.  Its  historic  bronze 
bells  in  the  squat  corner  tower  still  chime  the  Angelus  above  the  noise 
of  the  city  streets,  as  they  did  over  a  century  ago. 

3.  OLVERA  STREET  (El  Paseo  de  los  Angeles;  Sp.,  the  walk 
of  the  angels),  a  brick-paved  lane  running  from  Marchessault  St.  north 
to   Macy   St.,   named   for   Don   Agustin   Olvera,   who   fought   against 
Fremont,  has  been  restored  in  the  manner  of  an  old  Mexican  street. 
Work  began  in  1929,  with  prison  labor,  and  the  street  was  dedicated 
in  1930. 

A  carved  wooden  cross  at  the  entrance  commemorates  the  founding 
of  the  pueblo  of  Los  Angeles  in  1781.  On  the  street  are  70  shops;  a 
line  of  stalls  runs  down  the  center.  The  street  is  at  its  best  in  the 
evening,  when  cafes  are  gay  with  music,  and  colored  lanterns  light  the 
shops.  Every  year  from  December  16  to  24  the  colorful  ceremony  of 
Los  Posados  (the  lodgings),  telling  the  story  of  Mary's  journey  to 
Bethlehem  in  search  of  a  birthplace  for  Jesus,  is  enacted.  Another  rite, 
on  the  Saturday  before  Ash  Wednesday,  is  the  Blessing  of  the  Animals, 
when  a  varied  assortment  of  beasts  is  led  through  the  street  to  receive 
a  priest's  blessing. 

The  AVILA  ADOBE  (open  9  a.m.-n  p.m.  daily;  adm.  io<f;),  14 
Olvera  St.,  now  a  private  museum,  was  the  home  of  Don  Francisco 
Avila,  alcalde  of  the  pueblo  in  the  early  nineteenth  century.  After 
Avila's  death  in  1831,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  widow,  Dona 
Encarnacion.  Occupied  by  Commodore  Robert  F.  Stockton  in  1847,  it 
was  damaged  by  an  earthquake  in  1857  and  restored  along  with  Olvera 
Street  in  1929.  Today,  only  one  wing  remains  of  the  L-shaped  i8-room 
mansion. 

LA  GOLONDRINA,  35  Olvera  Street,  a  two-story  brick  house,  was 
built  before  1865,  when  Antonio  Pelanconi  purchased  it  for  use  as  a 
winery,  one  of  the  first  in  Los  Angeles.  Only  the  hand-grooved  bal- 
cony, the  beams,  and  the  fireplace  of  the  original  structure  remain. 

LA  ZANJA  MADRE  FOUNTAIN  (the  mother  ditch),  opposite  35 
Olvera  St.,  is  an  unpretentious  stucco  monument  commemorating  the 
great  open  ditch  that  in  early  days  supplied  the  pueblo  with  water  from 
the  Los  Angeles  River.  A  diagonal  band  of  brick  in  the  paving  of 
Olvera  Street  marks  the  line  of  the  ancient  canal. 

4.  The  LUGO  HOUSE,  516-22  N.  Los  Angeles  St.,  one  of  the 
first  two-story  adobe  buildings  in  the  city,  and  the  only  one  remaining, 
was  built  in  1840  by  Don  Vicente  Lugo.     In  1865  it  housed  St.  Vin- 
cent's  College,   the   first   college   in   southern    California,    now   Loyola 
University.    The  building  with  its  hip  roof,  dormers,  and  frame  siding 
retains   little   of   its   original   appearance,    and    is   now   occupied    by   a 
Chinese  curio  shop. 

5.  The  OLD  PICO  HOUSE,  4^0  N.  Main  St.,  a  hotel  built  in 
1869  by  Pio  Pico,  who  was  the  last  Mexican  Governor  of  the  State, 
became  the  rendezvous  of  the  elite  of  the  Southwest  because  it  had  bath- 
tubs and  gaslight.     Both  the  corner  restaurant  and  the  poolroom  on 
Plaza  Street  lead  to  a  small  patio. 


2l6        CALIFORNIA 

6.  The  BAKER  BUILDING,  N.  Main  and  Arcadia  Sts.,  a  broad 
three-story   structure,   designed   in   the   manner   of   the    French   second 
Empire,  with  classic  arcades,  central  tower,  and  corner  turrets,  mansard 
roof  and  large  dormers,  was  built  in  the  late  nineteenth  century  by 
Col.  R.  S.  Baker. 

7.  The   KONG   CHEW   CHINESE   TEMPLE    (usually    open 
until  5  p.m.),  2i$l/2   Ferguson  Alley,  is  one  flight  above  the   street. 
Inside  are  intricately  wrought  wood  carvings  bright  with  gold  tinsel, 
large  umbrellas  carried  by  priests  during  street  ceremonies,   and  two 
Oriental  gods. 

8.  The  LOS  ANGELES  UNION  PASSENGER  TERMINAL, 
N.  Alameda  St.  between  Aliso  and  Macy  Sts.,  designed  under  the  super- 
vision of  Donald  B.  Parkinson,  is  a  T-shaped  group  of  30  low,  white- 
stucco,  red-tile-roofed  buildings  of  modified  mission  architecture,  topped 
with  a  135-foot  clock  tower.     The  terminal  of  the  Southern  Pacific, 
Union  Pacific,  and  Santa  Fe  railroads;  the  large  main  structure  and  the 
smaller  buildings  are  separated   by  narrow  areas  designed   to   absorb 
earthquake  shock.     The  plan  of  the  main  building  includes  a  vestibule, 
a  concourse,  a  large  arcade,  and  a  waiting  room.     Flanking  the  waiting 
room  are  two  large  patios;  east  of  the  south  patio  is  the  reception  hall 
adjoining  the  departure  and  arrival  lobby.     Leading  from  this  lobby  is 
a  passenger  tunnel  with  ramps  giving  access  to  eight  platforms  and  six- 
teen tracks. 

9.  In  the  JAPANESE  THEATER  (admission  varying,  sometimes 
free),  323  Jackson  St.,  the  colony's  residents  gather  for  funerals,  dances, 
and  occasional  performances  by  imported  Japanese  actors.     A  three- 
story  brick  building,  it  houses  stores  and  offices  on  the  ground  floor. 
The  theater  on  the  second  floor  seats  1,300. 

10.  The  JAPANESE  TEMPLE  (open  10-9  daily,  Japanese  serv- 
ices 7  p.m.  Sun.;  English  services  7  p.m.   Wed.;  admittance  through 
office  at  lig  S.  Central  Ave.  when  temple  proper  is  closed),  E.   1st  St. 
and  Central  Ave.,  was  built  in  1925.     The  temple,  a  three-story  brick 
building,  is  reached  by  stairs  leading  to  the  second  floor.     The  temple 
altar  is  intricately  carved  and  covered  with  gold  leaf. 

11.  CATHEDRAL  OF  ST.  VIBIANA  (open  6  a.m.-8  p.m.),  2nd 
and  Main  Sts.,  was  Los  Angeles'  first  Roman  Catholic  cathedral,  opened 
in  1876.     It  was  made  the  seat  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia in  the  fall  of  1936.     Cruciform  in 'plan,  the  design  of  the  classic 
edifice  is  based  upon  that  of  the  church  of  San  Miguel  del   Puerto, 
Barcelona,   Spain.     A  relic  of   St.   Vibiana,   the  child   saint,   allegedly 
recovered  from  the  Roman  catacombs,  reposes  in  its  original  brass-bound 
casket  in  a  niche  in  the  upper  part  of  the  main  altar. 

12.  COURT  FLIGHT   (round  trip  fare  ^) ,   151   S.  Broadway, 
built  in   1903,  is  the  smaller  of  the  city's  two  cable  railways.     The 
lumbering  wooden  cars  pass  each  other  along  rows  of  palm  trees,  travel- 
ing with  occasional  short  jerks  from  top  to  bottom,  but  have  never  had 
a  serious  accident. 


LOS     ANGELES        217 

13.  The  LOS  ANGELES  TIMES  BUILDING  (conducted  tours 
3  p.m.  weekdays  j  2:30  p.m.  Sat.;  reservations  2  days  in  advance;  free), 
202  W.  First  St.,  designed  by  Gordon  B.  Kaufman,  is  the  new  home  of 
The  Los  Angeles'  Times,  one  of  the  city's  three  morning  newspapers. 
The  modern  setback  structure  (1935)  nas  a  lofty  central  section  flanked 
with  massive  buttress  piers  and  low  four-story  wings.     On  a  base  of 
polished  black  granite  rises  pinkish  granite  to  the  second  floor,  above 
which  the  walls  are  of  cream-colored  limestone,  with  dark  metal  window 
frames.     On  the  face  of  the  towering  section  is  a  large  clock,  illum- 
inated with  red  and  blue  neon  lights,  and  surmounting  the  roof  is  the 
bronze  eagle  that  survived  the  dynamiting  of  the  old  First-and-B road- 
way plant  in  1910. 

The  entrance  of  polished  red  granite  opens  into  a  rotunda,  in  which 
is  a  large  aluminum  globe,  set  in  a  bronze  standard  and  revolving  within 
a  bronze  band  showing  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.  The  floor  and 
walls  of  the  rotunda  are  finished  in  colorful  mosaic  and  marble.  Above 
the  base  are  rust-colored  murals,  executed  by  Hugo  Ballin,  depicting 
various  phases  of  newspaper  production.  A  private  power  plant  drives 
the  great  Hoe  presses,  capable  of  printing  320,000  thirty- two-page 
papers  an  hour.  On  the  fifth  floor  are  remote-control  broadcasting 
studios  and  an  auditorium  seating  2,000. 

14.  The  CIVIC  CENTER   (all  buildings  open  8-5  weekdays)   is 
bounded  by  Main  St.  on  the  east,  Broadway  on  the  west,  1st  St.  on  the 
south,  and  Temple  St.  on  the  north. 

The  CITY  HALL  (top- floor  observation  balcony  open  9-3;  guides,  free), 
200  N.  Spring  St.,  the  city's  tallest  building,  rising  from  its  block-square 
grounds  to  a  height  of  464  feet,  is  visible  for  miles  around.  Designed  by 
Parkins,  Martin,  and  Austin,  it  is  dominated  by  a  buttressed  skyscraper 
tower,  capped  with  a  stepped  pyramid  dome  resting  on  a  square  colon- 
naded base.  The  Lindbergh  airplane  beacon  is  at  the  apex.  The  central 
tower  soars  above  a  four-story  base  and  flanking  wings.  The  exterior  is 
finished  in  granite  and  glazed  terra  cotta.  Notable  among  its  rooms  are 
the  basillica  type  city  council  chamber,  with  beamed  ceiling  and  Italian 
marble  columns ;  the  session  room  of  the  board  of  public  works,  with  blue, 
green,  and  gold  arcades  at  each  end;  and  the  mayor's  reception  room,  with 
teakwood  floor  and  redwood  ceiling,  adorned  with  coats  of  arms. 

U.  S.  POST  OFFICE  AND  COURT  HOUSE,  312  N.  Spring  St.,  de- 
signed by  G.  Stanley  Underwood,  is  an  i8-story  structure  of  neo-Classic 
design,  opened  in  January  1939.  The  building  houses  the  main  post  office, 
some  60  United  States  Government  departments  and  bureaus,  and  Federal 
courts. 

The  exterior,  finished  in  white  ceramics  with  a  granite  base,  is  entirely 
without  embellishment.  The  central  section  rises  above  a  broad  three-  and 
four-story  base.  Its  dark  metal  windows  and  white  piers  emphasize  the 
vertical  lines  of  the  exterior.  On  either  side  of  both  the  Main  and  Spring 
Street  entrances  are  two  flagpoles  with  bronze  bases  and  four  Doric  col- 
umns. Ceramic  medallions  adorned  with  eagles  flank  the  doors,  and  be- 
tween the  columns  are  aluminum  grills  bearing  the  seals  of  various  Federal 
departments.  Walls  of  the  public  lobbies  are  lined  with  rose  marble  and 
sienna  travertine. 

The  LOS  ANGELES  COUNTY  HALL  OF  JUSTICE,  Temple  St.  be- 
tween Broadway  and  Spring  Sts.,  occupying  a  city  block  and  rising  14 
stories  in  height  is  a  massive  limestone  and  granite  structure.  The  building 


2l8        CALIFORNIA 

erected  in  1925  is  designed  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style  with  rusticated 
stonework,  heavy  cornices,  and  crowning  two-story  colonnade.  The  build- 
ing houses  the  County  Jail  in  its  five  upper  stories. 

The  HALL  OF  RECORDS  between  First  and  Court  Sts.,  the  oldest  of 
Los  Angeles  County  public  buildings,  was  erected  in  1909.  A  gray  sand- 
stone and  marble  structure,  n  stories  high,  it  is  topped  with  corner  turrets 
and  dormers.  Here  are  the  offices  of  the  county  government  divisions, 
and  more  than  100,000  volumes  in  the  County  Law  Library.  In  the  office 
of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  on  the  nth  floor  are  old  prints  picturing  Los 
Angeles  as  it  was  in  1854,  in  1857,  and  later. 

The  modern  steel  and  concrete  STATE  BUILDING,  ist  and  Spring  Sts., 
consists  of  a  massive  main  section,  rising  above  two  nine-story  wings.  The 
interior  is  finished  with  gleaming  marble. 

(Downtown) 

15.  ANGEL'S  FLIGHT   (open  6  a.m.-i2  p.m.  daily;  round  trip 
fare  5^),  3rd  and  Hill  Sts.,  built  in  1901  by  Col.  J.  W.  Eddy,  is  a 
commercially  operated  miniature  cable  railway  transporting  passengers 
up  and  down  the  steep  slope  of  Bunker  Hill,  between  Hill  and  Olive 
Streets.     The  line  climbs  315  feet  up  the  33  1/3  percent  gradient  from 
its  starting  point  just  south  of  the  entrance  to  the  Third  Street  Tunnel. 
An  observation  tower  rises  100  feet  above  the  tunnel  mouth,  and  com- 
mands a  view  of  the  distant  San  Gabriel  Mountains. 

16.  PERSHING  SQUARE,  bounded  by  5th,  6th,  Hill  and  Olive 
Sts.,  Los  Angeles'  best-known  downtown  park,  has  walks  lined  with 
coco   palms;   the   central   plaza  with   its  ornamental   fountain   is   sur- 
rounded with  clusters  of  banana  trees.     In  the  park,  renamed  for  Gen- 
eral  Pershing  in   1918,   are  a   Spanish  War   Monument,   a  statue  of 
Beethoven,  a  World  War  Memorial,  a  bronze  Napoleonic  cannon,  and 
an  iron  cannon  from  the  U.  S.  S.  Constitution. 

17.  The  BILTMORE  HOTEL,  5th  and  Olive  Sts.,  opened  in 
1923  and  the  city's  largest  hostelry,  is  an  E-shaped,  stone  and  brick, 
12-story  structure  of  modified  Italian  Renaissance  style.     In  the  Galeria 
Real,  extending  the  full  length  of  the  hotel  from  the  5th  Street  en- 
trance, is  the  BILTMORE  ART  SALON   (open  10-9  weekdays),  in  which 
exhibitions  of  oils  and  etchings  from  the  fifteenth  century  to  the  pres- 
ent day  are  changed  monthly. 

1 8.  The  EDISON  BUILDING   (open  8-5  Mon.-Fri.),  5th  St. 
and  Grand  Ave.,    1 3-story  home  of  the   Southern   California   Electric 
Power  combine,  designed  by  Allison  and  Allison,  is  in  the  setback  style, 
with  offsets  at  the  third,  fourth,  twelfth  and  thirteenth  floors.     It  is 
constructed  of  granite,  limestone,  and  terra  cotta  in  harmonizing  cream- 
colored  hues,  with  delicate  terra  cotta  ornamentations  of  modern  design. 
After  dark  the  central  tower  is  brightly  illuminated,  its  crown  of  neon 
lights  standing  out  sharply  against  the   skyline.     A  corner   octagonal 
entrance  pavilion,  embellished  with  sculptures,  leads  to  the  huge  marble 
lobby  with  Hugo  Ballin's  allegorical  mural,  Power. 

19.  The  LOS  ANGELES  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  (open  9-9  week- 
days;   readingroom    only    open    1-9  p.m.   Sun.   and   holidays) ,    5th    St. 
between  Flower  St.  and  Grand  Ave.,  rises  from  the  crest  of  a  low  hill 


LOS     ANGELES        219 

beyond  cypress-fringed  flights  of  steps  and  tile-inlaid  lily  ponds.  Massed 
shrubbery  and  trees  dot  its  rolling  lawns  used  in  summertime  as  "out- 
door reading  rooms."  Of  buff-colored  stucco,  the  low  buttressed  struc- 
ture is  capped  with  a  1 88-foot  square  tower,  topped  with  a  mosaic 
pyramid.  Surmounting  the  pyramid  is  a  sculptured  hand  bearing  a 
torch.  The  structure  is  the  work  of  Bertram  Goodhue. 

The  interior  of  the  building  is  decorated  with  many  sculptures, 
murals,  and  frescoes.  The  theme  of  the  sculptural  decorations,  executed 
by  Lee  Lawrie,  is  centered  in  the  illuminated  book,  symbolized  by  the 
torch  of  knowledge  which  is  handed  down  from  age  to  age  by  the  great 
literary  figures  of  all  time.  The  murals  in  the  History  Room,  by 
Albert  Herter,  depict  dramatic  episodes  in  California  history,  while 
those  by  Dean  Cornwell,  in  the  rotunda,  are  designed  in  the  manner  of 
a  fifteenth  century  tapestry,  suggesting  rather  than  portraying  epoch- 
making  events.  The  interior  is  further  enriched  with  frescoes  painted 
by  artists  on  the  Public  Works  Art  Project. 

The  Central  Library,  completed  in  1926,  is  the  main  unit  of  the 
municipal  library  system. 

20.  The  SUNKIST  BUILDING  (open  9-5  weekdays),  705  W. 
5th  St.,  standing  on  the  flank  of  steep  Bunker  Hill,  is  headquarters  of 
the  California  Fruit  Growers  Exchange.  The  U-shaped  structure,  with 
roof  garden,  was  designed  by  Walker  and  Eisen  in  the  modern  manner 
with  emphasis  on  simple  mass  and  vertical  lines.  It  is  constructed  of 
reinforced  concrete,  with  a  marble  and  aluminum  entrance  opening  into 
a  lobby  adorned  with  colorfully  decorated  ceiling  beams. 

21.  The  RICHFIELD  BUILDING  (open  8-5  Mon.-Fri.),  NW. 
corner  6th  and  Flower  Sts.,  designed  by  Morgan- Walls  and  Clemens, 
is  particularly  striking  in  its  black  masonry  and  gold  terra  cotta  trim 
symbolizing  the  "black  gold"  of  the  oil  industry.     One  of  Los  Angeles' 
few  set-back  skyscrapers  (371  feet),  the  massive  exterior  is  lined  with 
narrow  vertical  piers.     Above  the  main  entrance  are  heroic  figures  in 
gold    by    Haig    Patigian,    representing    Aviation,    Postal    Service,    In- 
dustry,  and   Commerce.     The  building  is  surmounted  with   a  metal 
tower. 

22.  The  LOS  ANGELES  STOCK  EXCHANGE    (open  7-11 
a.m.  by  invitation  of  members  only),  618  S.  Spring  St.,  is  a  squarely 
built  modern   12-story  structure.     The  granite  facade,  with  its  fluted 
pylons  and  bronze  reliefs,  is  windowless,  except  for  two  narrow  grilled 
apertures  at  the  second  floor.     Completed  in   1930,  the  structure  also 
houses  the   Stock  Exchange   Club   and  the   Stock   Exchange   Institute. 
The  boardroom  of  the  Stock  Exchange  is  the  largest  outside  of  New 
York  City,  and  the  Stock  Exchange  floor  is  modeled  after  that  of  the 
New  York  Exchange. 

(North  and  East) 

23.  ELYSIAN   PARK    (open   6  a.m. -8  p.m.   daily),  entrance   N. 
Broadway  and  Los  Angeles  River,  is  a  6oo-acre  municipal  park,  with 


220        CALIFORNIA 

seven  miles  of  paved  roads  twisting  in  hairpin  curves  through  arroyo- 
gashed  hills,  a  matted  tangle  of  wild  roses,  creepers,  blue  gum  eucalyptus 
trees,  drooping  pepper  trees,  and  gnarled  live  oaks.  Ten  miles  of  foot 
trails  lead  through  canyons  and  up  steep  hills.  From  Point  Grand 
View,  a  rustic  lookout,  is  a  view  of  the  city  and  mountains  beyond.  In 
Memorial  Grove  are  trees  with  bronze  tablets  in  memory  of  the  World 
War  dead.  The  park  has  a  recreation  lodge,  and  picnic  grounds,  with 
free  firewood  and  water.  Elysian  Park  has  been  so  popular  that  much 
land  has  been  added  to  the  original  5OO-acre  park  established  in  1886. 
A  landslide  in  1938  revealed  a  forgotten  tunnel  that  provided  an  auxil- 
iary water  supply  for  the  city  in  the  iSyo's.  The  PORTO LA-CRESPI 
MONUMENT,  left  of  the  park  entrance,  is  a  granite  boulder.  Here, 
on  August  2,  1769,  Don  Gaspar  de  Portola  and  Padre  Juan  Crespi, 
leading  the  first  overland  exploration  of  California,  pitched  camp  on  the 
site  of  the  future  city. 

24.  EL  ALISAL   (open  on  application  at  Southwest  Museum},  a 
large  house  on  the  west  side  of  the  Arroyo  Seco  at  Avenue  43,  is  named 
for  the  giant  sycamore  tree  around  which  it  was  built  and  which  still 
towers  from  the  patio  high  above  the  Spanish  roof  of  the  very  un-Spanish 
stone  building.     Charles  F.   ("Don  Carlos")   Lummis,  who  arrived  in 
Los  Angeles  in  the  i88o's  after  a  3,507-mile  marathon  hike,  built  the 
house  with  his  own  hands,  aided  only  by  a  young  Indian  boy.     He  is 
remembered  not  only  for  his  Promethean  cultural  activities  but  for  his 
prolific  publicity  of  the  region. 

25.  SYCAMORE  GROVE,  N.  Figueroa  St.  and  Sycamore  Park 
Dr.,  is  a  15-acre  plot  of  lawns  studded  with  giant  sycamores.     Since 
its  establishment  as  a  park  in  1905,  it  has  been  used  frequently  for  those 
State  picnics  so  typical  of  Los  Angeles,  at  which  the  city's  adopted 
citizens  congregate  to  reminisce  about  days  "back  home."     The  park 
provides   free  stoves,   firewood,   tables,   tennis  courts,   and   playground 
equipment  for  children. 

26.  CASA  DE  ADOBE  (open  2-5  Wed.,  Sun.},  4605  N.  Figueroa 
St.,  built  by  the  Southwest  Museum,  is  a  replica  of  a  typical  California 
dwelling  of  the  early  nineteenth  century.     One  room  contains  a  display 
of  numerous  household  articles;  the  others  are  arranged  and  furnished 
in  keeping  with  the  period.     Walks  shaded  with  grapevines  divide  the 
gardens,  which  contain  many  varieties  of  cactus. 

27.  The  SOUTHWEST  MUSEUM   (open  I  p.m.-5  p.m.  daily 
except  Mon.,  Christmas,  Independence  Day,  and  during  Aug.},  Mar- 
mion  Way  and  Museum  Drive,  overlooks  the  Arroyo  Seco  and  Sycamore 
Grove.     Opened  in   1914,  the  white  concrete  building,  without  orna- 
mentation, has  a  tile-roofed  tower  at  one  end  and  a  high  square  tower 
at  the  other.     The  museum  contains  relics  and  art  of   the  primitive 
peoples  of  Western  America,  collected  by  the  Southwest  Society  of  the 
Archeological  Society  of  America,  founded  in  1903. 

A  bright  MAYAN  PORTAL,  designed  in  the  manner  of  the  portal  of 
the  House  of  Nuns  at  Chichen  Itza,  in  Yucatan,  forms  the  entrance 
to  a  26o-foot  tunnel  leading  into  the  base  of  the  hill  on  which  the 


LOS     ANGELES        221 

building  stands.  Dioramas  on  the  sides  of  the  tunnel  depict  the  history 
of  the  primitive  Asian  men  who  settled  the  Western  American  coast. 

An  elevator  runs  to  the  LOWER  LOBBY,  108  feet  above,  containing 
American  Indian  exhibits.  In  the  south  wing  is  the  SOUTHWESTERN 
INDIANS  ROOM,  with  relics  and  modern  handicraft  of  the  "sky-dwell- 
ing" Pueblos,  and  of  the  nomadic  Navajo  and  Mojave.  In  the  NORTH- 
WESTERN INDIANS  ROOM,  directly  north  are  displays  of  Alaska  and 
British  Columbia  Indians'  handicraft — carved  ivory,  blankets,  and 
elaborately  carved  and  stained  totem  poles. 

From  the  lower  lobby  the  center  stairway  leads  to  the  PLAINS 
INDIAN  ROOM,  displaying  a  tepee  of  tanned  skins,  clothing  and  weapons 
of  Blackfeet,  Cheyenne,  Crow  and  Arapaho.  The  adjoining  room  on 
the  north  is  the  PREHISTORIC  PUEBLO  INDIANS  TOWER,  containing 
relics  from  Southwestern  cliff  dwellings — fabrics  woven  from  yucca 
and  turkey  feathers,  and  colored  with  brilliant  vegetable  dyes. 

In  the  south  wing  of  the  same  floor  is  the  AUDITORIUM  (lectures  on 
Indians  and  Southwestern  history,  travel  and  exploration,  at  J  p.m. 
Sun.,  Nov.-Mar.;  free).  West  of  the  Auditorium  is  the  TORRANCE 
TOWER  (open  by  special  permission)  which  contains  the  Library  of  the 
Southwest,  a  collection  of  works  on  archeology,  ethnology,  and  primi- 
tive art  of  the  Southwest  and  Spanish-America. 

The  HOPI  TRAIL,  resembling  the  stone  trails  of  the  Hopi  "sky 
cities"  in  northern  Arizona,  leads  from  the  lower  lobby  to  the  base  of 
the  hill. 

28.  OCCIDENTAL  COLLEGE,  1600  Campus  Rd.,  is  housed  in 
a  group  of  modified  Spanish  Renaissance  buildings  in  a  spacious  and 
eucalyptus-planted  campus  of  95  acres.     On  the  slope  of  a  low  range 
of  hills,  Occidental  has  frequently  been  the  setting  of  "college"  movies. 

The  present  nonsectarian,  co-educational  college  was  founded  in 
1888  by  a  group  of  Presbyterian  ministers  and  laymen.  First  situated 
on  Boyle  Heights,  it  was  removed  to  Highland  Park  after  fire  destroyed 
it  in  1896.  In  1910  the  college  became  nonsectarian,  and  in  1914 
acquired  the  present  campus. 

Approximately  750  students  here  study  liberal  arts  and  natural 
sciences  under  a  faculty  of  70  members;  a  graduate  school  grants  the 
Master  of  Arts  degree.  Notable  alumni  include  Dr.  Arthur  Young, 
financial  adviser  to  the  Chinese  Government,  Robinson  Jeffers,  the 
widely  known  poet,  and  Raymond  Leslie  Buell,  director  of  the  Foreign 
Policy  Association.  There  are  14  major  buildings,  most  of  them 
donated  by  alumni  and  friends;  an  athletic  field,  gymnasiums,  a  swim- 
ming pool,  tennis  courts,  the  outdoor  Hillside  Theater  seating  5,000 
persons,  a  5O,ooo-volume  library,  and  a  large  concrete  auditorium. 

29.  ARROYO   SECO   PARK   (dry  creek),   entrance  Avenue  60 
and  Arroyo  Drive,  a  276-acre  plot  of  decorative  greenery  planted  in 
the  dry  gully  and  on  the  surrounding  irregular  hills  of  the  seasonally 
torrential  Arroyo  Seco,  has  four  bowling  greens,  two  baseball  diamonds, 
five  tennis  courts,  bridle  and  hiking  paths,  a  maypole,  picnic  grounds, 
and  children's  play  apparatus. 


222        CALIFORNIA 

30.  ZOO  PARK  (open  9-5  daily;  adults  35$,  children  10$),  3800 
Mission  Road,  is  one  of  the  largest  zoos  in  California,  with  more  than 
600  animals,  some  of  them  trained.     They  are   fed  at  2 130  and  put 
through  their  paces  at  3  p.m.     The  zoo,  now  controlled  by  the  Cali- 
fornia Zoological   Society,  occupies  the  site  of  the  old   Selig  Motion 
Picture  Studios. 

31.  The  ALLIGATOR  FARM  (open  9-6  daily;  adults  25$,  chil- 
dren 10^),  3627  Mission  Road,  contains  1,000  alligators,  some  as  small 
as  lizards ;  others  of  immense  size  are  reputedly  500  years  old.     Visitors 
can  watch  the  reptiles  slide  down  chutes  and  see  their  eggs  in  incubators. 

32.  The  LOS  ANGELES  OSTRICH  FARM   (open  9-6  daily; 
adults  25$,  children  10^),  3609  Mission  Road,  has  30  or  more  full- 
grown  birds. 

33.  LINCOLN  PARK,  bounded  by  Mission  Road  and  Alhambra 
Ave.,  containing  eucalyptus-shaded  picnic  grounds  and  a  six-acre  lake 
for  boating,  has  two  tennis  courts,  a  merry-go-round,  children's  play 
apparatus,   four  horseshoe  courts,  and  a  conservatory  of  rare  tropical 
plants. 

34.  COUNTY   HOSPITAL    (visiting  hours  7-8  p.m.  weekdays, 
2-4  p.m.  Sun.;  tours  with  guide  2-3  p.m.  Fri.),  1200  N.  State  St.,  occu- 
pies 123  structures  on  a  56-acre  site.    The  ACUTE  UNIT,  the  main  build- 
ing, is  a  massive,  set-back  structure  with  soaring  vertical  lines  rising  20 
stones  from  a  slight  eminence.     It  is  visible  from  most  of  the  hilly  east- 
ern section  of  the  city.     The  building  is  constructed  of  steel  and  rein- 
forced concrete  with  ample  fenestration,  31  acres  of  floor  space,  a  large 
kitchen,  75  wards,   16  major  surgeries  and  4  maternity  delivery  suites. 
The  unit,  designed  by  60  local  architects,  was  completed  in  1932. 

Among  the  other  hospital  units,  on  the  western  section  of  the 
grounds,  are  the  OSTEOPATHIC  BUILDING,  the  PSYCHOPATHIC  BUILD- 
ING, the  COMMUNICABLE  DISEASES  BUILDING,  and  the  INTERNES' 
HOME.  The  hospital's  capacity  is  3,600  patients,  the  average  daily 
patient  load  about  2,500.  Full-time  physicians  number  237,  attending 
physicians  525,  and  nurses  1,200. 

The  institution  was  founded  in  an  adobe  house  on  North  Main 
Street  in  1858  and  operated  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  A  two-story 
frame  hospital  was  erected  on  the  present  site  in  1878. 

35.  CHURCH    OF   OUR   LADY   OF  LOURDES    (open   all 
hours),  3772  E.  3rd  St.,  designed  by  L.  G.  Scherer  in  the  form  of  a 
Spanish  mission  church  but  highly  stylized  in  its  modern  treatment  of 
traditional  architecture,   is  dominated  by  a  lofty  corner  tower.     The 
building  is  notable  for  its  fine  metal  and  stone  grills  and  the  gleaming 
metal  cap  of  the  tower.     The  traditional  beamed  ceiling  of  the  nave 
contrasts  with  the  modern  peaked  arches  bordering  the  side  aisles  and 
the  stepped  silhouette  of  the  chancel  arch.     Over  the  altar  is  a  slender 
baldachino. 


LOS     ANGELES        223 

(Wilshire  and  Northwest} 

36.  ECHO  PARK,  a  31 -acre  tract  extending  from  Temple  St.  to 
Park  Ave.,  encloses  a  willow-fringed  lake  that  up  to   1891    furnished 
power  for  an  early  woolen  mill.     In  the  park  are  a  community  building, 
four-and-one-half-acre  playground  along  Bellevue  Avenue,  two  outdoor 
gymnasiums,  and  a  wading  pool  for  children. 

37.  ANGELUS   TEMPLE    (open   9:30-4:30;   daily   services   10 
a.m.,  I  p.m.,  2:30  p.m.,  7:30  p.m.;  guides},   noo  Glendale  Blvd.,  a1 
huge  rotund  edifice,  bustles  with  the  energetic  evangelism  of  its  moving 
spirit,  Mrs.  Aimee  Semple  McPherson.     Some  4,000  sightseers  are  con- 
ducted through  this  Church  of  the  Four-square  Gospel  each  month  to 
gaze  on  the  domed  auditorium  seating  5,300  persons;  the  stage  on  which 
sermons  are  dramatized ;  the  organ  that  can  simulate  the  tones  of  40 
different  instruments;  the  stained-glass  windows  depicting  the  life  of 
Christ  (one  presented  by  Gypsies)  ;  and  the  mural  depicting  the  return 
of  Christ  under  an  enormous  American  flag.     Then  there  is  the  prayer 
tower,  in  which  prayer  has  been  continuously  said  in  two-hour  shifts 
since  the  building  was  opened  in  1923;  the  control  room  of  the  temple's 
radio  station,   KFSG;  and  the  communion  service  set  of  5,300  cups. 
Adjoining  the  temple  is  the  ministerial  training  school,  known  as  the 
Lighthouse  of  International  Four-square  Evangelism.     In  the  children's 
church  youngsters  conduct  as  well  as  attend  services.     Additional  re- 
ligious facilities  include  a  music  conservatory,  a  kindergarten,  a  charity 
commissary,  a  free  employment  bureau,  a  salvage  department,  a  printing 
plant,   and   Mrs.   McPherson's  home,  with  a  roof  garden  above  the 
temple  book  store. 

38.  GRIFFITH   PARK    (open  6  a.m.-8  p.m.  daily},  at  Griffith 
Park  Drive  and  Riverside  Drive,  is  a  3,76i-acre  slice  of  the  easternmost 
of  the  Santa  Monica  Mountains.    A  highway  runs  through  valleys  and 
rises  in  tortuous  curves   through   the   sere   hills,   offering  a   panorama 
of  the  mountains  to  the  west  and  the  ocean  on  clear  days.     The  park 
has  been  left  largely  in  its  original  state.     Originally  part  of  Rancho 
Los  Feliz,  it  was  donated  to  the  city  March  5,  1898,  by  the  last  owner, 
Col.  Griffith  J.  Griffith. 

GRIFFITH  PARK  ZOO  (open  8-5  daily]  is  impressive  for  its  rugged 
mountain  setting.  The  cages  and  pens  are  scattered  along  the  top  of  the 
low  hills  of  the  zoo  grounds. 

The  GREEK  THEATER  (admission  varying  'with  performance},  shel- 
tered in  Vermont  Canyon,  is  an  amphitheater  of  simple  Doric  design.  The 
three-story  stage  was  erected  in  1930,  and  serves  for  memorial  services, 
conventions,  concerts,  ballets,  and  drama.  The  open-air  tiers  of  seats  ac- 
commodate more  than  4,000  persons. 

The  BIRD  SANCTUARY  (open  8-5  daily],  at  the  head  of  Vermont 
Canyon,  was  dedicated  in  1925  by  the  Audubon  Society.  A  high  metal 
fence  around  the  confine  protects  the  birds  against  natural  enemies,  and 
the  30  to  50  varieties  disport  themselves  in  utmost  confidence  against  moles- 
tation; they  are  fed  once  a  day. 

The  OBSERVATORY  AND  PLANETARIUM  (open  11-11  weekdays, 
2-n  Sun.;  free ;  planetarium  demonstrations  3  and  8:30  p.m.  daily;  adm. 


224        CALIFORNIA 

25$),  designed  by  John  C.  Austin,  is  built  on  a  spur  of  foothills.  Before  the 
entrance  is  a  dedicatory  obelisk,  designed  by  Archibald  Garner,  bearing 
the  names  and  dates  of  the  world's  great  astronomers.  Surmounting  the 
shaft  is  the  early  astronomical  instrument,  the  astrolabe.  Inside  the  build- 
ing are  observatory  exhibits,  and  a  large  model  of  the  moon;  a  creeping 
light  is  thrown  on  it  to  represent  the  sun  and  reveal  the  changing  shadows, 
mountains,  craters,  as  they  would  appear  from  a  distance  of  500  miles. 
Other  exhibits  cover  the  fields  of  electricity,  optics,  spectroscopy,  electronics, 
geology,  and  chemistry.  At  night  the  12-inch  refractor  telescopes  allow 
visitors  a  view  of  the  celestial  bodies. 

39.  WESTLAKE  PARK,  entrance  Wilshire  Blvd.  and  Alvarado 
St.,  is  cut  in  two  by  the  Wilshire  Boulevard  viaduct.     This  32-acre 
park  in  the  heart  of  one  of  Los  Angeles'  most  densely  populated  sections 
is  shady  and  landscaped,  and  fringes  a  small  artificial  lake.     Free  band 
concerts  are  given  on  Sunday  afternoons.     On  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
lake  is  a  cream-colored  stucco  boathouse.     The  park  contains  a  sculp- 
tured figure  of  Prometheus  giving  fire  to  the  world,  and  a  bronze  statue 
of  Gen.  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  for  years  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Los 
Angeles  Times. 

40.  OTIS    ART    INSTITUTE    (open   3-4    weekdays;    guides), 
Wilshire  Blvd.  and  Park  View  St.,  is  a  two-story  stucco  building  of 
Mission  architecture,  with  Corinthian  columns  at  its  portal.     In  the 
side  yard,  visible  from  the  boulevard,  is  a  stone  miniature  of  the  old 
Los  Angeles   Times  building,  dynamited  in   1910  as  the  climax  to  a 
savage  war  waged  by  that  paper  against  organized  labor.     Formerly 
the  home  of  General  Otis,  the  Institute  is  now  an  adjunct  to  the  Los 
Angeles  County  Museum  of  History,  Science,  and  Art. 

41.  IMMANUEL  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  (admission  by 
application  at  office},  Wilshire  Blvd.  and  Berendo  St.,  designed  with 
the  Germanic  serenity  of  a  northern  Gothic  cathedral,  has  a  2O7-foot 
tower.     Five  lancet  windows  rise  to  the  immense  rose  window  portray- 
ing the  Nativity  in  stained  glass.     Within,  the  Gothic  hammer-beam 
trusses  of  the  ceiling,  columns  and  arches,  oak  furnishings,  and  huge 
Gothic  chandeliers  harmonize  with  the  massive  dignity  of  the  exterior. 

42.  The  AMBASSADOR  HOTEL,  3400  Wilshire  Blvd.,  a  vast 
rambling  structure  with  spreading  tile-roofed  wings,  sits  far  back  from 
the  street  in  a  huge  expanse  of  lawn.     The  hotel  has  its  own  swimming 
pool,  playground,  shopping  center,  and  movie  theater. 

43.  The  WILSHIRE  BOULEVARD  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 
(admission  by  application  at  office),  Wilshire   Blvd.   and   Normandie 
Ave.,  designed  by  Robert  H.  Orr,  is  distinguished  by  its  west  facade 
cartwheel  window,  based  upon  that  of  the  Rheims  Cathedral  in  France. 
Romanesque  in  style,  with  basilica  type  auditorium  and  soaring  cam- 
panile, the  church  recalls  the  churches  of  northern  Italy. 

44.  B'NAI   B'RITH   TEMPLE    (open  for  services  8  p.m.  FrL, 
10: 30  a.m.  Sat.),  Wilshire  and   Hobart   Blvds.,   is   the   city's   largest 
Jewish  temple.     Dominating  the  temple  is  an  immense  135-foot  dome, 
inlaid  with  mosaic,  surrounded  with  the  minaretlike  pinnacles  of  the 
octagonal   main  auditorium.     Broad   stone   steps  lead  to   three  arched 


LOS     ANGELES        225 

entrances,  above  which  is  a  huge  rose  window.  Within,  Byzantine 
columns  of  black  Belgian  marble  rise  to  the  majestic  domed  ceiling, 
finished  in  dull  gold,  from  which  hang  chandeliers  of  bronze.  The 
altar,  ark,  and  choir  screen  are  of  carved,  inlaid,  dark  walnut,  and 
framed  in  marble  and  mosaic.  The  walls  are  enriched  by  Hugo  Ballin's 
Warner  Memorial  paintings,  depicting  Biblical  and  post-Biblical  themes. 

45.  The  WILSHIRE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
(admission  by  application  at  office),  Wilshire  and  Plymouth  Blvds.,  is 
of  modified  Spanish  Romanesque  architecture.     The  design  of  the  in- 
terior is  dominated  by  a  large  rose  window  and  a  tall  corner  tower  with 
buttressed  and  pinnacled  belfry. 

46.  HANCOCK  PARK,  entrance  Wilshire  Blvd.  and  Curson  Ave., 
a  32-acre  preserve,  is  known  chiefly  for  the  LA  BREA  PITS,  near  the 
center  of  the  park.     They  are  ugly  bogs  with  subterranean  oil  and  tar 
bubbling  slowly  to  the  surface.    A  film  of  water  camouflages  the  sticky 
quagmire,  forming  a  trap  for  the  unwary,  as  it  did  in  ages  past  when 
prehistoric  animals  gathered  here  to  drink  and  were  caught  in  the  pre- 
servative  tar.      Birds   of   prey   and   carrion-eaters   fed   on   the   sinking 
animals  and  were  themselves  caught  in  the  pitch.     The  pits  are  the 
richest  source  of  Pleistocene  or  Ice  Age  remains  in  the  world.     Skeletal 
remains  of  the  only  American  peacock  ever  found,  of  sabre-tooth  tigers, 
Imperial  elephants,  woolly  mammoths,  giant  ground  sloths,  small  early 
camels,   condors,   Great  American   lions,   and   other  prehistoric  species 
have  been  removed  from  the  pits.     There  is  an  exhibit  of  La  Brea 
fossils  at  the  Los  Angeles  Museum  of  Science,   History  and  Art  in 
Exposition  Park.     A  restoration  of  Ice  Age  animals  floundering  in  the 
tar,  by  Charles  R.  Knight,  hangs  in  the  Field  Museum,  Chicago. 

The  Indians  used  the  pitch  to  waterproof  their  baskets  and  canoes. 
When  Governor  Portola  came  to  this  region  from  Mexico  in  1769,  he 
wrote,  "We  came  to  swamps  of  a  certain  material  like  pitch,  or  bitumen. 
We  debated  whether  this  substance  which  flows  melted  from  under- 
neath the  earth  could  occasion  so  many  earthquakes  as  we  noted  during 
our  sojourn  here."  Father  Serra  noted  in  his  journal,  "This  black  oily 
pitch  evidently  came  from  a  volcano  in  the  nearby  mountains." 

Early  settlers  used  the  tar  to  cover  their  adobe  houses,  and  when 
it  was  granted  to  Antonio  Rocha  in  1828  as  part  of  Rancho  La  Brea 
(tar),  Jose  Antonio  Carillo,  local  alcade,  stipulated  that  the  brea  pits 
be  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  people.  The  first  discovery  of  prehistoric 
remains  was  in  1906,  when  the  skeleton  of  a  giant  bear  was  found. 
Since  then  many  college  and  research  groups  have  explored  the  pits  and 
made  important  finds.  The  pits  are  in  a  productive  oil  area,  from  which 
great  quantities  of  petroleum  have  been  taken.  The  last  private  owner 
of  La  Brea,  G.  Allen  Hancock,  donated  the  park  to  the  city  in  1916. 

47.  The    CARTHAY    CIRCLE    THEATER,    6316    W.    San 
Vicente  Blvd.,  designed  by  Dwight  Gibbs  in  early  Spanish  style,  domi- 
nated by  a  high  tower  illuminated  at  night,  is  now  used  exclusively 
for  important  motion  picture  premieres.     Snow  White  and  the  Seven 
Dwarfs  and  Hurricane  had  their  first  showing  here.     Representative 


226        CALIFORNIA 

scenes  of  early  California  provide  the  decorative  motif.  In  the  first  floor 
lobby  is  a  painting,  California 's  First  Theater,  by  Frank  Tenney  John- 
son, picturing  the  Eagle  Theater  built  in  Sacramento  in  1849.  Another 
in  the  main  lobby  mezzanine,  Jedediah  Smith  at  San  Gabriel,  by  Alson 
Clark,  portrays  the  arrival  of  the  renowned  scout  at  San  Gabriel  Mis- 
sion on  November  27,  1826,  the  first  white  visitor  from  across  the  conti- 
nent. The  drop  curtain  depicts  An  Emigrant  Train  at  Donner  Lake, 
also  by  Frank  Tenney  Johnson,  a  tribute  to  the  survivors  of  the  ill-fated 
Donner  Party.  As  part  of  the  fountain  in  front  of  the  theater,  stands 
Henry  Lion's  PIONEER,  a  typical  forty-niner  of  gold  rush  days.  Beside 
the  theater  stands  a  Chinese  peach  tree,  with  a  plaque  recording  that 
Yi  Seng  Kiang,  Chinese  consul,  presented  it  to  commemorate  the  world 
premiere  of  the  motion  picture,  The  Good  Earth. 

Carthay  Center  bears  a  corruption  of  the  name  of  Daniel  O. 
McCarthy,  pioneer  of  '49,  whose  San  Francisco  paper,  the  American 
Flag,  helped  keep  California  within  the  Union  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War.  The  MCCARTHY  MEMORIAL  FOUNTAIN,  Vista  and  San 
Vicente  Blvd.,  a  bronze  basin  surmounted  with  the  figure  of  a  miner 
panning  the  gold,  bears  a  tablet  inscribed  to  "The  Gallant  Pioneers  of 
'49."  Nearby  is  a  stump  from  the  Petrified  Forest  north  of  San 
Francisco,  dedicated  by  the  Native  Sons  of  the  Golden  West  to  Galen 
Clark's  discovery  of  the  Mariposa  Big  Trees.  At  the  end  of  the  park- 
way, across  Commodore  Sloat  Drive,  is  a  boulder  inscribed  to  the 
memory  of  "Snowshoe"  Thompson,  pioneer  hero,  who  for  twenty  years 
carried  the  mails  over  California's  mountains  and  rescued  lost  travelers. 

48.  The  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  AN- 
GELES, campus  entrance  at  Westwood  Blvd.  and  Le  Conte  Ave., 
occupies  a  334-acre  grassy  campus  on  a  terraced  knoll  overlooking  val- 
leys, plains,  and  rolling  hills.  On  a  low  hilltop,  approached  by  a  monu- 
mental bridge  from  the  east  entrance  on  Hilgard  Avenue,  stand  the 
university's  terra  cotta,  brick  and  tile  central  buildings  of  Lombardic 
Romanesque  design,  grouped  about  a  central  esplanade.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  esplanade  is  JOSIAH  ROYCE  HALL,  housing  the  auditorium, 
classrooms,  and  faculty  offices,  named  for  the  eminent  American  philoso- 
pher, a  graduate  of  the  university.  Across  the  green  on  the  south  side 
is  the  large  red  brick  LIBRARY  BUILDING  dominated  by  its  enormous 
arcaded  octagonal  tower.  It  is  designed  in  the  early  Italian  Romanesque 
style  with  rich  brick  and  stone  ornamentations  of  Byzantine  Romanesque 
design.  Especially  notable  are  the  canopied  entrance,  the  striped  cours- 
ing of  the  lower  story,  and  the  arched  loggia  above  the  portal.  Both 
Royce  Hall  and  the  Library  were  designed  by  George  W.  Kelham. 

Simpler  in  detail  and  more  modern  in  treatment  are  the  lesser  build- 
ings grouped  to  the  east  and  south:  the  Chemistry-Geology,  Physics- 
Biology,  Administration,  and  Education  Buildings.  Westward  from 
the  esplanade,  an  imposing  brick  stairway  with  terra  cotta  balustrades 
descends  the  hill  to  the  men's  and  women's  Gymnasium  Buildings,  that 
repeat  the  Romanesque  motif.  Set  apart  from  the  main  group  southwest 
of  the  Education  Building  is  KERCKHOFF  HALL,  social  center  for  stu- 


LOS     ANGELES        227 

dents  and  faculty,  of  Tudor-Gothic  design  with  graceful  pinnacled 
tower,  oriel  bays,  and  leaded  windows.  Overlooking  the  campus  from 
the  north  is  the  Provost's  Residence.  Near  the  south  entrance  on  West- 
wood  Boulevard  are  a  Mechanic  Arts  Building,  shops,  and  an  outdoor 
amphitheater  seating  12,000. 

An  integral  part  of  the  University  of  California,  the  University  of 
California  at  Los  Angeles  grew  out  of  the  old  Los  Angeles  State 
Normal  School,  founded  in  1881.  In  1919  the  institution  became  the 
University  of  California,  Southern  Branch,  and  in  1927  the  University 
of  California  at  Los  Angeles.  It  outgrew  its  original  campus  and  in 
1925  a  new  site  in  Westwood  Hills  was  presented  to  the  Regents  by 
the  cities  of  Los  Angeles,  Santa  Monica,  Venice,  and  Beverly  Hills. 
The  new  campus  was  dedicated  in  September  1929. 

With  a  faculty  of  more  than  300,  the  university  offers  courses  in 
the  humanities,  sciences,  business  administration,  education  and  agri- 
culture, to  a  student  body  of  more  than  7,000.  The  University  Library 
has  a  collection  of  260,000  volumes  and  2,200  current  periodicals. 

49-  The  U.  S.  SOLDIERS'  HOME  (open  3-4  daily),  entrance 
Wilshire  Blvd.  and  Veteran  Ave.,  provides  free  hospitalization  for 
veterans  of  the  Civil,  Spanish-American,  and  World  Wars.  On  the 
rolling,  wooded,  7OO-acre  estate  are  almost  170  buildings.  Modern 
buildings  are  being  erected  (1939)  to  replace  the  old  rambling  wooden 
structures  dating  back  to  the  late  i88o's  when  the  home  was  estab- 
lished on  land  donated  to  the  Government. 

(Southwest) 

50.  ST.     VINCENT     DE     PAUL     ROMAN     CATHOLIC 
CHURCH    (always  open),   Figueroa   St.   and  W.  Adams  Blvd.,   de- 
signed by  Albert  C.  Martin,  is  an  imposing  white  edifice  in  the  Chur- 
rigueresque  style,  embellished  with  a  wealth  of  exterior  carvings  and 
statuary   in    Indiana   limestone.      Its   ornate   fagade   is   topped   with   a 
125-foot  corner  tower,  and  a  tile-inlaid  dome,  rising  majestically  from 
the  crossing.     The  interior  is  lavishly  embellished  with  murals,  poly- 
chromed  carving,  marble,  and  bronze.     The  high  altar  is  set  against  a 
retablo  of  morocco  red  marble  with  a  high-relief  carving  of  the  Last 
Supper;  above  the  altar  is  a  tabernacle  of  gilded  bronze,  and  behind 
it  a  great  reredos  of  carved  and  gilded  wood  in  Spanish  baroque  style. 
The  marble  pulpit  is  approached  by  a  bronze  staircase  and  sheltered  by 
a  carved  walnut  canopy.     St.  Vincent's  was  opened  in  1925,  the  gift  of 
the  late  Edward  L.  Doheny,  multimillionaire  oil  magnate,  and  his  wife. 

51.  ST.   JOHN'S   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH    (open   7-5  daily), 
514  W.  Adams  Blvd.,  recalls  the  eleventh  century  church  at  Toscanella, 
Italy.     The  interior  is   distinguished  by  its  elaborate  beamed  ceiling, 
copied  from  that  of  the  Church  of  San  Minato  in  Florence. 

52.  CHESTER  PLACE,  extending  north  from  West  Adams  Blvd. 
to  23d  St.   (speed  limit  10  m.p.h.) ,  has  been  for  40  years  the  habitat 
of  the  wealthy.    An  arched  iron  gateway  opens  into  this  two-block-wide 


228        CALIFORNIA 

private  residential  park,  the  seat  of  baronial  mansions.  A  short  block 
westward,  behind  a  high  brick  wall,  stand  the  shabby  structures  of 
St.  James  Place,  forming  two  sides  of  half-acre  St.  James  Park. 

53.  The  FIGUEROA  ADOBE    (open   on  application),   3404   S. 
Figueroa  St.,  built  in  1846  by  Ramon  Figueroa,  brother  of  the  Mexican 
governor  of  California  in  the  1830*8,  stands  well  back  in  a  small  copse 
of  pepper  and  palm  trees.     The  original  adobe  section  is  comparatively 
well  preserved,  but  the  unsightly  frame  additions  in  the  rear  add  an 
incongruous  note.    The  house  is  occupied  by  a  great-granddaughter  of  a 
Spanish  soldier  who  accompanied  Gov.  Felipe  de  Neve  on  the  march 
from  San  Gabriel  Mission  to  found  Los  Angeles  in  1781. 

54.  The    UNIVERSITY    OF    SOUTHERN    CALIFORNIA, 
University  Ave.,  between  34th  St.  and  Exposition  Blvd.,  spreads  over 
a  45-acre  campus.     Ten  new  buildings  have  been  erected  since   1921. 
The  university  was  founded  in  1876  by  the  Southern  California  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  is  still  represented 
on  its  board.     Now,  nonsectarian  and  coeducational,  it  has  a  faculty  of 
820  and  an  enrollment  of  approximately  16,000. 

The  GEORGE  FINLEY  BOVARD  ADMINISTRATION  BUILDING,  Univer- 
sity Ave.  at  36th  St.,  commemorates  the  university's  second  president. 
Designed  in  the  early  Italian  Renaissance  style,  it  is  built  of  red  brick, 
with  a  red  tile  roof.  The  massive  square  central  tower  is  buttressed 
at  each  corner  by  eight  heroic  statues,  the  work  of  Caspar  Gruenfeld. 
Before  the  main  entrance  is  an  8-foot  statue  of  an  armed  Trojan  war- 
rior, the  university's  symbol,  mounted  on  a  lo-foot  pedestal,  designed 
by  Roger  Noble  Burnham. 

Across  University  Ave.  from  the  Administration  Building  is  the 
EDWARD  L.  DOHENY,  JR.,  MEMORIAL  LIBRARY,  the  outstanding  build- 
ing on  the  campus,  erected  in  1932,  a  gift  of  the  late  Edward  L.  Doheny. 
It  is  designed  in  a  modified  Italian  Romanesque  style. 

The  STUDENT  UNION  BUILDING,  SW.  corner  36th  St.  and  Uni- 
versity Ave.,  designed  in  the  manner  of  an  Italian  Renaissance  palazzo, 
is  the  social  and  recreational  center  of  the  University.  Adjoining,  are 
the  Science  Building  and  Pharmacy  Hall ;  and  across  the  street,  the  Law 
School  and  Bridge  Hall,  housing  the  School  of  Engineering. 

Southernmost  of  the  west  side  of  University  Ave.  is  the  COL. 
SEELEY  WINTERSMITH  MUDD  MEMORIAL  BUILDING  containing  the 
Hall  of  Philosophy.  Surrounding  a  central  courtyard  are  separate 
wings  for  administration  offices,  classrooms,  and  the  general  library. 
Above  it  rises  a  clock  tower  with  chimes.  Across  the  front  of  the 
court  extends  an  open  cloister  forming  a  quadrangle.  The  style  of  its 
architecture  is  based  upon  Byzantine  and  Lombardic  Romanesque  tradi- 
tions. 

55.  EXPOSITION    PARK,    bounded    by    Figueroa    St.,    Menlo 
Ave.,  Exposition  Blvd.,  and  South  Park  Drive,  known  in  early  days  as 
Agricultural  Park,  was  the  scene  of  Los  Angeles'  first  agricultural  fairs. 
The  H4-acre  tract  acquired  by  city,  county,  and  State  near  the  turn  of 
the  century,  was  improved  and  opened  as  Exposition  Park  in  1910. 


LOS     ANGELES       22Q 

On  the  Exposition  Boulevard  side  is  the  MEMORIAL  GATEWAY, 
flanked  by  massive  pylons  commemorating  the  Tenth  International  Olym- 
piad of  1932,  held  in  the  park's  Memorial  Coliseum.  Broad  bench-lined 
walks  lead  to  the  seven-acre  SUNKEN  GARDEN,  planted  with  15,000  rose 
bushes  of  118  different  varieties,  and  marked  at  each  corner  by  white 
marble  statuettes.  Paralleling  the  Sunken  Garden  on  the  east  is  the  red 
brick  Armory,  headquarters  and  training  barracks  for  the  i6oth  Infantry, 
California  National  Guard. 

The  STATE  EXPOSITION  BUILDING  (open  10-5  daily  except  Wed., 
Sun.,  holidays;  10-12  m.  Wed.;  2-5  p.m.  Sun.  and  holidays),  an  E-shaped 
edifice  in  Spanish  mission  style  with  walls  of  brick  and  terra  cotta,  de- 
signed by  Nathan  Elery,  houses  a  permanent  exhibition  of  the  resources 
and  industries  of  California.  The  main  entrance  leads  to  a  two-story 
rotunda  lighted  by  stained  glass  windows,  which  picture  scenes  in  the 
annals  of  Los  Angeles.  In  the  rotunda  are  huge  relief  maps  of  California, 
San  Francisco  Bay,  and  Los  Angeles  Harbor.  In  the  great  West  Wing 
are  the  horticultural  and  agricultural  exhibits.  A  series  of  alcove  exhibits 
in  the  Hall  of  Animal  Industries  contain  miniatures  of  all  types  of  ranches. 
The  California  fish  and  game  exhibits,  classified  by  counties,  display  series 
of  habitat  groups.  Among  the  mining  exhibits  are  accurately  scaled  models 
of  coal  mines,  oil  wells,  gold  development  properties,  and  lumber  camps. 

The  LOS  ANGELES  COUNTY  MUSEUM  OF  HISTORY,  SCIENCE, 
AND  ART  (open  10-4.  weekdays,  2-5  Sun.  and  holidays),  west  side  of 
Sunken  Garden,  is  a  repository  of  art  objects,  scientific  exhibitions,  and 
relics.  The  original  T-shaped,  glass-domed  building  of  red  brick  was 
formerly  opened  Nov.  6,  1913.  Two  units  of  a  new  building  have  been 
added,  one  in  1925,  the  other  in  1929.  With  their  completion,  the  original 
structure  became  a  subordinate  unit  and  a  new  main  entrance,  adorned 
with  Doric  columns,  was  erected  on  the  south  facade  of  the  new  building, 
facing  the  Coliseum. 

The  museum  has  one  of  the  world's  largest  and  best-preserved  assem- 
blages of  Pleistocene  mammal  remains,  dug  from  the  celebrated  La  Brea 
Pits  in  Hancock  Park. 

The  Natural  History  Wing  was  especially  designed  for  the  display  of 
animal  habitat  groups.  The  bison  and  waterhole  groups  dominate  the 
American  and  African  Big  Game  Halls;  in  all,  the  division  contains  37 
exhibits  of  wild  animal  life. 

Of  note  among  the  special  permanent  collections  are  the  Harrison  Col- 
lection of  Contemporary  American  and  Contemporary  French  Paintings, 
the  Reagan  Collection  of  Rembrandt  etchings,  the  Coronel  Collection  of 
early  Los  Angeles  relics,  and  the  Otis  Collection  of  weapons.  The  museum 
maintains  a  library  for  research  in  history,  science,  and  art. 

The  LOS  ANGELES  MEMORIAL  COLISEUM,  designed  by  John  and 
Donald  Parkinson,  is  at  the  end  of  The  Mall,  a  i,o65-foot  oblong  stretch 
of  green  bordered  by  young  deodars.  A  huge  peristyle  with  a  4oo-foot 
arcade  and  a  yo-foot  central  arch,  topped  with  a  pedestaled  urn,  forms 
the  main  gateway.  Within,  rising  in  vast  tiers  above  the  circular  field 
of  turf,  are  79  rows  of  seats  accommodating  105,000  people.  A  fifth  of  a 
mile  long  and  three-fifths  of  a  mile  in  circumference,  the  stadium  covers 
17  acres;  its  walls,  106  feet  high,  enclose  a  five-acre  playing  field,  the 
scene  of  major  football  games,  track  meets,  rodeos,  pageants,  religious 
ceremonies,  and  civic  gatherings.  The  opening  and  closing  ceremonies  and 
the  track  and  field  events  of  the  Tenth  International  Olympiad  were  held 
here  in  1932. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Santa  Catalina  Island,  46.7  m.  (see  TOUR  2C)  ;  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct, 
longest  in  the  world,  25.1  m.  (see  TOUR  3c)  ;  Gay's  Lion  Farm,  15.2  m.f 
Kellogg  Institute  of  Animal  Husbandry,  blooded  Arabian  horses,  27.9  m., 
Guasti  Vineyard,  largest  in  U.S.,  38.7  m.  (see  TOUR  3d). 


Monterey 


Railroad  Stations:     N.  end  of  Adams  St.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines. 

Bus  Stations:     Franklin  and  Pacific  Sts.  for  Pacific  Greyhound  Lines;  216  Del 

Monte  Ave.  for  Burlington  Trailways. 

Airport:     Community  Airport,  3  m.  E.,  off  Monterey-Salinas  Highway,  taxi  $i, 

time  15  min. ;  special  week-end  service  to  San  Francisco. 

Taxis:     15$  first  y^  m.,  10$  each  additional  ^  m. 

Busses:     To  Oak  Grove  5^,  Del  Monte  5$,  Asilomar   10^,  Pacific  Grove   10^, 

Carmel  25$. 

Traffic  Regulations:     Pedestrians  have  right-of-way  at  all  street  crossings. 

Accommodations:     13  hotels. 

Information  Service:  Hotel  Del  Monte;  Chamber  of  Commerce,  585  Munras 
St. ;  California  State  Auto  Assn.,  520  Fremont  St. 

Radio  Stations:     KDON   (1210  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  First  Theater,  Scott  and  Pacific  Sts., 
occasional  plays;  two  motion  picture  houses. 

Tennis:     Monterey  High  School  courts,  S.  end  of  Larkin  St.,  open  to  public. 
Swimming:     Surf   swimming   at  beaches   in   environs ;    Monterey    High    School 
pool,  S.  end  of  Larkin  St.,  free. 

Riding:  10  miles  of  beach;  200  miles  of  forest  trails  near  Monterey,  rates 
from  $i  per  hour. 

Hunting:  Los  Padres  National  Forest,  32.2  m.,  deer,  boar,  rabbit,  quail,  dove, 
and  pigeon;  Forest  Service  regulations. 

Fishing:  Fresh  water  fishing  in  nearby  rivers;  surf  fishing:  Monterey  Bay, 
Pacific  Grove,  Carmel  Bay  and  below  Carmel;  deep  sea:  boat  rentals  at  Fish- 
erman's Wharf,  N.  end  of  Main  St.,  50$  per  hour  and  up. 

Annual  Events:  Birthday  Party,  commemorative  pageants,  June  3 ;  Flower 
Show,  June;  County  Fair,  Sept.;  Blessing  of  the  Fleet,  Sept. 

MONTEREY  (0-600  alt.,  9,141  pop.),  lies  on  sloping  shores  at 
the  southern  end  of  Monterey  Bay,  within  the  northward  curve  of 
Point  Pinos,  which  protects  the  harbor  from  heavy  seas  and  high  winds. 

Richard  Henry  Dana,  arriving  at  Monterey  on  the  brig  Pilgrim  in 
1834,  thought  the  town  made  a  "very  pretty  appearance"  with  its  red- 
roofed,  white  stucco  houses,  the  white  sand  beach,  green  pines,  and  deep 
blue  bay.  The  city  gives  the  same  impression  today. 

To  the  north  the  shore  sweeps  in  a  curving  line  toward  Santa  Cruz. 
To  the  east  are  the  convolutions  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Range,  covered 
with  oak  and  pine,  beyond  which  rise  the  bare  heights  of  the  Gabilan 
Range.  The  near  hills  and  pines  of  Point  Pinos  block  the  view  to  the 
south,  where  the  coast  abruptly  changes  to  stone  crags  topped  with 
weirdly-shaped  trees,  and  small  deep  coves  and  sheltered  beaches.  Mon- 
terey cypress  along  the  shoreline  and  Monterey  pine,  both  named  for 
the  city,  are  indigenous  to  a  limited  area  in  the  vicinity. 

230 


MONTEREY        231 

In  1890  Monterey  still  looked  like  a  Mexican  town;  adobe  buildings 
with  red  tile  roofs  were  numerous.  The  march  of  commerce  removed 
many  of  these,  and  the  adobe  structures  standing  today  are  the  result 
of  a  tardily  awakened  interest  in  the  city's  colorful  past.  Some  of  them 
have  been  preserved  by  descendants  of  the  original  builders;  some  were 
bought  by  appreciative  "Americanos";  a  few  have  been  made  State 
monuments. 

Alvarado  Street,  running  north  and  south,  is  the  town's  main  artery. 
Starting  from  the  weather-beaten  Fisherman's  Wharf  that  puts  out  into 
the  bay,  passing  the  Old  Customhouse,  flanked  at  first  by  stores  selling 
fishermen's  supplies  and  small  restaurants  specializing  in  sea  food  and 
Mexican  dishes,  it  crosses  the  center  of  the  town  with  its  more  choice 
shops,  banks,  hotels,  office  buildings,  and  finally  comes  to  an  end  at  the 
old  Cooper  mansion.  To  the  west  of  Alvarado  the  business  district 
soon  yields  to  a  residential  section,  which  climbs  steep  hills  block  after 
block  to  wooded  heights  where  its  gardens  mingle  with  a  semi-wilderness 
of  trees  and  shrubs  high  above  the  port. 

At  the  northern  limits  of  the  city  is  the  Presidio  of  Monterey,  the 
United  States  Army  post.  Its  rolling  396  acres  cover  territory  reaching 
from  the  bay  to  the  hills;  here  the  old  Spanish  works  once  put  up  a 
show  of  protecting  California  with  eight  or  ten  cannon,  even  then 
obsolete.  Stretching  along  the  shore  below  is  the  row  of  fish  canneries 
representing  Monterey's  chief  industry,  and  moored  to  the  wharves 
or  anchored  off  shore  are  the  brightly  painted  boats  of  the  fishing  fleet. 

The  bulk  of  Monterey's  population  is  native-born  American,  some 
of  whom  are  descendants  of  old  Spanish  families.  Mexicans,  Italians, 
Portuguese,  Chinese,  and  Japanese  give  a  foreign  flavor  to  the  street 
scene.  The  first  fishermen  to  troll  the  bay  were  Chinese,  then  Portu- 
guese whalemen  came  from  the  Azores,  but  Italians,  who  live  in  old 
frame  houses  near  the  wharf,  man  most  of  the  boats  today.  Japanese 
control  the  abalone  fishing,  going  down  in  diving  suits  and  picking  the 
univalves  from  submarine  rocks.  The  Japanese  quarter  is  in  the  south- 
ern section  of  town  near  the  railroad  tracks. 

On  Saturdays  the  main  street  is  wide  awake.  Ranchers  and  cow- 
boys in  blue  jeans  and  high-heeled  boots  drive  in  to  buy  supplies  and 
go  to  movies;  housewives  from  outlying  ranches  and  truck  farms  do 
their  week's  shopping;  tourists  and  weekenders  wander  about  looking 
at  old  adobes,  snapping  pictures  of  the  fishing  fleet,  and  buying  abalone 
shells;  cavalrymen  from  the  post  search  for  amusement;  music  blares 
from  a  few  beerhalls;  diners  in  white  ties  and  evening  dress  sip  wine 
in  a  resort  lodge. 

Monterey  can  be  called  the  kernel  of  California  history.  Founded 
by  the  Spanish  Crown,  it  was  the  capital  of  old  California  for  most  of 
the  time  between  1775  and  the  American  occupation,  and  for  all  that 
time  the  social,  military  and  political  center. 

Cabrillo,  exploring  the  unknown  coast  in  1542,  saw  Point  Pinos. 
Sebastian  Vizcaino,  merchant-explorer,  sailing  into  the  bay  in  1602, 
named  it  Monterey  for  the  Count  of  Monte-Rey,  Viceroy  of  Mexico, 


232        CALIFORNIA 

and  described  it  in  such  superlatives  that  those  who  came  after  him  could 
not  recognize  it  for  167  years.  Caspar  de  Portola's  "sacred  expedition" 
of  1769  worked  its  way  overland  to  find  and  settle  it,  twice  camped 
near  without  recognizing  it,  passed  by,  discovered  San  Francisco  Bay, 
returned,  and  only  on  another  expedition  in  the  spring  of  1770  realized 
that  they  were  on  the  stubbornly  sought  spot.  Father  Crespi  and  Father 
Junipero  Serra  took  formal  possession  of  the  land,  established  the 
Presidio,  and  founded  the  Mission  San  Carlos  de  Monterey.  In  1775 
the  King  of  Spain  formally  recognized  Monterey  as  the  capital  of 
California. 

From  that  time  until  1822,  when,  through  the  Mexican  revolution, 
California  became  part  of  the  Mexican  republic,  Monterey  had  five 
different  governors.  They  tried,  without  much  success,  to  develop  Alta 
California  and  to  pour  gold  into  the  coffers  of  Spain  (see  CALIFOR- 
NIA'S FIRST  FOUR  CENTURIES).  In  1818  Hypolite  Bouchard, 
the  French  pirate,  raided  the  town,  chased  the  residents  inland,  and 
pillaged  for  a  week  before  sailing  south.  After  the  revolution,  the  first 
legislature  met  in  Monterey  to  draw  up  California's  first  constitution. 
Meanwhile  Yankees  were  learning  of  tremendous  profits  to  be  made  in 
sea  otter  and  whales.  Their  ships  anchored  off  the  Old  Customhouse 
and  the  town  traded  for  silks,  shoes,  spices,  mirrors,  and  cartwheels. 

Under  the  Mexican  flag  there  were  endless  squabbles  and  bickering, 
and  Monterey  was  the  seat  of  intrigue  and  plotting  even  up  to  the  time 
Commodore  Sloat  raised  the  American  flag  over  the  Customhouse  in 
1846.  In  1836  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado,  assisted  by  Isaac  Graham,  an 
American  trapper,  attacked  Monterey.  Governor  Gutierrez  fled  to 
Mexico  after  the  insurgents  landed  one  cannon  ball  near  his  house. 
A  subsequent  compromise  made  Alvarado  governor,  with  headquarters 
at  Monterey.  The  population  of  Monterey  increased  slowly  under 
governors  with  such  resonant  names  as  Figueroa,  Arguello,  Michel- 
torena,  Castro,  Pio  Pico.  Secularization  of  the  missions  in  the  1830*8 
increased  the  number  of  rancheros  and  Monterey  achieved  an  impres- 
sive social  life. 

In  1849  Bayard  Taylor  visited  Monterey  to  observe  the  last  of  the 
old  Spanish  mode  of  life,  and  found  that  "the  native  population  pos- 
sesses a  natural  refinement  of  manner  which  would  grace  the  most 
polished  society."  William  H.  Brewer  in  1861  found  Monterey  Bay 
"a  great  place  for  whale  hunting,"  and  saw  that  the  beach  was  white 
with  whale  bones;  "hundreds  of  carcasses  there  decayed,  fattening  clouds 
of  vultures." 

Monterey  began  to  lose  its  drowsy  Mexican  ways  as  specialized 
agriculture  began  to  supplant  cattle  raising,  and  as  the  fisheries  and  the 
allied  canning  industry  developed.  Its  natural  beauty  drew  artists  and 
writers:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  passed  some  time  here;  Charles 
Warren  Stoddard  retired  and  died  here;  and  by  the  late  iSoo's  many 
landscape  painters  had  settled  in  Monterey. 

The  leading  industry  of  the  city  today  is  fishing.  Monterey  Bay 
abounds  in  sardines  (the  principal  catch),  mackerel,  sole,  bass,  shrimp, 


MONTEREY        233 

squid,  crabs,  lobsters  and  other  sea  food.  Albacore  run  offshore  in 
spring  and  late  summer,  and  farther  out  tuna  are  caught.  Important 
by-products  are  fish  meal,  fish  fertilizer,  and  fish  oils.  "Del  Monte 
white  sand"  is  shipped  from  here  for  building,  sand  blasting,  children's 
sand  boxes,  and  traps  on  golf  courses. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

There  are  55  points  of  interest  in  Monterey  worthy  of  notice.  These  all 
lie  along  a  "historic  route"  charted  by  the  city  and  marked  by  a  red  and 
orange  checkered  line  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  This  route  starts  at  the 
Royal  Presidio  Chapel  and  loops  through  the  city  back  to  its  starting  point. 
Each  historic  building  and  site  has  an  explanatory  sign.  Good  maps  are 
available  locally.  The  following  list  includes  outstanding  points  along  the 
route. 

ROYAL  PRESIDIO  CHAPEL  (open  9-12,  1-5:30  Mon.-Frl; 
Q-I2,  1-4  Sat.;  1-5  Sun.;  ring  for  guide,  adm.  25$),  Church  St.  between 
Camino  El  Estero  and  Figueroa  St.,  founded  in  1770  by  Father  Junipero 
Serra,  was  the  second  in  the  California  system  of  missions.  To  keep 
his  acolytes  away  from  the  soldiers  of  the  presidio,  Father  Serra  moved 
the  mission  in  1771  to  the  Carmel  Valley,  where  its  church  stands  today 
(see  TOUR  1C).  The  Monterey  building  remained  as  the  presidio 
chapel.  Damaged  by  fire  in  1789,  it  was  reconstructed  and  dedicated 
in  1795.  It  has  been  in  continuous  use  since,  and  is  the  only  presidio 
chapel  remaining  in  California. 

The  facade,  perhaps  the  most  ornate  among  California  missions, 
rises  higher  than  the  roof  of  the  church  in  the  form  of  a  carved  gable, 
and  is  covered  with  cream-colored  stucco.  The  arched  entrance  with  its 
heavy  paneled  doors  is  flanked  by  Doric  pilasters  and  topped  with  a 
classic  entablature.  In  the  upper  gable  is  a  shell-headed  niche  bearing 
a  statue  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe.  A  wide  square  tower  and  belfry, 
roofed  in  red  tile,  rises  at  the  left  of  the  facade.  In  it  are  two  old  bells. 
There  are  fine  vestments,  holy  vessels,  and  ornaments  in  the  building. 

Every  September  fishermen  of  Neapolitan  and  Sicilian  origin  cele- 
brate the  Festival  of  Santa  Rosalia  at  the  Chapel.  The  statue  of  the 
Saint  is  carried  down  to  the  harbor  in  religious  procession  to  bless  the 
fishing  fleet. 

CASA  ABREGO  (private},  592  Abrego  St.,  built  by  Don  Jose 
Abrego  in  the  late  1830*8,  is  a  long  one-story  white  adobe  building  with 
a  narrow  porch.  The  walls  of  the  upper  gables  are  of  vertical  boards. 
Abrego  brought  the  first  full-length  mirror  to  California.  When  his 
daughter  saw  her  reflection  in  it  she  asked  her  husband,  "Who  is  that 
very  lovely  girl?" 

ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  HOUSE,  Houston  St.,  be- 
tween Webster  and  Pearl  Sts.,  now  an  interior  decorating  shop,  is  a  two- 
story  house  with  adobe  walls,  white  plaster  finish,  and  shingle  roof. 
Stevenson  lived  here  for  three  months  in  1879  while  working  on 
Amateur  Immigrant  and  Vendetta  of  the  West. 


234        CALIFORNIA 

GENERAL  JOSE  CASTRO'S  HEADQUARTERS  (private), 
NW.  corner  Pearl  and  Tyler  Sts.,  houses  a  Spanish  handcraft  forge  and 
cabinet-making  shop.  On  the  west  side  is  another  adobe  occupied  by  a 
leather  craftsman. 

The  COOPER  HOUSE  (private),  508  Munras  Ave.,  a  long  two- 
story  adobe  finished  in  pinkish  plaster,  was  built  by  Capt.  John  Bautista 
Rogers  Cooper  in  1829.  In  its  day  it  was  a  casa  grande,  or  "big  house," 
bespeaking  its  owner's  wealth  and  importance. 

CASA  AMESTI  (private),  516  Polk  St.,  a  two-story,  white- 
plastered  adobe  with  a  balcony,  was  built  in  the  1 830*8  by  Jose  Amesti 
as  a  gift  for  his  daughter. 

The  STOKES  HOUSE  (private),  500  Hartnell  St.,  built  by  Dr. 
James  Stokes  in  the  1840'$,  is  a  two-story  white-plastered  adobe  struc- 
ture with  two-story  porches,  front  and  rear.  A  well-preserved  pottery 
kiln  is  in  the  back  courtyard. 

HOUSE  OF  THE  FOUR  WINDS  (private),  Main  St.  between 
Jefferson  and  Maddison  Sts.,  is  a  small,  white-plastered  adobe,  built  in 
the  late  i83o's  by  Thomas  O.  Larkin.  Its  windows  and  doors  are 
painted  green,  and  just  under  the  roof  a  hand-hewn  beam  can  be  seen. 
The  building  was  named  for  a  weather  vane  on  the  roof. 

SHERMAN'S  QUARTERS  (closed),  Main  St.  between  Jeffer- 
son and  Maddison  Sts.,  is  a  one-story  house,  roofed  in  red  tile,  its  peeling 
plaster  showing  the  adobe  brick  beneath.  William  Tecumseh  Sherman 
lived  here  from  1847  to  1849. 

The  LARKIN  HOUSE  (private),  462  Main  St.,  was  built  in  1835 
by  Thomas  Oliver  Larkin,  first  and  only  United  States  consul  to 
California,  and  used  as  a  consulate  from  1844  to  1846.  It  is  a  two- 
story  hip-roofed  house  of  adobe  construction,  finished  in  soft  pink  plaster, 
with  a  two-story  gallery  running  around  the  front  and  two  sides. 
Larkin  was  a  tactful  diplomat  who  smoothed  political  upheavals  of  the 
day,  encouraged  trade  with  his  native  country,  and  finally  helped  in  the 
American  conquest. 

FRIENDLY  PLAZA,  Pacific  St.  between  Jefferson  and  Maddison 
Sts.,  Civic  Center  of  Monterey,  covers  two  blocks. 

COLTON  HALL  (open  9-5  weekdays),  west  side  of  Friendly 
Plaza,  is  a  two-story  stone  building  finished  in  plaster,  designed  in  the 
New  England  post-Colonial  style  by  the  Rev.  Walter  Colton,  Yankee 
alcalde  (mayor)  from  1846  to  1849. 

MONTEREY  JAIL,  flanking  Colton  Hall  on  the  south,  a  one- 
story  buff  sandstone  building  erected  in  1854,  is  still  in  use,  but  rarely 
holds  a  criminal  so  desperate  as  some  of  the  past:  Tiburcio  Vasquez, 
the  gentleman  bandit  who  could  kill  with  a  smile;  Anastacia  Garcia, 
the  killer  who  "went  to  God  on  a  rope"  pulled  by  his  friends;  Matt 
Tarpey,  taken  from  his  cell  by  vigilantes  and  strung  up  for  the  murder 
of  a  woman;  and  highwaymen  of  stage-coach  days. 

FEW  MEMORIAL  CITY  HALL,  Friendly  Plaza,  S.  of  the 
jail,  is  a  one-story,  L-shaped  structure  built  in  1934.  The  foot  of  the 
"L"  incorporates  an  adobe  house,  built  in  1843. 


MONTEREY        235 

CASA  VASQUEZ  (private),  Dutra  St.,  between  Maddison  and 
Jefferson  Sts.,  is  a  white  ad9be  half  hidden  by  shrubbery  and  a  large 
Monterey  cypress,  and  set  behind  a  cactus  hedge  and  picket  fence.  It 
is  said  to  be  the  birthplace  and  home  of  the  bandit,  Tiburcio  Vasquez. 

CASA  ALVARADO  (private),  510  Dutra  St.,  a  long,  low  adobe 
with  a  red  brick  front  porch,  was  the  home  of  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado, 
revolutionist,  patriot,  and  governor  of  California  from  1836  to  1842. 
He  was  so  busy  with  politics  that  he  could  not  attend  his  own  wedding; 
a  friend  stood  proxy  at  the  ceremony  in  Mission  Santa  Clara  and 
brought  the  bride  home. 

FIRST  AMERICAN  THEATER  IN  CALIFORNIA  (open  1-5 
weekdays),  SW.  corner  Pacific  and  Scott  Sts.,  a  long,  rectangular  adobe 
with  a  frame  shack  at  one  end,  was  built  in  1843  as  a  boarding  house 
and  saloon.  In  1847  members  of  Stevenson's  regiment  produced  Putnam 
or  the  Lion  Son  of  Ifj6  and  packed  the  house — at  $5.00  a  seat.  A  large 
wooden  door,  raised  like  the  lid  of  a  box,  served  as  curtain.  Footlights 
were  candles  and  whale  oil  lamps.  There  is  an  exhibit  of  early  theatri- 
cal programs  and  historical  relics  in  the  wooden  shack. 

The  FIRST  BRICK  HOUSE  IN  CALIFORNIA,  351  Decatur 
St.,  a  small  two-story  house,  now  a  restaurant,  was  built  by  the  Dickin- 
son family  in  1847  of  red  brick  kilned  in  Monterey. 

The  OLD  WHALING  STATION  (private),  391  Decatur  St., 
is  a  restored  two-story  adobe  structure,  with  a  shingle  roof  and  a 
second  story  balcony  across  the  front.  A  white-washed  frame  lean-to 
extends  across  the  rear  in  the  manner  of  a  New  England  "salt  box." 
It  was  built  for  Portuguese  whalers  in  1855  when  there  were  500 
whaling  vessels  in  Pacific  waters,  most  of  them  out  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  The  diamond-patterned  walk  and  the  patio  are  paved  with 
whale  vertebrae. 

The  PRESIDIO  OF  MONTEREY,  entrance  Pacific  St.  N.  of 
Decatur  St.,  covers  360  acres,  running  from  the  shore  back  into  the  pine- 
covered  hills.  The  garrison  consists  of  the  nth  U.  S.  Cavalry,  and  the 
2nd  Battalion,  76th  Field  Artillery.  The  post  has  a  polo  field,  drill 
ground,  theater,  swimming  pool,  tennis  courts,  and  recreation  hall.  On 
a  hill  above  the  entrance  is  a  STATUE  OF  FATHER  SERRA,  a  life-size 
figure  standing  in  a  boat,  a  gift  of  Jane  L.  Stanford,  1901.  Viscaino 
landed  here  in  1602,  and  Father  Serra  said  mass  on  the  same  spot  in 
1770.  Near  the  entrance  is  a  STATUE  OF  JOHN  DRAKE  SLOAT,  com- 
mander of  the  American  forces  that  took  Monterey.  The  Presidio  was 
developed  in  1902,  as  a  cantonment  for  troops  returning  from  the 
Spanish-American  War. 

OLD  CUSTOMHOUSE  (open  1-5  daily),  N.  end  of  Alvarado 
St.,  consists  of  a  low  central  section  of  plastered  adobe  and  frame  built 
by  the  Spanish  in  1814  and  higher  additions  at  each  end,  built  later. 
On  the  front  of  the  building,  facing  the  bay,  runs  a  full-length  porch 
covered  by  the  sloping  tile  roof.  The  end  sections  have  second-story 
galleries.  Low  walls  enclose  a  garden  with  two  old  cypress  trees  and 
smaller  pepper  trees. 


236        CALIFORNIA 

A  STATE  MUSEUM  in  the  building  preserves  a  $1,000  Parisian  lace 
dress  worn  by  Dona  Escolastica  de  Dye,  a  famous  beauty  of  the  time. 
Other  historic  exhibits  include  a  burro  cart  with  solid  wood  wheels, 
and  a  woman's  wedding  dress  of  the  Mexican  period.  Upstairs  is  the 
BOHEMIAN  MEMORY  ROOM,  containing  the  Albert  W.  Bender  collec- 
tion of  original  letters  and  manuscripts  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson, 
Ambrose  Bierce,  and  George  Sterling. 

FISHERMEN'S  WHARF,  N.  end  of  Main  St.,  is  a  collection 
of  weather-beaten  wooden  sheds  and  buildings  built  on  a  complicated 
pattern  of  piers.  Seafood  restaurants  and  fresh  fish  shops  line  the  first 
pier.  There  is  always  noisy  activity  on  the  wharf:  the  foreign  tones 
of  Italian  and  Japanese  fishermen,  the  creak  of  the  wooden  piles  as 
heavy  trucks  pull  out  loaded  with  fish,  the  shouts  of  skippers  docking 
their  boats;  the  croaking  of  sea  gulls.  Inside  the  sheds  lie  great  piles 
of  fish.  Japanese  abalone  divers  hang  their  rubber  suits  out  to  dry, 
and  Japanese  girls  prepare  abalone  steaks  for  shipment.  When  the 
albacore  run,  there  is  real  excitement  on  the  wharf.  Boats  go  out 
empty  and  come  back  loaded  to  the  gunwales  with  the  game  fish,  each 
one  caught  by  a  hook  and  lure.  The  fish  are  cleaned  and  packed  on 
the  wharf. 

The  SANCHEZ  ADOBE,  412  Alvarado  St.,  built  by  Gil  Sanchez 
in  1829  and  now  housing  shops  and  a  bar,  is  the  only  house  on  the 
street  with  a  balcony. 


Oakland 


Railroad  Stations:  W.  end  of  i6th  St.,  and  Broadway  at  ist  St.  for  Southern 
Pacific  lines;  San  Pablo  Ave.  and  4oth  St.  for  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Ry. ;  Washington  and  3rd  Sts.  for  Western  Pacific  R.R. ;  Shafter  Ave.  and  4Oth 
St.  for  Sacramento  Northern  Ry. 

Bus  Stations:  Union  Stage  Depot,  2047  San  Pablo  Ave.  for  Greyhound  and 
Peerless  Lines;  1801  Telegraph  Ave.  for  Santa  Fe  and  Burlington  Trailways; 
1901  San  Pablo  Ave.  for  all  American  Line. 

Airports:  Oakland  Municipal  Airport,  Bay  Farm  Island,  via  Alameda,  for 
Transcontinental  &  Western  Air,  Inc.,  and  United  Airlines;  taxi,  $1.80,  time  25 
min. ;  Alameda  Airport,  Alameda  via  Posey  Tube,  for  Pan-American  Airways; 
taxi  $1.60,  time  15  min. 

Taxis:  Average  rate  20^  first  quarter  mile,  10^  each  additional  half-mile,  i  to 
5  passengers. 

Streetcars:  Fare  10^,  7  tokens  for  50^,  no  extra  fare  to  adjoining  cities;  inter- 
urban  to  San  Francisco,  21$. 

Ferry:     W.  end  of  7th  St.,  for  Southern  Pacific  ferry  to  San  Francisco,  fare 
30^,  round  trip  50^,  i  to  5  passengers.     (Autos  only,  no  foot  passengers.) 
Bridge:     San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  approach,  38th  and  Market  Sts.; 
8th  and  Cypress  Sts.  from  business  district;  toll  50^,  i  to  5  passengers. 
Traffic  Regulations:     25  m.p.h.  in  residential  areas,  20  m.p.h.  in  business  dis- 
tricts, 15  m.p.h.  at  intersections;  4o-min.  parking  limit  in  business  district,  all- 
night  parking  prohibited  in  all  areas. 

Accommodations:    102  hotels;  tourist  and  trailer  camps  mostly  in  East  Oakland. 

Information  Service:  Oakland  Tribune  Information  Bureau,  i3th  and  Franklin 
Sts.;  Chamber  of  Commerce,  i4th  and  Franklin  Sts.;  Dept.  of  Motor  Vehicles, 
1107  Jackson  St.;  California  State  Automobile  Association,  399  Grand  Ave. 

Radio  Stations:    KLX  (880  kc.) ;  KLS  (1280  kc.) ;  KROW  (930  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion   Picture  Houses:     Municipal   Theater,    i2th   and   Fallen 
Sts.,  for  opera  productions  and  road  shows;   36  motion  picture  houses. 
Baseball:     Oakland  Baseball  Park,  San  Pablo  Ave.  and  Park  St.,  Emeryville; 
Pacific  Coast  League. 

Golf:  Oakland  Municipal  Golf  Course,  E.  end  of  Golf  Links  Road,  18  holes, 
greens  fees  50^  weekdays,  75^  Sun.  and  holidays. 

Tennis:  31  municipal  courts;  lighted,  25^  per  half  hour;  Athol  Plaza,  Lake- 
shore  Blvd.  and  Athol  Ave.;  Bella  Vista,  loth  Ave.  and  E.  28th  St.;  Brookdale 
Plaza,  High  St.  and  Brookdale  Ave.;  Dimond  Park,  Fruitvale  Ave.  and  Lyman 
Road;  Mosswood,  Moss  Ave.  and  Webster  St. 

Swimming:     Lions  Pool,  Dimond  Park,  Fruitvale  Ave.  and  Lyman  Road,  chil- 
dren 15^,  adults  25^,  daytime  only,  no  suits  or  towels  furnished;  Neptune  Beach 
(and  pool),  Alameda,  children  20$,  adults  35^,  including  suits,  towels,  lockers. 
Riding:    Bridle  paths  in  hills;  horse  rental  $i  per  hour  up. 

Boating:  Lake  Merritt,  boathouse  at  E.  end  of  i4th  St. ;  rowboats,  canoes  30^ 
to  5O<£  per  hour,  motorboats  $i  per  hour.  Around-the-lake  water  tour,  10^, 
children  5$. 

Annual  Events:  California  Spring  Garden  Show,  Exposition  Bldg.,  loth  and 
Fallen  Sts.,  April;  I.A.A.  Sports  Carnival,  Municipal  Auditorium,  i2th  and 

237 


238         CALIFORNIA 

Fallen  Sts.,  Winter  and  Spring;  Mills  College  Horse  Show,  May;  Festival  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  (Portuguese),  Pentecostal  week,  Exposition  Bldg.,  loth  and 
Fallon  Sts.;  East  Bay  Gladiolus  Society  Exhibition,  June;  Boys'  Smelt  Derby, 
Lake  Merritt,  July;  Bowling  Green  Contests,  Lakeside  Park,  Sept.;  Outboard 
Motorboat  Races,  Lake  Merritt,  Sept.;  Columbus  Day  Celebration,  Lakeside 
Park;  Christmas  Pageant,  Municipal  Auditorium,  i2th  and  Fallon  Sts. 

OAKLAND  (0-1,600  alt.,  284,063  pop.)  is  the  metropolis  of  the 
industrial  and  residential  East  Bay  municipal  area,  in  which  approxi- 
mately half  a  million  people  reside  in  seven  abutting  cities.  Third  in 
the  State  in  population,  the  city  has  outgrown  the  idea  that  it  is  merely 
"San  Francisco's  bedroom." 

Oakland  and  its  sister  communities,  Berkeley,  San  Leandro,  Hay- 
ward,  Emeryville,  Piedmont,  and  Alameda,  are  framed  by  the  relatively 
low  Berkeley  Hills  (up  to  1,200  feet),  which  parallel  the  shoreline  of 
the  Bay.  Eastward  beyond  these  wooded  slopes  appear  the  higher  eleva- 
tions of  the  Contra  Costa  Hills,  culminating  in  Mount  Diablo  (3,800 
feet)  some  30  miles  east  of  the  city.  Southward  the  hills  drop  to  the 
level  East  Bay  shore  permitting  the  city  to  expand  without  hindrance 
in  that  direction.  Five  miles  to  the  west,  across  the  bay,  is  San  Fran- 
cisco. Of  the  30,000  passengers  transported  daily  between  the  cities, 
the  majority  are  Oakland  commuters. 

The  port  of  Oakland  has  facilities  to  accommodate  any  vessel  in  the 
Pacific  trade.  The  Oakland  Estuary,  formerly  a  shallow  slough,  is 
called  the  inner  harbor,  and  the  open  bay  portion  to  the  north  is  the 
outer  harbor.  Three  transcontinental  railroads  enter  the  city. 

Along  the  ridge  of  the  Berkeley  Hills  winds  the  Skyline  Boulevard, 
offering  a  view  to  the  east  of  the  dry,  tawny  hills  of  Contra  Costa ;  to 
the  west  spreads  the  thickly  settled  marginal  plain  and  the  glowing 
bay,  rimmed  by  the  jagged  silhouette  of  San  Francisco.  Below  is  the 
metropolitan  cluster  of  downtown  Oakland,  dominated  by  the  ly-story 
city  hall. 

Residential  areas  surround  the  business  district  and  run  up  the 
foothills  to  the  ridge.  The  modern  Oakland  home  is  of  light  stucco, 
tile-roofed,  studio-windowed,  with  arches  and  patios.  Built  on  hillsides, 
flats,  and  knolls,  these  houses  show,  in  construction  and  landscaping,  the 
benefits  of  a  mild  climate.  Here  and  there,  however,  are  sharp-gabled, 
high-ceilinged,  full-basemented,  weathertight  houses  built  by  pioneers 
who  did  not  realize  they  had  come  to  a  moderate  climate.  City  parks 
and  private  gardens  contain  many  varieties  of  semitropical  trees — 
camphor,  acacia,  pepper,  dracena,  and  several  species  of  eucalyptus  and 
palm.  Citrus  fruits  and  figs  ripen  in  Oakland  yards. 

Lake  Merritt,  a  salt-water  lake,  is  a  few  blocks  from  the  Oakland 
business  district.  Until  1898  it  was  an  unsightly  tidal  basin  fed  by 
waters  from  the  Estuary;  today  it  is  a  155-acre,  Y-shaped  lake  with 
grassy  banks,  the  water  level  controlled  by  hydraulic  gates.  Encircling 
the  lake  are  a  hiking  path,  a  park  strip,  and  a  high-speed  boulevard,  and 
in  the  crotch  of  the  "Y"  is  53-acre  Lakeside  Park.  At  the  base  of  the 
"Y"  is  Peralta  Park  (reclaimed  from  the  mud  flats). 


OAKLAND        239 

Of  Oakland's  ethnic  groups  the  most  numerous  is  the  Negro  com- 
munity, concentrated  in  West  Oakland  near  the  railroad  shops  and 
yards,  which  provide  their  chief  employment.  On  the  outskirts  of  the 
city  live  many  of  the  Portuguese  dairy  farmers  who  have  settled  in 
great  numbers  in  Alameda  County.  Other  minor  groups  are  Italians, 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Filipino,  and  Mexicans. 

The  first  white  men  to  see  what  is  now  Oakland  were  Spaniards — 
Lieutenant  Fages  and  Father  Crespi,  who  headed  an  expedition  in  1772. 
The  expedition  pushed  as  far  north  as  Antioch,  and  active  develop- 
ments took  place  across  the  Bay,  but  it  was  nearly  half  a  century  before 
the  site  of  Oakland  was  colonized. 

Cavalry  Sergt.  Luis  Maria  Peralta,  as  a  worthy  soldier  of  the  royal 
Spanish  army,  received  title  in  1820  to  a  48,OOO-acre  domain,  named  it 
Rancho  San  Antonio,  added  "Don"  to  his  name,  and  lived  as  befitted 
a  gentleman  of  leisure.  His  grant  included  the  entire  East  Bay  area. 

For  twenty  years  Rancho  San  Antonio  played  an  important  part  in 
the  commercial,  religious,  and  social  life  of  California.  In  1842,  the 
sergeant  divided  the  ranch  among  his  four  sons,  and  Vincente  Peralta 
was  given  the  area  where  Oakland  now  stands.  They  owned  great 
herds  of  cattle,  maintained  a  large  retinue  of  vaguer os  (cowboys),  and 
pursued  the  Spanish  life  of  "fiesta  and  siesta."  The  American  victory 
over  Mexico  in  1848  ended  the  era  of  the  Spanish  landowner  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  same  year  hastened  the  rout. 
Mobs  of  gold  seekers  came  to  the  flourishing  town  of  San  Francisco, 
many  of  whom  tramped  to  the  diggings  through  the  Peralta  holdings. 
Some  of  them  visualized  greater  riches  from  these  acres  than  from  the 
Mother  Lode.  They  squatted  on  the  rancho,  built  shacks  and  fences, 
and  ran  off  cattle,  and  resisted  every  effort  of  the  owners  to  evict  them. 

Moses  Chase,  however,  who  came  to  Oakland  in  1849,  was  of  a  more 
ethical  turn  of  mind.  He  became  associated  with  the  three  Patten 
brothers  in  a  lease  of  460  acres  from  Antonio  Peralta.  They  were  the 
first  farmers  of  the  district,  raising  good  crops  of  grain  and  hay.  The 
early  town  of  Clinton  took  form  on  their  acreage.  The  Patten  brothers 
soon  entered  the  lumbering  business  in  the  Peralta  Redwoods,  a  stand 
of  giant  trees  that  extended  from  the  top  of  the  range  midway  to  the 
Oakland  estuary.  In  the  middle  1850*5  more  than  400  men  were  em- 
ployed in  the  mills,  cutting  lumber  for  the  building  of  San  Francisco, 
Oakland  and  their  environs. 

In  1851,  the  Rancho  San  Antonio  was  well  spotted  with  squatters 
and  purchasers,  and  in  that  year  there  appeared  a  man  who  gave  the 
Latin  owners,  and  the  Americanos,  a  lesson  in  plain  and  fancy  financing. 
Horace  W.  Carpentier  had  a  degree  from  an  eastern  university,  a  keen 
sense  of  values,  and  more  than  one  man's  share  of  vision.  He  acquired 
a  townsite  in  the  present  downtown  Oakland,  imported  a  few  "resi- 
dents" from  the  redwoods,  and  in  1852  incorporated  the  Town  of 
Oakland,  with  himself  in  the  mayor's  chair.  The  name  he  selected  from 
the  numerous  stands  of  encinas  (evergreen  oaks)  that  dotted  the  land- 
scape. Two  years  later  Mr.  Carpentier  incorporated  the  town  as  a  city, 


24O        CALIFORNIA 

and  by  that  time  had  acquired  the  entire  Oakland  waterfront  in  ex- 
change for  building  three  tiny  wharves  and  a  frame  schoolhouse.  Thus 
began  the  "battle  of  the  waterfront,"  which  was  terminated  in  1910 
when  the  assigns  of  Carpentier  agreed  with  the  city  to  waive  title  to 
their  properties  in  exchange  for  long  term  leases. 

The  first  ferry  across  the  bay  began  operating  in  1850;  first  train 
chugged  through  Oakland  in  1863;  and  overland  service  was  established 
in  1869.  In  1906,  when  San  Francisco  fell  victim  to  earthquake  and 
fire,  50,000  refugees  moved  to  Oakland.  There  was  a  building  boom 
to  provide  housing  for  refugees  who  became  permanent  East  Bay  resi- 
dents. The  city  annexed  all  hamlets  and  towns  to  the  southeast  and 
in  1907  the  population  reached  147,000.  The  industrial  stimulation 
that  followed  this  influx  moved  Oakland  into  third  place  among  Cali- 
fornia manufacturing  cities  as  early  as  1910,  and  by  1920  its  population 
increased  to  216,000.  During  the  World  War  four  large  shipbuilding 
plants  were  operating  under  forced  draft,  and  following  that  period  the 
city  production  increased  in  automobiles,  lumber  and  allied  products, 
electrical  machinery,  canning,  and  cereal  products.  The  aggregate  value 
of  Oakland's  industrial  output  was  multiplied  five  times  between  1914 
and  1927.  In  1936,  Oakland  celebrated  with  San  Francisco  the  open- 
ing of  the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  (see  SAN  FRAN- 
CISCO}. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

1.  OAKLAND  CITY  HALL,  Washington  St.  between  Hth  and 
1 5th  Sts.,  designed  by  Palmer,  Hornbostle  and  Jones,  and  completed 
in  1914,  is  the  highest  building  in  the  city,  its  17  floors  rising  360  feet 
and  towering  in  three  set-back  sections  embellished  with  classic  colon- 
nades and  arches  and  topped  with  a  baroque  cupola. 

2.  The  SNOW  MUSEUM    (open   10-5  weekdays,  1-5  Sun.  and 
holidays),   247    1 9th    St.,    a  white   frame   structure   with   a   columned 
portico,  contains  stuffed  Arctic,  African,  and  American  mammals,  col- 
lected by  the  explorers,  Henry  A.  Snow  and  his  son,  Sidney,  in  1919-21. 
They  made  a  motion  picture,  Big  Game  Hunting  in  Africa,  the  first 
of  its  kind  released  by  a  major  Hollywood  studio.     In  1922  the  Snow 
specimens  were  donated  to  the  City  of  Oakland,  which  purchased  a 
site  for  their  exhibition. 

3.  LAKESIDE  PARK,  irregularly  bordering  the  N.  shore  of  Lake 
Merritt,  threaded  by  Bellevue  Ave.,  has  facilities  for  tennis,  bowling- 
on-the-green,  and  horseshoe  pitching,  and  a  municipal  bandstand  where 
free  outdoor  concerts  are  given  on  Sundays,  August  to  October,  2-4  p.m. 

4.  LAKE  MERRITT  WILDFOWL  SANCTUARY  is  a  game 
refuge   administered   by   the   United    States   Biological    Survey,   which 
maintains  a  banding  station  near  the  Canoe  House.     Ducks  and  other 
wildfowl,    which    make    their    headquarters    here    from    November    to 
March,  are  fed  at  10  a.m.  and  3  130  p.m. 

5.  The  EMBARCADERO    (landing  place),  on  the  NE.  tip  of 
Lake  Merritt,  is  a  horseshoe-shaped  walk  bordered  by  concrete  columns. 


OAKLAND        241 


The  Si 

Lakeside  Part 

Lake  Merritt  Wildfowl  Sanctuary 


The   Embaread 

The  Moses  Chase  Home 

Peralta  Park 

The  Alameda  County  Courthouse 

The  Oakland  Public  Museum 

10.  Posey  Tube 

1 1.  First  and  Last  Chance  Saloon 

12.  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church 

13.  Linda  Vista  Park 

4.  California  College  of  Arts  and  Crafts 

15.  The  Heights 

16.  Sequoia  Park 

I  7.  Chabot  Observatory 
18.  Mills  College- 


242        CALIFORNIA 

The   Spaniards  shipped   hides  and  tallow   from   here   in   flat-bottomed 
barges. 

6.  The  OAKLAND  PUBLIC  MUSEUM  (open  10-5  weekdays, 
7-5  Sun.  and  holidays),    1426   Oak   St.,  is  a  two-story  brown   frame 
house  containing  exhibits  in  natural  science,  ethnology,  and  history.     In 
the  Natural  Science  Section  are  birds,  mammals,  insects,  and  butterflies; 
the  Ethnology  Department  displays  artifacts  of  Alaska,  British  Colum- 
bia,   California,    and    Pacific    Islands.      The    History    Section   contains 
relics  of  the  War  of  1812,  Civil  War,  Spanish- American  War,  and  the 
World  War;  the  California  Room  has  relics  of  Indian,  Spanish  and 
pioneer  days.     In  the  two  Colonial  Rooms  are  reproductions,  including 
a  "whatnot"  once  the  property  of  Abraham  Lincoln.    The  museum  also 
houses  displays  of  old  coins,  firearms,  medals,  and  currency. 

7.  The  MOSES  CHASE  HOME  (private),  NE.  corner  4th  Ave. 
and  E.  8th  St.,  the  oldest  dwelling  in  Oakland,  was  built  about  1850. 
The  four  original  rooms  are  still  intact,  and  serve  as  a  nucleus  for  the 
white-painted   14- room  house  with  its  gable   roof  and  green  shutters, 
and  its  porch  extending  across  the  front.     Chase  was  Oakland's  first 
American  settler,  arriving  via  Cape  Horn  from  Massachusetts  in  1849. 

8.  PERALTA  PARK  is  a  landscaped  tract  on  the  S.  shore  of  Lake 
Merritt  between  8th  and  I2th  Sts.     The  MUNICIPAL  AUDITORIUM, 
loth  and  Fallen  Sts.,  is  of  concrete  finished  in  California  granite,  and 
divided  into  the  Arena,  the  Theater,  and  the  Art  Gallery.     Conven- 
tions and  boxing  and  wrestling  matches  are  held  in  the  Arena;  opera, 
road  shows,  and  lectures  are  given  in  the  Theater;  the  Art  Gallery 
(open  7-5  daily)  houses  a  permanent  collection  of  painting,  sculpture,  and 
prints,  and  conducts  annual  exhibitions.     The  EXPOSITION  BUILDING, 
Fallen  St.  between  9th  and  loth  Sts.,  similar  in  design  to  the  Audi- 
torium, is  used  for  athletic  and  civic  events. 

9.  The  ALAMEDA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  Fallon  St.  be- 
tween   1 2th  and    I3th   Sts.,   a  concrete  building  of   neo-classic   design, 
with  terra  cotta  and  granite  trim,  was  completed  by  PWA  in  1936  at 
a  cost  of  $2,000,000.     The  HALL  OF  RECORDS  is  on  the  general  floor. 
The  COUNTY  FREE  LIBRARY   (open  9-5  Mon.-Fri.f  9-12  Sat.),  and 
mosquito  control  exhibit  are  in  the  basement. 

10.  POSEY  TUBE,  entrance  Harrison  and  6th  Sts.,  a  $4,500,000 
subway,  4,436  feet  long,  under  the  estuary  connecting  Oakland  with 
Alameda,  was  opened  to  traffic  in  1928.  Its  lighting,  ventilation,  drain- 
age, fire  protection,  and  traffic  control  systems  have  brought  it  to  the 
attention  of  engineers  the  world  over.  The  inside  diameter  of  the  tube 
is  32  feet,  the  walls  are  2^  feet  thick,  and  it  is  claimed  to  be  earthquake- 
proof.  The  tube  is  named  for  George  A.  Posey,  its  designer  and  builder, 
ii.  FIRST  AND  LAST  CHANCE  SALOON,  50  Webster  St., 
an  unpainted  wooden  shack,  is  noted  as  the  place  where  Jack  London, 
in  his  ambitious  early  days,  studied  and  wrote  through  the  kindness  of 
the  barkeeper.  The  saloon,  built  about  1880,  retains  an  early  western 
atmosphere,  with  its  battered  bar,  its  wall  plastered  with  pictures  of  for- 
gotten celebrities,  its  decrepit  card  tables,  and  its  brass  spittoons. 


OAKLAND        243 

12.  ST.  JOHN'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SW.  corner  Grove 
and  8th  Sts.,  a  shingled  building  with  a  square  Gothic  tower,  built  in 
1860,  is  the  oldest  Episcopal  church  in  Oakland.     Hand-carved  plaques 
adorn  the  walls. 

13.  LINDA  VISTA  PARK,  Oakland  and  Olive  Aves.,  is  a  land- 
scaped   area   containing   the    eight-acre    MUNICIPAL   ROSE    GARDENS. 
Some  of  the  100,000  rose  bushes  of  more  than  3,000  varieties  are  in 
bloom  continuously. 

14.  CALIFORNIA   COLLEGE   OF  ARTS   AND   CRAFTS, 
5212  Broadway,  a  coeducational  institution  founded  in  1907,  is  set  on  a 
high  hill,  behind  an  ivy-clad  red  stone  wall.     The  landscaped  four-acre 
campus  with  12  buildings  of  wood  and  stucco  includes  two  fine  speci- 
mens of  Sequoia  gigantea  (big  tree).     The  institution  presents  a  full 
course  in  the  various  branches  of  the  arts  and  crafts,  leading  to  bachelor's 
degrees  in  Arts. 

15.  THE  HIGHTS   (JOAQUIN  MILLER  PARK),  NE.  on 
Joaquin  Miller  Road,  so  spelled  by  Miller,  was  the  home  of  the  "Poet 
of  the   Sierras,"  where  he  and  his  friends  planted   75,000  eucalypti, 
pines,  cypresses,  and  acacias.     The  city  bought  the  tract  in  1917,  grant- 
ing a  life  tenure  in  it  to  the  poet's  widow  and  daughter,  each  of  whom 
occupies  a  cottage  on  the  grounds.    The  ABBEY  (open  by  appointment}, 
built  in  1886,  where  the  poet  lived  until  his  death  in  1913,  consists  of 
three  one-room  frame  structures  connected  to  form  a  single  unit,  each 
room  roofed  by  a  shingled  peak.    Here  he  wrote  "Columbus"  and  other 
poems.     The  poet  claimed   he   could   not   write   without   rain   on   the 
roof;  he  had  pipes  installed  to  sprinkle  water  on  the  roof  when  he 
wanted  inspiration.     On  the  eminence  to  the  north  he  built  a  stone 
foundation   intended   as   his    funeral   pyre    (never   used)  ;   native    rock 
towers  dedicated  to  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont  and  Robert  Browning;  and 
a  pyramid  to  Moses. 

1 6.  In   SEQUOIA  PARK,   adjoining  The   Hights  to   the   E.,   a 
wooded  area  of  182  acres,  is  the  OAKLAND  Zoo  (always  open),  Robin- 
son Drive  and  Joaquin  Miller  Road,  housing  30  specimens. 

17.  CHABOT  OBSERVATORY,  4917   Mountain  Blvd.    (open 
1-4  p.m.  and  7-10  p.m.  Tues.-Sat.,  except  during  school  holidays  and 
vacations),   a   two-story   stucco   building  with   a   dome   at   either   end, 
occupies  12  acres  on  a  landscaped  hill  and  contains  8-  and  2O-inch  re- 
fracting telescopes. 

1 8.  MILLS  COLLEGE,  Trenor  St.  and  Seminary  Ave.,  oldest 
college  in  the  West  exclusively  for  women,  was  founded  in   1852,  in 
Benicia,   as  the  Young  Ladies'    Seminary.      It   reached   full   collegiate 
standing  and  became  known  as  Mills  College  in  1885.     The  college  is 
nonsectarian  and  has  about  550  students;  it  confers  bachelor  and  master 
degrees  in  arts  and  sciences,  and  is  particularly  distinguished  in  music 
and  art.     The  more  modern  buildings  on  the  campus  are  designed  in 
the  Mediterranean  style  of  architecture.     The  CAMPANILE,  in  mission 
style,  has  ten  bells,  originally  cast  for  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  in 
1893.     The  design  of  the  Music  BUILDING  is  based  upon  the  church 


244        CALIFORNIA 

architecture  of  the  Spanish  Renaissance,  with  an  elaborate  arch-canopy 
doorway  embellished  with  twisted  columns,  decorative  finials  and  a 
sculptured  lunette.  It  contains  nearly  60  soundproof  practice  rooms. 
ETHEL  MOORE  HALL,  one  of  the  six  residence  halls,  is  built  on  16 
different  levels,  with  five  patios.  The  ART  GALLERY  (open  2-5  Wed., 
Fri.f  Sun.;  group  visits  by  arrangement  other  days}  contains  a  perma- 
nent American  collection  of  painting,  sculpture,  and  art  objects,  includ- 
ing a  group  of  Chinese  paintings,  an  extensive  art  library,  and  a  notable 
collection  of  the  works  of  Robert  Browning.  Student  painting  and 
sculpture  is  exhibited  in  May  and  June.  The  LIBRARY  (private)  has  a 
large  collection  of  early  western  literature  and  books  by  California 
writers. 

SKYLINE  BOULEVARD— north  approach  from  Berkeley,  south 
approach  from  Foothill  Boulevard,  Oakland — from  the  tourists'  stand- 
point the  most  distinctive  feature  of  Oakland,  is  a  winding  road  high 
above  the  city,  which  affords  a  magnificent  panorama  of  the  East  Bay, 
the  harbor,  and  San  Francisco  and  Marin  County  across  the  bay.  By 
means  of  a  tunnel  through  the  Berkeley  Hills  into  Contra  Costa  County 
(and  by  a  low-level  tunnel  at  the  head  of  Broadway)  the  driver  from 
Oakland  can  pass  from  a  temperature  of  65  degrees  to  one  of  100 
degrees  or  more;  from  lush  greenery  to  the  golden  brown  of  sun- 
drenched Contra  Costa  hills;  from  a  busy  urban  area  to  one  of  dreamy 
open  spaces. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Mount  Diablo,  38.5  m.   (see  TOUR  9A)  ;   University  of  California,  6  m. 
(see  BERKELEY). 


Pasadena 


Railroad  Stations:     222   S.  Raymond  Ave.   for  Atchison,   Topeka   &   Santa   Fe 

R.R. ;  148  E.  Colorado  Blvd.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines,  and  Pacific  Electric  Ry, 

(interurban). 

Bus  Stations:     Union  Bus  Terminal,  48   S.   Marengo  Ave.,   for   motor   transit 

lines,  and  Pasadena-Ocean  Park  Line,  and  Mt.  Wilson  Stage  Line. 

Taxis:     10^  for  first  passenger  mile,  5^  per  mile  for  additional  passengers,  20^ 

per  mile  after  5  miles. 

Streetcars:    Zone  system,  fare  64  and  12$;  four  tokens  for  25$;  free  transfers., 

Traffic  Regulations:    All  parking  prohibited  1-6  a.m.;  right  turns  against  signal 

after  full  stop. 

Accommodations:  25  hotels;  tourist  camps;  rates  slightly  higher  in  winter 
season. 

Information  Service:  Chamber  of  Commerce,  N.  Garfield  Ave.  and  Union  St.; 
information  booth,  City  Hall,  100  N.  Garfield  Ave. 

Radio  Station:    KPPC  (1210  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Pasadena  Community  Playhouse,  39  El 
Molino  Ave.,  local  productions;  Civic  Auditorium,  Civic  Center  at  Green  St., 
lectures,  opera,  music,  community  dances;  Gold  Shell,  Memorial  Park,  N.  Ray- 
mond Ave.  and  Union  St.,  concerts,  occasional  light  opera,  drama,  pageants; 
ii  motion  picture  houses. 

Baseball:  Brookside  Park,  1645  Arroyo  Blvd.,  spring  training  grounds  for 
Chicago  White  Sox,  occasional  exhibition  games. 

Golf:  Brookside  Park,  i8-hole  course,  50$,  $i  all  day;  g-hole  course,  35^,  50^ 
all  day;  locker  fee  50^  per  month,  30  tickets  for  $5,  30  tickets  for  man  and  wife, 
$7.50,  not  good  Sat.  afternoon  or  Sun. ;  Altadena  Municipal  course,  2492  Country- 
Club  Dr.,  18  holes,  40^,  monthly  tickets  $5. 

Tennis:  Besse  Playgrounds,  3303  E.  Colorado  St.;  La  Pintoresca,  N.  Fair  Oaks 
Ave.  and  Washington  St.;  Washington  Park,  N.  El  Molino  Ave.  and  Wash- 
ington St.;  Brookside  Park;  all  lighted,  meter  charge  25$  for  40  min. 
Swimming:  Brookside  Park,  2  pools  open  Apr.  i-Oct.  i,  adults  25(f,  with  suit 
and  towel  25^;  children  under  12,  10$,  with  suit  and  towel  15^;  children  12-18 
years,  15$,  with  suit  and  towel  20^. 

Riding:  In  Arroyo  Seco,  and  other  parks,  mountain  trails  N.  and  E.  of  Pasa- 
dena. Horses,  $i  per  hour  average. 

Annual  Events:  Pasadena  Rose  Tournament  Jan.  i ;  football  game  between 
eastern  and  western  collegiate  teams,  Jan.  i,  Rose  Bowl;  Pasadena  Flower 
Show,  Busch  Gardens,  3  days  in  April  and  Oct.;  Pasadena  Kennel  Club  Show, 
Civic  Auditorium,  Feb.  and  July. 

PASADENA  (800-1,200  alt.,  76,086  pop.),  lies  in  the  foothills 
of  the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains,  overlooking  the  San  Gabriel  Valley. 
Behind  it,  to  the  north,  are  suburban  Altadena  and  the  pine-clad  heights 
of  Mount  Wilson  and  Mount  Lowe.  Its  southern  limits  are  separated 
from  Los  Angeles  by  the  small  communities  of  South  Pasadena  and 
Alhambra.  On  the  east,  it  stretches  for  several  miles  along  broad 

245 


246        CALIFORNIA 

Colorado  Street,  and  ends  abruptly  in  the  west  along  the  curving  Arroyo 
Seco  (dry  watercourse). 

From  a  vantage  point  in  the  hills,  the  city  looks  like  a  lumpy  sea  of 
green  trees,  from  which  rise  church  spires,  the  boxlike  procession  of 
business  buildings  along  Colorado  Street,  and  the  massive  resort  hotels. 
An  air  of  prosperity — the  unhurried  tenor  of  a  Sunday  afternoon — 
is  engendered  by  the  substantial  buildings,  the  pretentious  homes,  gen- 
erous foliage,  and  the  winding,  flower-edged  streets.  The  center  of  the 
small  business  district  is  the  intersection  of  Colorado  Street  and  Fair 
Oak  Avenue.  Here  the  streets  are  lined  with  smart  shops,  lighted  at 
night  with  a  restrained  display  of  neon  lights.  There  is  no  large-scale 
industry  in  Pasadena;  business  is  mostly  restricted  to  retail  trade  and 
stores  that  supply  the  wants  of  good  living. 

In  the  residential  section,  surrounding  the  business  district,  are  homes 
in  carefully  tended  gardens,  mansions  in  estates  with  sunken  gardens, 
swimming  pools,  and  tennis  courts.  Resort  hotels  spread  their  wings 
and  terraces  over  grounds  well  back  from  the  street,  their  lawns  spotted 
with  gay  garden  furniture.  Near  the  western  margin  of  the  city  is  a 
remnant  of  the  architectural  glory  of  the  1890*5 — Orange  Grove  Ave- 
nue, known  as  "Millionaires'  Row,"  a  street  of  mansions  in  massive 
style  set  behind  well-manicured  lawns. 

On  Christmas  Tree  Lane  (Santa  Rosa  Avenue,  Altadena),  giant 
deodars,  planted  as  seedlings  from  the  Himalayas  in  the  1890*8,  have 
stretched  their  branches  across  the  street  and  almost  conceal  the  houses. 
Each  Christmas  the  trees  are  festooned  with  thousands  of  colored  lights, 
creating  a  festive  effect  that  attracts  thousands  of  visitors. 

On  New  Year's  Day  the  city  stages  the  Tournament  of  Roses,  in- 
spired by  the  flower  fetes  in  Nice,  and  introduced  in  1890  as  a  simple 
village  festival  to  celebrate  the  midwinter  flowering  season.  Residents 
decked  their  buggies  with  roses,  went  picnicking,  sent  pictures  back 
home,  and  connected  roses  with  New  Year's  Day  so  effectively  that 
Pasadena  has  been  called  "the  town  that  roses  built." 

On  this  day  young  girls  elected  for  their  beauty  are  carried  through 
the  streets  in  floats  of  elaborate  design,  where  they  sit  pelting  the  crowds 
with  flowers.  Citizens  forget  their  dignity  to  join  in  a  battle  of  blos- 
soms. Floats  represent  every  prominent  city  in  California  and  even 
other  States  and  foreign  countries.  The  floral  decorations  follow  a  sin- 
gle theme,  and  floats  bearing  100,000  to  300,000  fresh  flowers  are  not 
uncommon.  The  holiday  became  more  elaborate  each  season;  for 
twelve  years  the  climaxing  feature  of  the  day  was  a  thundering,  rip- 
snorting  chariot  race,  finally  displaced  in  1916  by  the  football  game 
between  picked  eastern  and  western  teams  in  the  Rose  Bowl. 

Pasadena  is  staid — a  city  with  an  unusual  number  of  churches  for 
its  size — but  it  supports  an  excellent  small  theater  and  several  art  and 
music  associations.  The  Pasadena  Community  Playhouse  is  one  of  the 
leading  little  theaters  in  the  country;  its  productions  have  originality 
and  a  professional  finish.  The  city's  educational  institutions  are  rela- 
tively long  established  and  rank  high.  The  California  Institute  of 


PASADENA        247 

Technology,  with  Dr.  Robert  Millikan,  the  physicist,  as  president,  has 
made  important  contributions  to  scientific  theory,  notably  Millikan's 
study  of  cosmic  rays  and  researches  into  the  nature  of  the  electron.  The 
Institute  has  also  aided  in  advancing  aeronautics,  and  by  virtue  of  sev- 
eral foundations  has  carried  forward  cancer  and  other  medical  research. 

The  site  of  Pasadena,  once  part  of  the  lands  of  the  San  Gabriel  Mis- 
sion, has  changed  owners  with  perplexing  frequency.  The  Rancho  San 
Pasqual  was  first  granted  by  the  mission  fathers  to  an  aged  mission 
housekeeper  in  1826,  and  passed  from  her  hands  when  she  married  at 
nearly  100  years  of  age.  Her  stepson  sold  his  interest  in  1839  to  two 
dons  who  later  abandoned  the  property. 

Governor  Micheltorena,  looking  about  for  a  suitable  present  in 
J843,  granted  the  land  to  Don  Manuel  Garfias,  a  Mexican  army  officer. 
Garfias  had  his  title  validated  by  the  United  States  Land  Commission 
in  1854  and  was  sent  a  patent  signed  by  Lincoln  in  1863.  Meanwhile 
Garfias  sold  his  interest  to  Benjamin  D.  Wilson,  a  Yankee,  who  has 
given  his  name  to  a  mountain,  a  canyon,  a  lake,  a  trail,  an  avenue,  and 
a  school.  Wilson  and  his  associates  swapped,  traded,  and  borrowed 
from  each  other,  with  the  land  as  security,  until  in  1873  the  land  was 
divided  between  Wilson  and  Dr.  John  S.  Griffin,  who  came  to  Cali- 
fornia as  chief  medical  officer  with  the  American  Army.  Griffin's  share 
was  approximately  4,000  acres  and  included  the  original  site  of  Pasa- 
dena. 

The  story  now  moves  East.  The  winter  of  1872-73  was  cold  in 
Indiana.  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Elliott,  of  Indianapolis,  and  his  friends  "to 
get  where  life  was  easy,"  formed  the  "California  Colony  of  Indiana," 
and  sent  a  scouting  committee  to  spy  out  the  promised  land.  It  looked 
as  if  it  would  be  easy.  The  colony  bought  Griffin's  land  for  $25,000, 
and  that  was  the  beginning  of  the  exodus  of  wealthy  men  from  the  Mid- 
dle West  and  East  that  resulted  in  the  present  millionaires'  retreat. 

The  city  was  incorporated  in  1886,  and  chartered  by  the  State  in 
1901.  By  this  time  Pasadena  had  begun  to  take  on  definite  character. 
It  was  settling  in  the  mold  of  a  dignified,  permanent  community,  and 
began  to  support  more  vigorously  its  educational  institutions.  Throop 
University,  ancestor  of  the  California  Institute  of  Technology,  had 
been  founded  by  Amos  G.  ("Father")  Throop,  in  1891,  as  a  poly- 
technic school;  Mt.  Wilson  Observatory  was  established  in  1904;  and 
Pasadena  gradually  became  a  recognized  center  of  learning. 

The  richest  city  per  capita  in  America,  Pasadena  is  something  of  a 
paradox.  Situated  in  the  heart  of  open-shop  southern  California,  it  has 
been  friendly  to  organized  labor  since  the  time  of  the  McNamara  case. 
The  neighboring  Los  Angeles  Citizen,  published  during  that  time,  re- 
ceived the  bulk  of  its  advertising  from  Pasadena  merchants. 

So  far,  with  the  conservative  wealthy  in  control,  the  city  has  main- 
tained its  lovely  appearance  against  any  encroachments  of  factories  or 
large-scale  business  enterprises. 


248        CALIFORNIA 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

The  CIVIC  CENTER,  Garfield  Ave.,  between  Walnut  and  Green 
Sts.,  is  a  harmonious  group  of  modified  Spanish  and  Italian  Renaissance 
buildings,  dominated  by  the  CITY  HALL,  100  N.  Garfield  Ave.,  an  im- 
pressive domed  three-story  concrete  structure  occupying  an  entire  block, 
The  large  red-  and  gold-topped  dome  rises  above  the  entrance  pavilion 
on  an  arcaded  and  pinnacled  drum,  the  lower  stage  of  which  is  adorned 
with  Ionic  columns.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  Civic  Center  is  the  PUB- 
LIC LIBRARY  (open  9-9  Mon.-Sat.),  285  E.  Walnut  St.,  a  rambling 
buff  stucco  building  with  walled  forecourt,  low  tiled  roof  and  projecting 
wings.  The  forecourt  is  planted  with  stately  rows  of  palms.  The 
library  has  more  than  200,000  volumes.  The  circulation  hall,  in  the 
main  section  of  the  building,  is  decorated  with  a  coffered  ceiling  and  oak 
paneling;  the  children's  room  in  the  left  wing  and  the  periodical  room 
in  the  right  wing  have  outdoor  reading  rooms  in  frescoed  cloisters  that 
flank  the  forecourt.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  Civic  Center  is  the  Civic 
AUDITORIUM  (open  2-4  Wed.),  300  E.  Green  St.,  that  seats  3,000. 

BROOKSIDE  PARK,  Arroyo  Blvd.  between  Holly  St.  and  Devil's 
Gate  Dam,  is  a  city  recreational  preserve  of  more  than  500  acres,  with 
a  picnic  and  playground  section,  swimming  pool,  and  municipal  golf 
course.  Trails  and  bridle  paths  run  through  forests  of  oak  and  pine^ 
Within  its  grounds  is  the  ROSE  BOWL  (open  free,  except  during  per- 
formances} ,  Arroyo  Blvd.  at  Salvia  Canyon  Rd.,  a  concrete  stadium  of 
elliptical  shape,  seating  some  85,000.  It  is  used  for  other  football  games 
besides  the  annual  Rose  Bowl  game,  and  for  political  rallies  and  civic 
festivities. 

The  MILLARD  HOUSE,  645  Prospect  Crescent,  is  a  studio- 
residence  built  by  Frank  Lloyd  Wright  for  Mrs.  George  M.  Millard 
in  1923.  Framed  by  eucalyptus  trees,  at  the  end  of  a  ravine,  its  two- 
story  facade  is  reflected  in  a  pool  of  the  sunken  gardens.  The  double 
walls  of  concrete  blocks  are  stamped  with  a  radical  cross  design.  Also 
forming  a  part  of  the  house  plan  are  the  garage  with  its  tall  castle-like 
doors  and  the  Little  Museum  of  the  Book  designed  by  Mr.  Wright's 
son. 

The  BUSCH  GARDENS  (open  9-5  daily;  admission  free},  Arroya 
Blvd.  at  Madeline  Dr.,  is  narDed  for  the  St.  Louis  brewer.  Its  land- 
scaped 75  acres  contain  formal  gardens,  natural  woodlands,  and  miles 
of  mazelike  paths.  Scattered  aboutv  the  grounds  are  groups  of  terra- 
cotta gnomes  and  fairies  in  scenes  from1' the  tales  of  the  Brothers  Grimm 
and  Hans  Andersen.  The  Gardens  are  part  of  the  Busch  estate. 

The  CALIFORNIA  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY  (not 
open  to  public),  1201  E.  California  St.,  is5  a  scientific  institution  of  in- 
ternational repute.  White  buildings  of  modified  Spanish  design  occupy 
the  22-acre  campus — laboratories,  classroc^1118*  dormitories,  and  the 
Athenaeum,  which  houses  visiting  foreign  scientists  and  scholars.  The 
Daniel  Guggenheim  Aeronautical  Laboratory  the  Norman  Bridge  Lab- 
oratory of  Physics,  and  the  W.  K.  Kellogg  Laboratory  of  Radiation 


PASADENA        249 

(for  cancer  research)  are  maintained  here.  Dr.  Robert  A.  Millikan 
of  cosmic-ray  fame  has  long  been  president  of  the  Institute,  the  faculty 
of  which  includes  several  other  Nobel  prize  winners.  Prof.  Albert 
Einstein  worked  here  for  some  time  after  fleeing  Germany.  The  200- 
inch  telescope  lens  for  the  Palomar  Mountain  Observatory — largest  in 
the  world — was  ground  in  the  laboratories  here. 

The  FLORES  ADOBE  (private),  Garfield  Ave.  and  Foothill  St., 
was  built  in  1839  f°r  Dona  Eulalia  Perez  de  Guillen,  original  owner 
of  the  Rancho  San  Pasqual.  The  house,  greatly  restored,  has  reddish 
plaster  walls  and  red  tile  roofs.  The  original  beams  of  rough-hewn 
timber  still  protrude  beneath  the  eaves.  After  the  battle  of  La  Mesa 
in  January,  1847,  tne  decisive  fight  in  the  conquest  of  California,  Gen. 
Jose  Maria  Flores,  defeated  commander  of  the  Californian  lancers,  took 
refuge  here  (see  CALIFORNIA'S  LAST  FOUR  CENTURIES). 

The  PASADENA  COMMUNITY  PLAYHOUSE,  39  El 
Molino  Ave.  (open  9-4  daily,  except  during  Sat.  matinees;  theater  usu- 
ally dark  in  Sept.),  a  U-shaped  group  of  two-story,  white-plastered 
Spanish  Colonial  buildings  surrounding  a  rough-flagged  forecourt,  is 
one  of  the  few  nationally  known  little  theaters.  In  the  right  wing  is 
the  School  of  the  Theater,  and  the  Laboratory  Theater,  a  workshop 
in  which  the  plays  of  new  authors  are  given  test  productions.  The 
theater  was  built  in  1925,  and  seats  820.  Since  its  organization  in 
1916  by  the  present  director  (1939),  Gilmor  Brown,  the  playhouse  has 
produced  80  national  and  world  premieres,  and  most  of  Shakespeare's 
plays. 

MEMORIAL  FLAGPOLE,  at  Colorado  St.  and  Orange  Grove 
Ave.,  is  a  lofty  pole  with  a  bronze  sculptured  base,  designed  by  Bertram 
Goodhue  and  Lee  Lawrie,  and  dedicated  in  1927  as  a  memorial  to  Pasa- 
dena men  who  fell  in  the  World  War. 


POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Huntington  Library  and  Art  Gallery,  San  Marino,  11.5  m.;  Mount  Wilson 
Observatory,  25.7  m.  (see  TOUR  12c). 


^^^^^ 


Sacramento 


Railroad  Stations:  4th  and  I  Sts.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines;  igth  and  J  Sts. 
for  Western  Pacific  R.R. ;  Union  Station,  nth  and  I  Sts.,  for  Sacramento  North- 
ern Ry. 

Bus  Stations:     7th  and  L  Sts.  for  Greyhound  and  Pierce  Arrow  Lines;  913  5th 
St.  for  River  Auto  Stages;   1127  9th  St.  for  Burlington  Trailways. 
Airports:     Municipal  Airport,  5  m.  S.  on  Freeport  Blvd.,  for  United  Airlines; 
taxi  75^  for  passengers;  time  15  min. 

Taxis:    Zone  fares  25$  to  $1.50,  usual  charge,  5^  for  each  additional  passenger; 
hourly  rate  $2  to  $2.50. 
Streetcars:     Fare  5$  and  7^. 
Piers:    M  St.  Wharf,  River  Lines  to  San  Frarcisco,  6  p.m.  daily. 

Accommodations:     109  hotels;  13  tourist  and  trailer  camps. 

Information  Service:  California  State  Automobile  Association,  1700  L  St.; 
Tourist  Association,  1724  L  St.;  Consolidated  Travel  Bureau,  1128  icth  St.; 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  917  7th  St. 

Radio  Stations:    KFBK  (1490  kc.)  ;  KROY  (1210  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:    Tuesday  Clubhouse,  2722  L  St.,  amateur 

plays;   Memorial  Auditorium,  i6th  and  J  Sts.,  symphony  and  choral  concerts; 

15  motion  picture  houses. 

Baseball:     Cardinal  Field,  nth  and  Broadway,  Pacific  Coast  League. 

Golf:     Sacramento  municipal  golf  course,  Auburn  Blvd.,    18   holes,  25$   for   9 

holes,  monthly  tickets  $2.50  (for  weekdays)  ;  William  Land  Park  municipal  golf 

course,  Freeport  Blvd.  and  i3th  Ave.,  9  holes,  25^,  monthly  tickets  $2.50   (for 

weekdays). 

Tennis:     McKinley  Park,  Alhambra  Blvd.  and  H  St.;  McClatchy  Park,  35th  St. 

and  5th  Ave.;  Roosevelt  Park,  loth  and  P  Sts.;  Southside  Park,  7th  and  T  Sts.; 

all  free. 

Swimming:  Clunie  Memorial  Pool,  McKinley  Park,  Alhambra  Blvd.  and  H  St., 

25^,  children  10$ ;  James  McClatchy  Pool,  35th  St.  and  5th  Ave.,  25^,  children 

10^;    suits   and  towels   included;   Riverside  Baths,   3540  Riverside   Blvd.,   25^, 

children  10^. 

Riding:     Bridle  paths  in  William  Land  Park,   Freeport  Blvd.  and   Sutterville 

Rd.,  horses  75^  to  $i  an  hour. 

Boating:     Southside  Park  Lake,  7th  and  T  Sts.,  free  mornings,  25$  1-8  p.m. 

Fishing:     Catfish,  salmon,  striped  bass,  in  Sacramento  River;  rowboats  25$  per 

hour,  $i  per  day;  motorboats  50$  and  $2. 

Annual  Events:  Rodeo,  State  Fair  Grounds,  5th  Ave.  and  Stockton  Blvd.,  Apr.; 
California  State  Fair,  10  days,  early  Sept. 

SACRAMENTO  (30  alt.,  93,750  pop.),  capital  of  California,  lying 
in  a  loop  of  the  Sacramento  River  at  its  confluence  with  the  American 
River,  is  a  calm  city  of  trees,  green  lawns,  and  governmental  buildings. 
Along  the  bank  of  the  river  is  the  oldest  part  of  town,  red  brick  build- 
ings, with  tall  narrow  windows,  and  tin-roofed  awnings  projecting  over 

250 


SACRAMENTO        251 

the  sidewalk.  Curbstones  are  high,  recalling  the  times  when  the  river 
flooded  its  banks. 

Back  from  the  river  older  buildings  gradually  give  way  to  the  con- 
crete and  stone  of  the  business  section.  In  summer  the  policemen  on 
traffic  duty  wear  white  helmets,  like  African  explorers,  for  there  are 
three-day  cycles  of  heat  when  the  sun  is  intense  and  soft  drink  consump- 
tion reaches  incredible  figures.  During  these  spells,  Capitol  Park,  with 
its  40  acres  of  tree-shaded  lawns,  attracts  hundreds  of  steaming  citizens. 

The  wide  shady  streets  of  the  residential  sections  and  the  masses  of 
flowers  and  shrubbery  on  the  lawns  give  the  city  something  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  Southern  river  town.  In  the  older  districts  most  of  the 
houses  are  of  brick,  although  ungainly  frame  houses  with  scrollwork 
twisting  from  eaves  and  cornices,  are  left  from  the  effulgent  period  of 
the  seventies  and  eighties.  The  newer  homes  reflect  wide  differences  in 
architectural  taste,  from  simple  stucco  bungalows  to  old  English,  Moor- 
ish, Spanish,  and  California  mission  styles. 

The  domed  capitol  dominates  the  city.  The  legislature  meets  bien- 
nially in  odd  years,  holding  two  sessions  broken  by  a  recess.  Epic  strug- 
gles have  been  waged  here,  among  others  the  long  fight  against  the  rail- 
road stranglehold  on  the  valley,  ending  in  the  reforms  under  Governor 
Hiram  Johnson;  and  the  bitter  contest  over  Japanese  immigration, 
which  ended  with  exclusion. 

Mexicans,  Italians,  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Filipinos  are  generously 
represented  in  the  city's  population,  especially  among  agricultural 
workers.  Germans  and  German  Swiss  were  among  pioneer  settlers. 
Migratory  farm  workers,  dust  bowl  refugees,  and  itinerants  "lay  up" 
in  Sacramento  between  harvests. 

Flat  stretches  of  unclaimed  land,  the  navigable  river,  which  was 
named  Sacramento  in  honor  of  the  sacrament,  by  Jose  Moraga,  coman- 
dante  of  the  presidio  of  San  Jose,  and  tractable  Indians  for  workers 
drew  the  attention  of  Capt.  John  Augustus  Sutter,  the  pioneer  settler, 
in  1839.  The  Swiss  ex-army  officer  took  up  a  5O,OOO-acre  grant  by 
swearing  allegiance  to  the  Mexican  flag,  and  built  a  principality  named 
"New  Helvetia"  in  memory  of  the  old  country.  He  ruled  in  baronial 
splendor,  with  Indians  as  his  subjects,  and  a  fort  of  timber  and  adobe 
brick  as  his  castle,  with  twelve  guns  mounted  on  the  ramparts.  Sutter 
built  forges  and  shops,  grazed  herds  on  his  lands,  trapped  for  furs,  and 
carried  on  a  lively  trade.  The  spot  was  a  haven  for  settlers  in  the  tide 
of  overland  emigration  in  the  early  i84o's.  In  1848  the  town  of  Sacra- 
mento was  laid  out  on  Sutter's  farm,  and  the  first  lots  were  sold  in 
January,  1849. 

It  was  Sutter's  boss  carpenter,  James  W.  Marshall,  who,  on  Janu- 
ary 24,  1848,  found  the  first  gold  flake  while  building  a  mill  for  Sutter 
near  Coloma  (see  TOUR  4a)  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  American 
River,  which  resulted  in  the  great  gold  rush  of  1849  and  the  i85o's 
and  in  California's  admission  to  the  Union  as  a  State.  It  also  led  to 
Sutter's  ruin.  Trampling  hordes  from  the  East  overran  his  hospitable 
fort,  stole  his  cattle,  drove  off  his  Indians,  disputed  his  rights  to  the 


252        CALIFORNIA 

land.  His  white  retainers  deserted  for  the  mines.  Meantime,  millions 
of  dollars  in  gold  dust  passed  over  Sutter's  landing.  He  moved  to 
Pennsylvania  in  1873,  with  only  a  small  pension  from  California,  and 
died  at  Washington,  D.C.,  in  1880,  after  vainly  beseeching  Congress 
for  the  restoration  of  his  property. 

The  settlement  became  the  supply  center  for  the  northern  mines 
of  the  mother  lode.  Thousands  of  gold-hungry  men  came  pouring  in 
to  outfit  for  the  diggings.  The  1850  census  showed  6,820,  and  the 
population  soon  jumped  to  10,000,  with  gold  seekers  camped  along  the 
river  bank  in  tents,  frame  houses,  and  even  under  trees — a  packing  box 
or  a  strip  of  canvas  was  considered  good  housing.  Bearded  men  from 
the  mines  flashed  pokes  of  gold  dust  with  assumed  indifference,  and  spent 
grandly  in  saloons,  fandango  halls,  and  gambling  houses.  The  most 
profitable  mining  was  done  by  entrepreneurs,  who  took  it  out  of  the 
miners'  pockets.  Bitter  struggles  took  place  between  squatters  and  men 
who  claimed  titles  to  farmlands. 

Three  disastrous  floods  came  between  1849  and  1853,  arid  in  1852 
a  fire  wiped  out  two-thirds  of  the  town.  In  1849  Sacramento  had 
offered  $1,000,000  for  the  honor  of  being  the  State  capital.  The  Legis- 
lature met  in  1852,  sitting  on  hot  ashes,  and  when  it  officially  became 
the  capital  in  1854,  Rood  debris  was  still  in  evidence.  The  floods  caused 
epidemics,  and  corpses  were  shoved  into  the  swollen  river  to  drift 
away.  Levees  were  finally  built,  and  the  town  pulled  itself  up  out  of 
the  foot-deep  dust  of  summer  and  the  hub-deep  mire  of  the  rainy  season. 
For  many  years  the  water  remained  unpalatable  for  those  who  had  the 
temerity  to  drink  it.  Few  did. 

In  1856  Sacramento  was  the  terminus  of  the  first  railroad  in  Cali- 
fornia, built  as  a  short  line  to  Folsom  by  Theodore  Dehone  Judah,  the 
young  engineer  who  planned  the  first  transcontinental  railroad  through 
the  passes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Four  years  later  came  the  Pony  Ex- 
press, which  ran  until  1861,  when  the  transcontinental  telegraph  went 
through. 

The  Central  Pacific  Railroad  joined  East  and  West  in  1869. 
Judah's  financial  sponsors  were  all  Sacramento  storekeepers:  Collis  P. 
Huntington,  Mark  Hopkins,  Charles  Crocker,  and  Leland  Stanford, 
the  "Big  Four."  The  Central  Pacific  branched  out  and  became  the 
Southern  Pacific,  the  "octopus"  of  Frank  Norris'  novel,  which  for  40 
years  practically  controlled  the  State.  Large-scale  wheat  growing  and 
cattle  raising  soon  after  lost  their  lead  to  more  lucrative  fields  of  fruit, 
vineyards,  cotton,  and  vegetables.  Land  prices  rose,  and  Sacramento's 
prosperity  with  them. 

Sacramento's  position  as  the  capital  was  challenged  by  Berkeley  in 
1907,  and  more  recently  by  San  Jose  and  Monterey,  but  with  little 
effect.  The  river  channel  was  dredged  in  1911,  and  seagoing  vessels 
could  reach  the  city  when  the  river  stage  was  high.  The  early  years 
of  depression  saw  several  State  hunger  marches,  and  in  1938  refugees 
from  the  labor  troubles  in  Nevada  City  camped  for  a  week  outside  the 
fairgrounds. 


SACRAMENTO       25  $ 

Some  of  the  earliest  unions  in  California  were  formed  in  Sacra- 
mento, which  was  rated  a  "good  town"  for  labor.  Industry  got  a 
start  with  the  gold  rush,  and  soon  boiler  plants,  farm  machine  factories,, 
breweries,  carriage  shops,  and  processing  plants  were  humming. 

Today  1 8  percent  of  all  vegetables  and  fruits  in  California  is  grown 
and  canned  in  this  district.  A  can-manufacturing  plant  has  a  daily 
output  of  a  million  and  a  half  cans.  Every  month  some  crop  is  har- 
vested or  processed  in  and  around  Sacramento.  River  shipments  approx- 
imate a  half-million  tons  of  freight  a  year,  ranking  high  in  value  per 
ton.  The  city  is  also  a  railroad  center,  its  large  shops  employing  5,000 
men. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

i.  CAPITOL  PARK,  L  St.  between  loth  and  I5th  Sts.,  and  ex- 
tending to  N  St.,  is  a  4O-acre  plot  with  more  than  1,000  varieties  of 
trees  and  shrubs  from  all  over  the  world,  including  the  Cedar  of  Leba- 
non, camphor  tree,  gingko,  Guadalupe  cypress,  and  the  Australian 
bunya-bunya.  Three  acres  are  planted  exclusively  with  California 
flora.  A  central  plot  of  half  an  acre  contains  trees  from  Civil  War 
battlefields.  The  CAPITOL  BUILDING  is  on  a  gently  sloping  terrace,  ap- 
proached by  short  flights  of  stone  steps.  Begun  in  1860,  it  was  dedi- 
cated with  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  May  15,  1861,  and  was  com- 
pleted 13  years  later.  The  building,  designed  by  F.  M.  Butler  and 
completed  under  the  supervision  of  Reuben  Clark,  G.  P.  Cummings 
and  A.  A.  Bennett,  is  E-shaped,  with  four  stories  and  a  basement.  It  is 
of  Roman-Classic  architecture  adorned  with  Corinthian  columns  and 
pilasters.  The  wing  is  semicircular  on  the  east  facade.  In  the  center 
of  the  plan  is  a  rotunda  topped  with  the  great  gold  dome.  The  ball  sur- 
mounting the  lantern  above  the  dome  is  237  feet  from  the  ground.  The 
basement  and  first  story  are  of  California  granite,  while  the  remainder 
of  the  structure  is  of  brick,  painted  white.  The  main  west  entrance 
is  protected  by  a  pedimented  Corinthian  portico.  The  entrance  vesti- 
bule is  finished  in  white  sandstone,  trimmed  with  onyx  and  marble. 
On  the  floor  of  each  of  the  entrances  is  the  Great  Seal  of  California  in 
colored  mosaic.  On  the  walls  of  the  rotunda  are  12  murals  by  Arthur 
F.  Mathews,  a  California  artist,  each  depicting  a  historical  period  in 
the  State.  In  the  center  of  the  rotunda  stands  a  heroic  statue,  Columbus 
before  Isabella,  by  Larkin  G.  Mead,  presented  to  the  State  by  Darius 
Ogden  Mills,  a  pioneer  banker. 

On  the  first  floor  are  the  offices  of  the  Governor,  the  secretary  of 
State,  and  the  State  treasurer.  The  legislative  chambers  are  on  the 
second  floor,  the  Senate  to  the  south  and  the  Assembly  to  the  north. 
On  the  third  floor  are  the  entrances  to  the  galleries,  open  to  visitors 
when  the  legislature  is  in  session.  Committee  rooms  occupy  the  fourth 
floor. 

There  is  an  excellent  view  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country  from 
the  second  balcony  of  the  dome  (take  south  elevator  to  fourth  floor). 
No  children  are  allowed  in  the  dome  without  parent  or  guardian. 


254        CALIFORNIA 

2.  The   STATE   OFFICE   BUILDING  and  the   STATE  LI- 
BRARY AND  COURTS  BUILDING   (open  9-5  Mon.-Fri.,  9-12 
Sat.;  8-4  July  and  Aug.),  loth  St.  between  L  and  N  Sts.,  extending  to 
9th  St.,  are  twin  five  story  buildings  of  neo-classic  design,  adorned  with 
Ionic  porticoes  and  colonnades,  completed  in  1928.    The  State  Building 
houses   State   government   departments;   the   library,   across   a  terraced 
garden,  contains  800,000  volumes,  including  many  rare  items  of  Cali- 
forniana,  65,000  volumes  of  law,  and  the  only  Braille  library  in  Cali- 
fornia.    The  library  was  begun  in    1850  with  a  collection  of  books 
donated  by  John  C.  Fremont.     GILLIS  HALL,  at  the  entrance  to  the 
reference  room,  contains  murals  by  Maynard  Dixon  depicting  a  Span- 
ish-Mexican   and    an    American    migration    pageant.      The    octagonal 
APPELLATE  COURT  ROOM,  also  in  this  building,  is  finished  in  Roman 
Corinthian  style.     The  room  has  gilded  walls  and  columns,   bronze- 
embedded  windows,  purple  velour  upholstery,  and  a  gold  and  alabaster 
chandelier. 

3.  The  MEMORIAL  AUDITORIUM,  I5th  St.  between  J  and  I 
Sts.,   and  extending  to   i6th   St.,   of   Italian   Romanesque   design,   is  a 
massive  dark  red  brick  building  with  colonnaded  loggia  and  stone  trim. 
It  was  completed  in  1927,  as  a  memorial  to  World  War  veterans.    The 
main  auditorium  seats  3,200;  the  Little  Theater  in  one  wing  seats  300, 
and  the  Memorial  Hall  in  the  other  wing  200.     The  auditorium  con- 
tains a  huge  stage,  a  movable  floor  and  a  $35,000  organ.    Chimes  above 
the  building  strike  each  quarter  hour,  and  every  evening  at  6  o'clock 
play  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

4.  The  CITY  PLAZA,  SE.  corner  9th  and  I  Sts.,  was  given  to  the 
city  by  Sutter  in  1849.     On  the  south  side  of  the  park,  facing  J  Street, 
is  a  statue  by  Albert  Weiner,  erected  "by  his  co-workers"  in  1899  to 
A.  J.  Stevens,  "a  friend  of  labor,"  and  a  prominent  railroad  man  of  the 
1870*8.    A  fountain  in  modernist  style  by  Ralph  Stackpole  is  a  memorial 
to  W.  T.  Coleman,  a  pioneer  real  estate  man. 

5.  The  SACRAMENTO  CITY  LIBRARY  (open  9-9  weekdays), 
SW.  corner  9th  and  I   Sts.,   dates  from   1857,  when  the   Sacramento 
Library  Association  was  formed,  among  its  founders  being  the  railroad 
"Big  Four,"  then  all  young  men.     The  three-story  building  in  Floren- 
tine Renaissance  style,  was  erected  in  1918,  partly  with  Carnegie  funds. 
It  contains  350,000  volumes,  and  has  a  valuable  file  of  government  docu- 
ments, 

6.  The  GOLDEN  EAGLE  HOTEL,  627  K  St.,  was  the  first 
headquarters  of  the  Republican  party  in   California.     Just  across  the 
street,  where  a  department  store  now  stands,  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  Democratic  party.     In  the  i86o's  and   i87o's  there  were  pitched 
battles  between  the  two,  marked  occasionally  by  showers  of  rotten  eggs. 

7.  The  SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  STATION,  4th 
and  I  Sts.,  has  a  monument  to  Theodore  D.  Judah  at  the  main  entrance, 
erected  by  employees  of  the  railroad  in  1930.    It  is  a  massive  stone  struc- 
ture adorned  with   a  bas-relief   of  Judah,   below  which   is  inserted   a 
wooden  tie  from  the  old  Central  Pacific  Railroad.     On  the  east  wall 


SACRAMENTO        255 


SACRAMENTO 


6.  The  Golden  Eagle  Hotel 

7.  The  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  Station 

8.  The  Tremont  Hotel 

9.  The  Pony  Express  Building 

0.  The  Crocker  Art  Gallery 

1.  Super's  Fort 

2.  State  Fair  Grounds 

3.  The  Site  of  Sutterville 


1.  Capitol  Park 

2.  The  State  Office  Building 
and    the    State    Library 
and  Court!  Building 

3.  The  Memorial  Audi- 
torium 

4.  The  City  Plaza 

5.  The  Sacramento  City 
Library 


256        CALIFORNIA 

of  the  waiting  room  is  a  mural  by  Arthur   McQuarry  depicting  the 
breaking  of  ground  for  the  first  transcontinental  railroad  in  1863. 

8.  The  TREMONT  HOTEL,  112  J  St.,  one  of  Sacramento's  first 
"luxury  hotels,"  was  built  in  the  early   1 850*8.     It  is  of  brick,  three 
stories    in    height,    with    tall,    old-fashioned    windows    and    a    wooden 
awning  over  the  sidewalk.     It  had  one  of  the  largest  gambling  rooms 
in  the  West,  where  an  ante  of  $1,000  was  required  in  poker  games, 
and  as  much  as  $500,000  in  gold  dust  or  nuggets  sometimes  changed 
hands  in  a  single  game. 

9.  The  PONY  EXPRESS  MUSEUM   (open  10-4  daily),   1015 
2nd  St.,  a  two-story  brick  structure  with  cement  facing  erected  in  1860, 
was  for  eight  months  in  1860  and  1861  the  office  and  relay  station  of  the 
celebrated    Pony   Express   from    Sacramento   to    St.   Joseph,    Missouri. 
With  the  passing  of  the  Pony  Express,  the  building  was  bought  by  the 
Alta  California  Telegraph  Company   (later  merged  with  the  Western 
Union),  which  established  the  first  link  of  the  transcontinental  tele- 
graph lines. 

10.  The  CROCKER  ART  GALLERY  (open  10-5  daily  in  sum- 
mer, 10-4  daily  in  winter),  SW.  corner  2nd  and  O  Sts.,  consists  of  two 
large  Victorian  buildings  in  landscaped  grounds.     The  gallery,  which 
mingles  once  fashionable  mediocre  canvases  with  genuine  masterpieces^ 
was  donated  to  the  city  in  1885  by  the  widow  of  Judge  E.  B.  Crocker, 
brother  of  Charles  Crocker  of  the  "Big  Four."     Its  collection  includes 
studies  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michelangelo,  and  Rembrandt.     In  the 
late  1930*5  priceless  drawings  by  Holbein,  Diirer,  Watteau,  and  other 
masters  were  found  in  the  basement.     Among  the  noted  paintings  in 
the  gallery  are  Durer's  St.  Joseph  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  Van  Dyck's 
Christ  Healing  the  Blind,  Rubens'  Portrait,  Murillo's  Gypsy,  a  Claude 
Lorraine   Landscape,    and   Guido    Reni's   Entombment    of   Christ,   cut 
from  its  frame  and  stolen  in  1923,  but  returned  by  mail  ten  days  later 
to  a  San  Francisco  newspaper.     Crocker  built  the  gallery  as  a  separate 
building.   The  California  Museum  Association  later  bought  the  Crocker 
home  next  door  and  connected  the  two  buildings. 

11.  SUTTER'S  FORT  (open  8-4  weekdays,  10-4  Sun.),  26th  and 
L  Sts.,  is  a  complete  restoration  on  the  original  site  of  Captain  Sutter's 
ranch  house,  workshops,  home,  and  fort,  erected  in  1839.     Ivy-covered 
concrete  walls,    18  feet  high,   surround   the   fort.      Immediately  inside 
the  gate  is  the  bell  of  Young  America  Engine  Company  No.  6,  which 
rang  for  Lincoln's  election  and  tolled  for  his  assassination.     Near  the 
bell  are  the  cannon  that  guarded  the  fort  when  it  was  first  erected. 

The  buildings  are  in  a  hollow  square,  one  story  high;  the  central 
museum,  which  was  Sutter's  quarters,  is  raised  to  two  stories  by  a  low 
raftered  basement.  The  original  adobe  bricks  are  protected  by  stucco, 
but  the  covering  is  removed  in  places  so  they  can  be  seen.  The  original 
pine  door  frames  were  from  Fort  Ross,  which  Sutter  bought  from  the 
Russians  when  they  left  California  in  1841;  they  were  brought  from 
Norway  around  the  Horn.  The  basement  and  main  floor  are  filled 
with  relics  of  early  California  days — furniture,  clothes,  printing  presses, 


SACRAMENTO        257 

guns,  letters  from  gold  seekers  to  their  families  back  home,  mining  pans 
and  rockers,  and  saddles  and  spurs  of  Pony  Express  riders. 

On  the  low  doors  of  the  barrack-like  side  buildings  are  signs  show- 
ing their  original  use — granary,  blacksmith  shop,  wine  cellar,  quarters 
of  the  Indian  guard,  and  bunkrooms  where  immigrants  were  housed.  In 
open  sheds  are  prairie  schooners,  old  fire  engines,  millstones,  stage- 
coaches, and  other  reminders  of  the  past. 

The  Indian  Museum,  formerly  in  the  capitol,  is  being  removed  to  a 
building  just  outside  Sutter's  Fort.  It  contains  some  40,000  articles 
illustrative  of  the  life  and  crafts  of  California  Indians. 

12.  STATE  FAIR  GROUNDS,  2nd  Ave.  and  Stockton  Blvd.,  are 
the  scene  of  the  California's  State  Fair.     The  extensive  grounds  include 
a  race  track,  where  running  and  trotting  races  and  livestock  shows  are 
held,  pavilions,  and  free  picnic  grounds. 

The  centrally  placed  HORTICULTURAL  HALL,  a  buff  brick,  tile- 
roofed  structure  of  modified  Italian  Renaissance  design  with  a  flat  cen- 
tral dome,  is  used  to  display  California  fruits,  grains,  and  other  prod- 
ucts. 

13.  The  site  of  SUTTERVILLE,  the  town  first  projected  by  Cap- 
tain Sutter  in  1844,  is  S.  of  William  Land  Park,  across  Sutterville  Rd. 
The  first  brick  house  in  California  was  built  here  in  1847.     All  that 
remains  is  the  old  Sutterville  brewery,  built  in  1853,  a  square,  two-story 
structure  made  of  brick  dug  and  baked  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
Here  the  first  steam  beer  in  Sacramento  was  made.     The  building  was 
a  place  of  refuge  from  floods  before  levees  were  built. 


San  Diego 


Railroad  Stations:     Union  Depot,  Broadway  and  Kettner  Blvd.,  for  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  and  San  Diego  and  Arizona  Eastern  Ry. 
Bus  Stations:     120  W.  Broadway  for  Greyhound,  Inland  Stages,  and  All  Ameri- 
can Lines;    137  E.  Broadway  for  National   Trailways;   232  E.  Broadway  for 
Interstate  Transit  Lines  and  Union  Pacific  Stages. 

Airport:     Lindbergh  Field,  Pacific  Hwy.  and  Laurel  St.,  1.7  m.,  for  United  Air 
Lines  and  Western  Air  Express;  taxi  35^  for  passengers. 
Taxis:    20^  first  %  m.,  10^  each  additional  %  m. ;  one  to  five  passengers. 
Streetcars:    Zone  system,  fare  5$  and  10$ ;  four  10^  tokens  for  30^ ;  interurban 
to  La  Jolla,  50$  round  trip,  35^  one  way.     Weekly  urban  and  interurban  passes 
$i  to  $1.75. 

Ferry:  Coronado  Ferry  Slip,  S.  end  of  Pacific  Blvd.;  20^  for  automobile,  5^ 
per  passenger. 

Piers:  Bay  tours  covering  harbor,  Star  &  Crescent  Pier,  W.  end  of  Broadway, 
10  and  2  daily,  $i,  children  50^.  Short  bay  trips  from  United  Water  Taxi  Pier, 
1050  Harbor  St.,  6  a.m.-i2  p.m.  daily,  every  20  min.,  25^.  To  visit  naval 
vessels  in  harbor,  take  United  Water  Taxi,  25^,  or  ships'  shore  boats,  free; 
visiting  days  1-4  Sun.  and  holidays. 

Accommodations:  148  hotels,  rates  higher  in  winter  and  spring;  auto  camps 
and  trailer  courts  in  environs. 

Information  Service:  Chamber  of  Commerce,  499  W.  Broadway;  Plaza  Infor- 
mation Booth,  3rd  and  Broadway. 

Radio  Stations:    KFSD  (600  kc.),  KGB  (1330  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:     Savoy  Theater,  236  C  St.,  road  shows; 

Ford   Music  Bowl,   E.   and   W.   Palisades   Drives,   Balboa   Park,   concerts;    20 

motion  picture  houses. 

Golf:     Municipal   Golf   Course,   Pershing  Drive,   Balboa   Park,    18   holes,    50^ 

weekdays,  75^  Sat.  afternoon  and  Sun.;  9-hole  course,  25$  per  round. 

Tennis:      Municipal    courts,    Balboa    Park,    10    courts,    free,    several    lighted; 

Memorial  Park,  28th  St.  and  Logan  Ave.,  4  courts;  North  Park,  Idaho  St.  and 

Lincoln  Ave.,  4  courts,  lighted,  free. 

Swimming:     Municipal  pool,  Balboa  Park,  open  10-10  daily,  May  i5-Sept.  15, 

25$,   suit   and  towels    10^,   children   under    18,    10$.      Ocean   Beach,    open   year 

round,  10-10  Mon.-Fri.,  10-6  Sat.,  lifeguards;  25$,  suit  and  towels  10^,  children 

15^,  adults  in  bathing  suits   15$.     Mission  Beach   Natatorium,   Mission  Beach, 

open  daily  10-10,  Fourth  of  July  to  Labor  Day,  lifeguards;  35^,  with  suit  and 

towels  50^,  children  15^;  Pacific  Beach,  La  Jolla;  Tent  City  Beach,  Coronado. 

Riding:     Bridle   trails   in  Balboa   Park;    Silver   Strand,   Coronado;    and  Point 

Loma.     Horse  hire  75$-$!. 50  an  hour. 

Boating:     Power  boats,  W.   end   of  Broadway,   $2   an   hour  up;    3O-passenger 

boats   $5    an  hour.      Sailboats    and   rowboats,   Mission   Bay,   25$    an   hour   up; 

Coronado  Boathouse,  Glorietta  Bay,  75^-$!  an  hour. 

Fishing:     Surf,  pier,  and  barge;  deep-sea;  fresh-water,  lakes  in  back  country, 

May  i-Oct.  31. 

258 


SAN     DIEGO        259 


For  further  information  regarding  this  city,  see  SAN 
DIEGO:  A  CALIFORNIA  CITY,  another  of  the  Ameri- 
can Guide  Series,  published  1937  by  the  San  Diego 
Historical  Society. 


SAN  DIEGO  (0-822  alt.,  147,995  pop.),  the  oldest  Spanish  settle- 
ment in  California,  is  in  the  extreme  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the 
United  States.  Although  only  16  miles  north  of  the  Mexican  bound- 
ary, it  is  completely  American.  Its  landlocked  natural  harbor  is  head- 
quarters for  the  Eleventh  Naval  District,  for  marine  and  coast  guard 
bases,  and  home  port  for  a  fleet  of  tuna  clippers  and  fishing  smacks 
manned  by  Portuguese  and  Italian  fishermen. 

The  city  has  much  of  the  easygoing  spirit  of  Spanish  days,  and  peo- 
ple dress  and  live  for  comfort.  Life  moves  at  a  modulated  pace,  par- 
ticularly because  of  the  large  number  of  retired  and  elderly  persons. 
The  downtown  area,  dominated  by  a  group  of  tall  buildings,  is  small 
for  a  city  of  this  size;  Broadway,  the  main  artery,  runs  from  the  water- 
front due  east  and  divides  the  city  into  distinct  sections.  Although 
liners  no  longer  call  at  the  port  Max  Miller  wrote  of  in  /  Cover  the 
Waterfront,  freighters  and  tramp  steamers  dock  here  regularly.  Tuna 
clippers  bring  in  big  hauls  of  huge  fish,  and  sport  fishing  parties  return 
with  catches  of  yellowtail,  barracuda,  and  swordfish.  Navy  shoreboats 
run  between  ships  at  anchor  and  the  piers. 

South  of  Broadway  many  plain  buildings  of  the  iSyo's  and  ginger- 
bread structures  of  the  1890*8  are  still  in  use.  Markets  and  grocery 
stores  along  Twelfth  Avenue  display  fruit  and  vegetables  in  pyramids 
and  cascades.  Third,  Fourth,  and  Fifth  Avenues  have  taverns  with 
three-piece  jazz  bands,  shooting  galleries,  inexpensive  movies,  hambur- 
ger stands,  pawn  shops,  and  small  hotels. 

Balboa  Park's  giant  green  square  begins  just  north  of  the  business 
district.  North  and  northwest  of  the  park  are  the  newer  residential 
districts,  and  to  the  west  is  Middletown,  a  narrow  segment  extending 
from  the  bay  to  the  low  hills,  occupied  by  Italian  fishermen  and  airplane 
factory  employees.  Old  Town,  site  of  the  original  Spanish  settlement, 
is  northwest  of  Middletown.  It  has  some  fine  adobe  buildings,  fringed 
with  rose  bushes  and  flowers,  but  most  of  the  land  is  occupied  by  small 
houses  and  auto  courts. 

Most  of  San  Diego's  inhabitants,  apart  from  the  shifting  Navy  per- 
sonnel, are  immigrants  or  descendants  of  immigrants  from  the  East  and 
Middle  West.  Many  are  retired ;  ten  percent  of  all  retired  U.  S.  Navy 
officers  live  in  San  Diego. 

In  the  Logan  Heights  district,  south  and  east  of  downtown  along 
the  curved  southern  shore,  sprawl  San  Diego's  Mexican  and  Negro 
communities,  with  Mexican  restaurants  vending  tamales  and  tacos,  and 
with  chicken  palaces  and  big  ovens  where  Negroes  barbecue  meat. 
About  10,000  Mexicans,  most  of  them  clinging  to  their  own  language 


26o        CALIFORNIA 

and  customs,  live  in  this  district;  they  are  employed  mainly  as  day 
laborers  and  cannery  workers.  The  4,500  Negroes  are  mostly  manual 
or  domestic  workers.  The  Japanese  colony,  of  about  1,000  persons,  is 
in  this  area  also;  some  in  huts  on  stilts  over  the  water.  About  5,000 
Portuguese  fisherman,  who  live  on  the  bay  side  of  Point  Loma,  form  a 
distinct  group  preserving  its  own  customs.  Italian  fishermen  mingle 
more  generally  with  the  community. 

The  site  of  San  Diego  was  visited  in  1539  by  Father  Marcos  and  his 
followers,  from  the  desert  side,  in  their  search  for  the  "Seven  Cities 
of  Cibola";  in  1542  by  Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo,  a  Portuguese  explorer 
in  the  service  of  Spain,  who  spent  six  days  in  the  harbor ;  and  sixty  years 
later  by  Sebastian  Vizaino,  merchant  navigator  charting  the  coast  for 
Spain. 

In  1769  Governor  Portola,  with  Franciscan  friars  and  soldiers, 
established  a  mission  and  presidio  here.  The  English  sloop  Discovery, 
engaged  in  scientific  research,  visited  San  Diego  in  1793,  and  in  1803 
the  Yankee-owned  Lelia  Byrd,  caught  while  smuggling  otter  skins, 
fought  a  cannon  duel  with  the  battery  of  Ballast  Point.  San  Diego 
became  the  center  of  the  coastal  hide  trade,  and  was  organized  in  1834 
as  a  pueblo.  By  1838  the  population  had  decreased  and  San  Diego 
became  a  department  of  Los  Angeles. 

During  the  Mexican  regime,  San  Diego  took  on  more  color.  "The 
beautiful  senoritas  danced  their  picturesque  dances  at  the  balls  which 
followed  bull-fights  and  cock-fights."  Many  Spanish  families,  on  bad 
terms  with  the  Mexican  governor,  assisted  the  Americans  in  their  con- 
quest. After  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  the  town  came  peace- 
fully under  American  rule. 

In  1850  the  present  Old  Town  was  incorporated  as  a  city.  The  site 
of  the  present  city  was  called  New  Town,  or  "Davis's  Folly"  for  Wil- 
liam Heath  Davis,  who  first  built  there.  Alonzo  E.  Horton,  for  whom 
New  Town  was  named  "Horton's  Addition,"  profited  more  than  he. 
From  1867  to  1872  New  Town  grew  steadily;  then  a  fire  wiped  out 
Old  Town's  business  district,  and  New  Town  became  the  city's  center. 

In  1885  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad  laid  tracks  into  San  Diego  and  made 
it  a  transcontinental  terminus.  Two  years  later  it  had  40,000  residents, 
but  the  boom  collapsed,  and  by  1890  there  were  only  17,000.  Since 
1910  its  population  has  doubled  about  every  decade. 

San  Diego's  335  factories  are  mostly  small  enterprises;  Consolidated 
Aircraft  is  the  only  large-scale  industrial  plant.  Fishing  and  canning 
are  basic  sources  of  income.  A  large  lumber  mill  handles  timber  rafted 
in  from  the  Northwest. 

San  Diego  was  an  open-shop  city  until  the  strong  wave  of  unioni- 
zation in  the  early  thirties;  during  the  bitter  "Free  Speech  Fight"  of 
1912  radical  headquarters  were  raided  and  radicals  ordered  out  of 
town. 

Depressions  have  touched  lightly  on  San  Diego.  Establishment  of 
Army  and  Navy  bases  during  the  World  War,  completion  of  the  San 
Diego  and  Arizona  Eastern  Railway  in  1919,  and  the  expositions  of 


SAN     DIEGO        26l 

1915-16  and  1935-36  have  contributed  to  its  prosperity.  The  outdoors, 
however,  is  San  Diego's  chief  commodity,  and  tourists  are  its  best  cus- 
tomers. 

Music  is  enthusiastically  supported  by  local  citizens.  Performances 
by  the  San  Diego  Civic  Symphony  Orchestra  and  the  Federal  Music 
Project  are  well  attended,  and  the  service  bands  conduct  free  weekly 
programs.  The  San  Diego  open  forum  is  well  known  on  the  West 
Coast. 

POINTS  OF  IiNTEREST 

i.  BALBOA  PARK,  entrance  Laurel  St.  and  Sixth  Ave.,  1,400 
acres  in  area,  is  the  cultural  and  recreational  center  of  San  Diego.  El 
Prado  (the  public  walk),  a  continuation  of  Laurel  Street,  runs  west  to 
east  through  the  landscaped  area  and  is  lined  with  palaces  of  two  exposi- 
tions, galleries,  museums,  and  gardens. 

The  eastern  section  of  the  park,  cut  by  canyons  and  covered  with 
chaparral,  contains  the  municipal  swimming  pool,  tennis  courts,  golf 
course,  Naval  Hospital,  city  stadium,  and  San  Diego  High  School. 

(See  map  for  location  of  lettered  points  of  interest.) 

A.  CABRILLO  BRIDGE,  over  Cabrillo  Canyon,  450  feet  long  and  no 
feet  high,  is  a  concrete  cantilever  type  span,  with  seven  graceful  arches. 

B.  The    CALIFORNIA    BUILDING    (open    10-4:30    Tues.-Sat.,    1-4:30 
Sun.),  a  cream  colored  concrete  structure  designed  by  Bertram  Goodhue  in 
the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  is  richly  ornamented  in  the  Spanish  Churriguer- 
esque  style,  and  houses  the  San  Diego  Museum  and  Archaeological  Institute, 
the  Hall  of  Anthropology,  scientific  library,  the  Chapel  of  St.  Francis,  and 
the   California   Tower.     The    Quadrangle   Building,    with    an   ornamented 
octagonal  dome,  is  adorned  with  figures  of  Spanish  explorers  and  Francis- 
can monks.    The  Mayan,  Aztec,  and  Indian  exhibits  in  the  Museum  include 
plaster  casts,  weapons,  and  handicrafts.     The  Hall  of  Anthropology  has  a 
permanent  exhibit  of  sculptures  illustrating  the  racial  history  of  mankind. 

C.  The  ALCAZAR  GARDEN,  built  for  the  fair  of  1915,  has  Moorish 
fountains  in  blue,  green,  and  yellow  tile,  and  an  ornamental  gateway. 

A  graveled  path  leads  across  Palm  Canyon  to  other  exposition  buildings 
in  Spanish  and  Mayan  styles.  The  PACIFIC  RELATIONS  GROUP  (open 
Sun.)  is  a  cluster  of  small  Spanish  style  houses  around  a  pond,  in  which 
13  national  groups  display  furnishings  and  handicrafts. 

D.  The  FORD  BUILDING  (not  open),  a  modern  structure  designed  by 
Walter  Teague,  is  to  be  a  permanent  museum  of  mechanical  development. 

The  FEDERAL  BUILDING  (not  open),  E.  Palisades  Drive,  a  huge 
windowless  concrete  structure,  will  be  used  as  a  city  auditorium. 

E.  The   SPRECKELS   ORGAN   PAVILION    (open:   organ   recitals  four 
variable  days  a  'week,  2  p.m.],  is  an  open-air  amphitheater,  having  one  of 
the  world's  largest  outdoor  organs. 

F.  The  FINE  ARTS  GALLERY  OF  SAN  DIEGO  (open  10-4  weekdays, 
1-5  Sun.;   free   except  Mon.   adm.  25$),    a    Spanish   Renaissance   building 
erected   in   1925,   has   paintings  valued   at  more  than   $1,000,000.     Notable 
exhibits  include  laces,  ceramics,  Oriental  costumes,  and  ivories.    Among  the 
art  treasures  are  four  rare  Flemish  Renaissance  tapestries,  a  Spanish  altar- 
piece  of  St.  John,  El  Greco's  St.  Francis,  and  canvases  by  Murillo,  Sorolla, 
Rubens,   Goya,  Zurbaran,   Corot,   and  Zuloaga.     Among  the   moderns   are 
Matisse,  Henri,  and  Bellows. 

ZOOLOGICAL  GARDEN  (open  8-5  daily;  adults  25$,  children  under 
16  free),  Avenida  de  Espana,  has  the  first  two  mountain  gorillas  in  cap- 


262        CALIFORNIA 


KEY 

1.  Balboa  Park 

2.  Star  of  India 

3.  The  Civic  Center 

4.  Lindbergh  Field 

5.  Old  Town  Plaza 

6.  Presidio  Hill  Park 


TO  L    S  ANCELEi 


SAN  DIEGO 


SAN     DIEGO        263 

tivity  (gifts  of  Martin  and  Osa  Johnson).  Snakes  are  kept  in  an  arcaded 
open-air  house,  and  trained  seals  are  shown  in  an  amphitheater. 

G.  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY  (open  9-5  daily]  is  designed 
in  the  Spanish  Renaissance  style.  On  the  ground  floor  are  exhibits  of  dino- 
saur fossils,  minerals,  reptiles,  and  fish.  The  Stephens  collection  of  mounted 
birds  and  mammals,  and  the  Ingersoll  collection  of  birds'  nests  and  eggs 
are  on  the  second  floor.  The  top  floor  has  exhibits  of  fossils,  seashells, 
corals,  insects,  and  1,200  water  colors  of  flowers. 

H.  THE  SPANISH  VILLAGE  ART  CENTER  (open  9-4  daily},  con- 
tains workshops  of  artists  in  Spanish  colonial  cottages.  Art  work  is  for  sale, 
and  there  is  a  puppet  show  and  a  cafe. 

2.  STAR  OF  INDIA  (opens  8-5  daily,  adm.  ioj),  foot  of  Second 
Ave.,  a  full-rigged  ship,  is  a  maritime  museum.  The  vessel,  built  on  the 
Isle  of  Man  in  1863,  carried  emigrants  between  England  and  New 
Zealand  for  30  years. 

3.  The  CIVIC  CENTER,  Pacific  Highway  between  Ash  and  Grape 
Sts.,  overlooking  the  bay,  is  a  modern  office  building  with  a  four-story 
central  section  and  set-back  tower.  It  was  completed  in  1938  and  houses 
municipal  offices. 

4.  LINDBERGH  FIELD,  Pacific  Highway  between  Laurel  and 
Sassafras  Sts.,   is  a  28y-acre  airport   dredged   from   the  bay,  with  six 
hangars  and  an  administration  building.     It  was  named  to  commem- 
orate Lindbergh's  flight  to  Paris  in  a  San  Diego-made  plane — the  Spirit 
of  St.  Louis,  though  he  actually  took  off  for  the   East  from   North 
Island. 

5.  OLD  TOWN   PLAZA,   Calhoun   and  Wallace  Sts.,   original 
center  of  town,  retains  some  of  its  early  Spanish  flavor,  and  around  it 
are  several  houses  of  interest. 

CASA  DE  CARRILLO  (open  8-5:30  daily),  4136  Wallace  St.,  is  a  re- 
stored box-like  adobe,  built  about  1820. 

CASA  DE  BANDINI  (private),  2660  Calhoun  St.,  is  a  two-story  adobe 
with  an  overhanging  balcony.  Originally  one  story,  it  was  built  in  1829 
by  Juan  Bandini  and  enlarged  in  1869.  Bandini's  daughters  made  the 
American  flag  that  Lt.  Stephen  C.  Rowan  raised  on  the  plaza  in  1846. 
Commodore  Robert  Stockton  made  his  headquarters  here  in  1846-47,  and 
Kit  Carson  brought  news  to  this  house  of  Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kearny's 
plight  at  the  battle  of  San  Pasqual. 

CASA  DE  ESTUDILLO  (open  8:30-5:30  daily,  adm.  10$),  Mason  St. 
between  Calhoun  St.  and  San  Diego  Ave.,  is  known  as  Ramona's  Marriage 
Place.  Built  about  1825  and  restored  in  1910,  it  is  now  a  museum  of 
Spanish-California  days.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  used  this  house  as  a  back- 
ground in  her  novel,  Ramona,  though  it  had  no  connection  with  the  proto- 
types of  her  hero  and  heroine. 

The  WHALEY  HOUSE  (private),  NE.  corner  San  Diego  Ave.  and 
Harney  St.,  was  built  in  1856  by  Thomas  Whaley,  of  bricks  he  himself 
manufactured  and  of  plaster  from  seashells. 

ADOBE  CHAPEL,  Conde  St.  between  San  Diego  Ave.  and  Congress  St., 
a  restored  light  yellow  adobe  building  with  low  lean-to  wings  forming  a 
cruciform  plan,  was  the  original  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
Built  about  1850,  it  was  consecrated  in  1858. 

6.  PRESIDIO  HILL  PARK,  Presidio.     FORT  STOCKTON,  beyond 
the  park  entrance,  was  named  for  Commodore  Stockton,  who  occupied  it 


264        CALIFORNIA 

in  1846.  The  SERRA  MUSEUM  (open  10-5  Tue$.~$at.t  2-5  Sun.), 
2727  Presidio  Drive,  of  Spanish  mission  architecture,  exhibits  local  his- 
torical relics.  On  the  river  flats  below  the  hill  stands  the  SERRA  PALM, 
supposedly  planted  in  1769.  EL  PRESIDIO  REAL  (the  royal  garrison), 
bisected  by  Presidio  Drive,  the  area  of  the  original  settlement  in  1769, 
is  the  oldest  part  of  San  Diego. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Torrey  Pines  Mesa,  rare  trees,  15.9  m.;  Mission  San  Luis  Rey,  41.1  m.; 
(see  TOUR  2d}.  Palomar  Observatory,  2oo-inch  telescope,  41.7  m.  (see 
TOUR  6e).  Mount  Helix,  12.8  m.  (see  TOUR  14b). 


V 


^^(K&KSSS^^^ 


San  Francisco 


Railroad  Stations:     3rd  and  Townsend  Sts.  and  Ferry  Bldg.,  foot  of  Market  St., 
for  Southern  Pacific  R.R.;  by  bus  from  44  4th   St.  for  Atchison,  Topeka  and 
Santa   Fe   Ry.;    Ferry   Bldg.   for   Pacific  R.R.   and   Northwestern  Pacific  R.R.; 
Bay  Bridge  Terminal,    ist  and  Mission  Sts.,  for   Sacramento   Northern  R.R. 
Bus  Stations:     75  Fifth  St.  for  Pacific  Greyhound  Lines;  44  Fourth  St.  for  Santa 
Fe    and   Burlington   Trailways,    Napa   Valley   Bus    Co.,    Sacramento    Northern, 
Key  System,  and  River  Auto  Stages;  781  Market  St.  for  Dollar  Stages  and  the 
Gray  Line;  40  Eddy  St.  for  all  American  Bus  Lines  and  Airline  Bus  Co. 
Airport:     San  Francisco  Municipal  Airport  (Mills  Field)    13  m.  S.  on  US  101, 
for  United  Airlines,   Transcontinental   &  Western  Air,   Inc.;   Treasure   Island 
for   Pan   American   Airways;    taxi   to    San    Francisco    Airport,    flat    rate    from 
downtown  business  district,  $3  one  way,  $5   round  trip,  time  25  min. 
Taxis:     25^  first  %  m.,  10^  each  additional  %  m. 

Streetcars  and  Busses:  Fares  5^  and  7^,  free  transfers;  cable  railroad  fare  5^, 
free  transfers;  interurban  cars  serving  Peninsula  to  San  Mateo,  fare  27^, 
round  trip  47^;  interurban  cars  serving  Eastbay,  fare  21$,  round  trip  42^. 
Ferries:  Ferry  Bldg.,  foot  of  Market  St.  for  Southern  Pacific  ferries  to  Eastbay, 
pedestrians  21^,  automobiles  30^  one  way,  round  trip  50^  (i  to  5  passengers); 
for  Key  Route  System  ferries  to  Treasure  Island,  pedestrians  only,  ictf;  for 
Northwestern  Pacific  ferries  to  Sausalito,  pedestrians  only,  15^,  round  trip  25^. 
Bridges:  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  approaches:  5th  and  Bryant  Sts., 
and  Fremont  and  Harrison  Sts.;  toll  50^  (i  to  5  passengers),  5^  for  each 
additional  passenger.  Golden  Gate  Bridge  approaches:  Marina  Blvd.  and 
Baker  St.,  and  Lombard  and  Broderick  Sts.;  toll  50^  (i  to  5  passengers),  5^ 
for  each  additional  passenger;  pedestrians  10$  within  turnstiles. 
Piers:  Embarcadero,  foot  of  Market  St.  Coastwise  passage  in  occasional 
freighters  only.  For  travel  to  East  Coast,  outlying  possessions,  and  foreign 
countries  consult  telephone  directory  or  travel  bureaus. 

Traffic  Regulations:  20  m.p.h.  in  business  district;  25  m.p.h.  in  residential  dis- 
trict; no  U-turn  in  business  district;  right  turn  on  red  when  not  interfering 
with  pedestrians,  except  in  business  district.  No  daytime  parking  on  Market  St. 

Accommodations:     1,439  hotels,  auto  and  trailer  camps  in  environs. 

Information  Service:  California  State  Chamber  of  Commerce,  356  Bush  St.; 
California  Automobile  Association  (A.A.A.),  150  Van  Ness  Ave. ;  San  Fran- 
cisco Chamber  of  Commerce,  333  Pine  St.;  National  Auto  Club,  228  Pine  St., 
U.S.  Forest  Service,  760  Market  St. 

Radio  Stations:  KSFO  (560  kc.),  KFRC  (610  kc.),  KPO  (680  kc.),  KGO 
(790  kc.),  KROW  (930  kc.),  KJBS  (1070  kc.),  KYA  (1230  kc.),  KSAN 
(1420  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Three  legitimate  theaters  regularly 
showing;  numerous  little  theaters;  80  motion  picture  houses. 
Concert  Halls:  War  Memorial  Opera  House,  Van  Ness  Ave.  and  Grove  St.; 
Veterans*  Auditorium,  Van  Ness  Ave.  and  McAllister  St.;  Civic  Auditorium, 
Grove  St.  between  Polk  and  Larkin  Sts.;  Scottish  Rite  Auditorium,  Van  Ness 
Ave.  and  Sutter  St.;  Community  Playhouse,  609  Sutler  St.;  Dreamland  Audi- 
torium, Steiner  and  Post  Sts. 

265 


266        CALIFORNIA 

Athletics:  Kezar  Stadium,  Frederick  St.  between  Willard  St.  and  Arguello 
Blvd.;  Kezar  Pavilion,  Stanyan  St.,  near  Frederick  (SE.  corner  of  Golden  Gate 
Park);  Ewing  Field,  Masonic  Ave.  between  Geary  and  Turk  Sts. ;  Roberts 
Field,  i5th  and  Valencia  Sts.;  Seals'  Stadium,  i6th  and  Bryant  Sts.  (Pacific 
Coast  League  baseball). 

Golf:  Harding  Park  Municipal  Golf  Course,  36th  Ave.  at  Sunset  Blvd.,  18 
holes,  75^  weekdays,  $i  Sat.,  Sun.,  holidays;  monthly  ticket  $3,  also  6-hole 
practice  course.  Lincoln  Park  Municipal  Golf  Links,  33rd  Ave.  and  Clement 
St.,  18  holes,  50^  weekdays,  75$  Sat.,  Sun.,  holidays;  monthly  ticket  $2.  Ingle- 
side  Public  Golf  Course,  Junipero  Serra  Blvd.  and  igth  Ave.,  18  holes,  75$ 
weekdays,  $1.25  Sat.,  Sun.,  holidays,  except  Sat.  before  n,  75$,  after  4,  50$; 
monthly  $3. 

Tennis:  Municipal  courts  at  44  recreation  centers.  Among  them  are:  Golden 
Gate  Park  Courts  (21)  free.  Excelsior  Courts  (i),  Russian  and  Madrid  Sts.; 
Folsom  Courts  (2),  2ist  and  Folsom  Sts.;  Margaret  S.  Hayward  Courts  (4), 
Golden  Gate  Ave.  and  Laguna  St.;  North  Beach  Courts  (2),  Lombard  and 
Mason  Sts.,  all  lighted,  free.  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  Courts  (18),  foot  of  Lyon 
St.,  lighted,  $i  per  hour  per  court. 

Swimming:  Fleishhacker  Pool,  Sloat  Blvd.  and  Great  Highway,  heated  outdoor 
pool  open  8-5,  Apr.  i-Nov.  15,  children  15^,  adults  25$  (including  locker,  suit, 
towel),  private  dressing  rooms  40^.  Mission  Pool,  ipth  and  Angelica  Sts., 
municipal  outdoor  pool  for  children  18  years  and  under,  open  10-4,  adm.  5$ 
(including  suit,  towel);  girls  Mon.,  Wed.,  Fri. ;  boys  Tues.,  Thurs.,  Sat.,  Sun.; 
North  Beach  Pool,  Lombard  and  Mason  Sts.,  municipal  outdoor  pool  for  chil- 
dren 18  years  and  under,  open  10-4,  adm.  5$  (including  suit,  towel)  ;  girls 
Tues.,  Thurs.,  Sat.;  boys  Mon.,  Wed.,  Fri.,  Sun. 

Riding:  Fourteen  miles  of  bridle  paths  in  Golden  Gate  Park;  25  miles  of  paths 
along  Funston  Ave.,  in  the  Presidio,  and  along  beach.  Average  charge  for 
horses  $1.50  first  hour,  75$  each  additional  hour. 

Horse  Racing:  Golden  Gate  Park  Stadium  (opposite  36th  Ave.),  occasional 
harness  races  on  Y^  mile  track. 

Polo:  Golden  Gate  Park  Stadium,  games  nearly  every  Sun.  in  fall  and  spring. 
Yachting:  Municipal  Yacht  Harbor,  Marina  Blvd.  between  Scott  and  Baker 
Sts.;  Aquatic  Park  Harbor,  foot  of  Polk  St. 

Fishing:  Municipal  Pier  at  Aquatic  Park,  N.  end  of  Van  Ness  Ave.;  free. 
Lake  Merced;  free. 

Annual  Events:  Shrine  East-West  football  game,  Kezar  Stadium,  Jan.  i; 
Chinese  New  Year  celebration,  one  week  between  Jan.  2o-Feb.  20;  Parilia. 
Artists'  ball,  Feb.;  National  Open  Matchplay  golf  championship,  Feb.-Mar. ; 
Army  Day,  Apr.  2;  Livestock  and  Baby  Beef  Show,  first  and  second  weeks  in 
Apr.;  California  Spring  Blossom  and  Wildflower  Show,  Apr.;  Spring  Yachting 
Regatta,  fourth  week  in  Apr. ;  Children's  Festival,  Golden  Gate  Park,  May  i ; 
Rowing  Regatta,  July  4;  Harbor  Day,  third  week  in  Aug.;  Dahlia  Show,  Aug.; 
Columbus  Day  Festival,  Oct.  12;  International  Livestock  Exposition,  fourth 
week  in  Oct. ;  Pacific  Auto  Show,  Civic  Auditorium,  Oct.  3<>-Nov.  6 ;  Opera 
Season,  War  Memorial  Opera  House,  Nov.-Dec.;  Grand  National  Livestock 
Exposition,  Nov.  zy-Dec.  5;  Symphony  Season,  War  Memorial  Opera  House, 
Dec.-May. 

SAN  FRANCISCO  (6  to  956  alt.,  634,394  pop.),  born  of  the  meeting 
of  sea  captains  and  gold  seekers,  spills  over  its  many  hills — three  times 
Rome's  seven — at  the  tip  of  a  peninsula  that  walls  the  narrow  channel 
of  the  Golden  Gate  through  which  the  tides  of  the  Pacific  pour  into 
San  Francisco  Bay.  The  far-flung  causeways  of  the  San  Francisco- 
Oakland  Bay  Bridge  and  the  Golden  Gate  Bridge  across  the  strait  link 
it  with  the  mainlands  opposite.  Behind  the  city  the  San  Bruno  Hills 
roll  away  to  the  south. 


SAN     FRANCISCO        267 

Once  a  barren  stretch  of  sand  dunes  and  rocky  hills,  covered  with 
brush,  broken  here  and  there  by  wooded  valleys,  dotted  with  swamps 
and  lagoons,  the  site  of  the  present  city  is  in  large  part  man-made. 
Smaller  hills  have  been  leveled ;  valleys,  tidal  marshes,  and  lagoons  have 
been  filled  in.  Mission  Swamp  was  drained  to  provide  industrial  sites. 
Only  the  line  of  cliffs  along  the  Pacific,  frequented  by  sea  gulls  and 
sea  lions,  remains  almost  as  it  was. 

Approached  from  the  bay,  San  Francisco  appears  as  a  serried  skyline 
of  hills  and  tall  buildings.  In  the  foreground  is  the  sweeping  arc  of 
the  waterfront,  with  piers  jutting  out  from  the  Embarcadero  like  cogs 
on  a  giant  wheel.  High  above  the  broad  Embarcadero  rises  the  clock 
tower  of  the  Ferry  Building,  from  which  Market  Street  runs  diagon- 
ally southwest,  cutting  the  city  in  half.  A  street  of  large  department 
stores,  banks,  public  buildings,  and  business  houses;  of  pageants  and 
parades;  of  bustling  activity,  hurrying  throngs,  and  the  traffic  din  of 
automobiles  and  streetcars  on  four  sets  of  tracks — Market  Street  is  at 
once  San  Francisco's  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue.  On  both  sides  rise 
clusters  of  skyscrapers,  built  back  from  the  bay  on  steep  slopes — office 
buildings,  hotels,  apartment  houses,  at  night  alive  with  sparkling  lights. 

In  downtown  San  Francisco,  compact  and  accessible,  the  shopping 
district  centers  on  Union  Square,  surrounded  by  department  stores, 
smart  women's  shops,  furriers,  fine  book  stores,  theaters,  hotels,  and 
specialty  shops.  Here  are  many  of  the  better  apartment  houses  in  this 
city  of  apartment  houses,  whole  blocks  consisting  of  unbroken  rows  of 
these  super-tenements.  Along  the  sidewalks  downtown  ar,e  numerous 
flower  stalls  at  which  the  passerby  can  inexpensively  have  his  choice  of 
carnations,  chrysanthemums,  roses,  and  a  wide  variety  of  blossoms  every 
month  in  the  year. 

Of  the  city's  many  hills  three  of  the  highest  are  in  the  northeastern 
section.  Telegraph  Hill  rises  abruptly  from  the  bay  shore  to  a  height 
of  300  feet;  overlooking  the  bay,  the  Golden  Gate,  and  farther 
stretches  of  water,  it  was  long  used  as  a  signal  tower  to  inform  the 
town  of  approaching  ships.  Just  westward  is  Russian  Hill,  near  the 
crest  of  which  in  early  days  was  a  burying  ground  for  Russian  sailors. 
The  hills  are  now  covered  with  residences,  apartment  houses,  and 
studios.  Many  of  the  city's  artists  and  writers  live  in  this  section. 
Dropping  off  to  the  south  of  Russian  Hill  is  Nob  Hill,  now  clotted  with 
towering  hotels  and  apartment  houses,  once  resplendent  with  the  marble 
and  stone  castles  of  the  Comstock  millionaires,  derisively  titled  "Na- 
bobs" by  the  townsfolk;  hence  the  name  of  the  hill. 

The  city's  hills  account  for  the  continued  use  of  cable  cars,  which, 
as  they  slowly  crawl  up  and  down  the  heights,  amaze  and  amuse  the 
newcomer.  At  their  terminals  some  of  the  cars  are  turned  around  by 
hand  on  a  turntable  for  their  return  trip.  Many  San  Franciscans  de- 
pend on  these  little  old-fashioned  cars  every  day,  and  while  they  are 
long  since  used  to  them,  delight  in  them  quite  as  much  as  the  stranger. 

South  of  Market  ("south  of  the  slot,"  as  the  phrase  went  when 
cable  cars  were  still  plying  Market  Street)  is  the  Mission  district,  one 


268        CALIFORNIA 

of  the  oldest  and  most  densely  populated  in  the  city.  With  a  main 
street  of  the  same  name,  it  is  almost  a  city  in  itself,  homogeneous  in 
appearance  and  tone,  with  marked  characteristics  of  its  own;  its  resi- 
dents, so  some  say,  can  be  identified  by  their  slightly  different  accent. 
Between  the  Mission  and  the  bay  lies  the  old  Potrero  district,  now 
largely  industrial;  to  the  south  stretch  more  miles  of  residential 
streets. 

The  geographical  center  of  San  Francisco  is  Twin  Peaks,  two  hills 
of  nearly  equal  height,  offering  one  of  the  best  views  of  the  city,  bay, 
and  surrounding  country.  Southwest  is  Mount  Davidson,  the  highest 
elevation  in  San  Francisco.  The  city's  westward  expansion  has  re- 
sulted in  new  residential  developments  in  this  section;  even  the  smaller 
houses  here  are  set  in  lawns  or  colorful  gardens.  Along  the  slopes  of 
Mount  Davidson,  and  in  such  rolling  areas  as  St.  Francis  Wood  and 
Ingleside  Terrace,  are  many  more  palatial  residences  on  landscaped 
grounds. 

Golden  Gate  Park,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  extends  four  miles 
to  the  ocean,  dividing  the  two  largest  residential  sections  of  the  city: 
the  Richmond  district  to  the  north,  the  newer  Sunset-Parkside  district 
to  the  south,  not  many  years  ago  a  waste  of  sand  dunes,  now  almost 
solidly  built  up.  The  street  pattern  of  short  blocks  east  and  west  and 
long  blocks  north  and  south  has  stimulated  the  building  of  almost  iden- 
tical houses  in  long  rows;  the  houses  built  wall  to  wall,  with  a  raised 
basement  story  and  garage  at  the  street  level,  crowd  the  sidewalk. 

From  the  days  of  '49  San  Francisco  has  been  a  great  banking  center, 
the  largest  west  of  Chicago.  But  since  the  first  white  man  came,  the 
city's  prosperity  has  been  founded  on  its  maritime  trade.  San  Fran- 
cisco, a  port  of  entry  since  1849,  possesses  one  of  the  finest  land-locked 
harbors  in  the  world,  3  to  12  miles  wide,  with  50  miles  of  frontage 
and  15  miles  of  wharfage.  It  pulsates  with  activity  as  ships  from  the 
Orient  and  the  South  Seas  disgorge  pungent  and  aromatic  cargoes,  and 
freighters  from  the  East  Coast  creakily  unload  steel  and  heavy  crates 
of  machinery.  A  luxury  liner  disembarks  her  fashionable  cargo  as  a 
tramp  steams  west  through  the  Golden  Gate,  bound  for  strange  places 
on  the  seven  seas.  Small  but  self-assertive  tugs  toot  their  shrill  whistles 
as  they  run  in  and  out  among  the  ferries  plying  to  Oakland  and  other 
cities;  occasionally  a  gray  man-of-war  rides  lazily  at  anchor  in  the  blue 
bay. 

Naturally,  this  direct  and  continuous  contact  with  the  world  has 
created  a  cosmopolitan  city.  Foreign  sailors  deserting  ship  during  the 
gold  rush,  the  influx  of  Orientals,  successive  waves  of  European  immi- 
gration, have  made  San  Francisco  a  city  of  many  races  and  tongues. 

The  Chinese  are  the  predominant  minority  group,  although  more 
than  fifty  percent  of  them  are  native-born.  In  San  Francisco's  China- 
town, the  largest  Chinese  settlement  outside  the  Orient,  pagoda  roofs 
and  iron-grilled  balconies  appear  side  by  side  with  American  tin  roofs 
and  straight  fronts;  a  Chinese  graduate  of  an  American  medical  school 
practices  modern  surgery  in  competition  with  a  native  herb  doctor ;  men 


SAN     FRANCISCO        ^69 

and  women  in  the  dress  of  old  China  rub  elbows  with  those  frantically 
following  the  latest  occidental  fashions.  The  old  Chinatown  of 
brothels,  opium  dens,  gambling  houses,  and  sluffls  was  destroyed  by  the 
great  fire  of  1906.  Today,  it  is  an  orderly  sect/oh,  where  old  men 
quietly  read  the  latest  news  bulletins,  laboriously  printed  by  hand  in 
Chinese  word-signs.  It  is  a  section  of  restaurants  catering  to  those  who 
know  and  enjoy  Chinese  cuisine;  of  shops  and  bazaars  selling  porcelains, 
lacquer- work,  silks,  jewelry,  and  trinkets  of  every  kind;  of  Chinese 
theaters  and  joss-houses,  or  temples,  in  which  the  Chinese  worship  as 
their  ancestors  have  for  thousands  of  years.  Chinatown  is  at  its  best 
during  the  Chinese  New  Year«  celebration;  the  streets  are  lined  with 
flower  stands,  the  shrines  in  every  shop  are  lavishly  decorated,  and  a 
spirit  of  goodwill  and  revelry  prevails. 

The  Latin  Quarter,  a  densely  populated  area  around  Telegraph 
Hill,  is  a  gourmet's  paradise.  Of  the  many  nationalities  in  the  district 
the  Italians  are  the  most  numerous,  although  there  is  a  generous  sprinkl- 
ing of  French,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese.  la  some  blocks  not  a  single 
sign  is  written  or  printed  in  English.  To  this  section,  dotted  with  res- 
taurants, San  Franciscans  turn  for  a  variety  of  foods,  for  embedded  in 
the  local  mores  is  the  custom  of  dining  out.  In  one  cafe  Italian 
ravioli  and  fritto  misto  are  served ;  in  another,  Mexican  chile  con  carne 
and  chile  rellena;  in  a  third,  French  bouillabaisse  and  escargots.  The 
food,  as  a  rule,  is  well  cooked,  and  except  for  a  few  more  elaborate  cafes 
and  hotels,  inexpensive. 

The  San  Francisco  of  the  old  vice-ridden  Barbary  Coast  days  is 
gone,  but  the  traditions  established  by  hordes  of  happy-go-lucky's  miners, 
gamblers,  adventurers  of  all  kinds,  epicures,  and  others  of  the  city's  first 
American  population  have  not  been  entirely  obliterated.  Those  were 
the  days  of  laissez-faire,  of  easy-come-easy-go,  of  good-natured  toler- 
ance, not  unnatural  in  a  city  where  fortunes  were  made  and  lost  over- 
night, where  a  bartender  one  day  was  a  nabob  the  next,  where  today's 
bonanza  king  was  tomorrow's  roustabout.  Here,  as  in  few  cities,  side 
streets  downtown  were  named  for  reigning  belles  among  the  filles  de 
joie.  San  Francisco  has  always  cherished  its  eccentrics;  it  has  been 
inclined  to  regard  graft  with  a  tolerant  eye;  it  has  always  prided  itself 
on  the  international  flavor  of  its  food  and  drink,  and  its  cosmo- 
politan tastes  in  feminine  beauty;  it  has  always  been  a  "good"  town 
for  the  actor  and  the  musician. 

The  first  men  known  to  have  visited  the  site  of  San  Francisco  were 
Tamal  Indians  from  present  Marin  County,  north  of  the  Gate,  who 
braved  treacherous  bay  tides  in  frail  canoes  to  obtain  salt  in  the  marshes 
here.  For  years  the  Spanish  sought  to  find  a  good  harbor  in  this 
region  to  serve  as  a  stop  on  the  long  voyage  from  Mexico  to  the  Philip- 
pines, but  three  expeditions  between  1542  and  1602  failed  of  their  pur- 
pose. A  century  and  a  half  passed  before  the  great  harbor  here  was 
discovered,  quite  by  accident,  and  not  by  sea  but  by  land,  when  in  1769 
an  expedition  was  led  northward  from  San  Diego  by  Don  Caspar  de 
Portola.  A  reconnoitering  party  was  detached  under  the  command  of 


27O        CALIFORNIA 

Sgt.  Jose  Ortega,  who  with  his  handful  of  men  reached  the  shores  of 
San  Francisco  Bay  in  November,  1769. 

Settlement  began  seven  years  later  when  Don  Juan  Bautista  de 
Anza,  with  his  "army"  of  30  soldiers  and  their  families,  marched  some 
2OO  colonists  overland  to  the  tip  of  the  peninsula,  where  they  began 
erecting  shelters  in  1776.  A  presidio  and  a  mission  were  immediately 
laid  out;  the  latter  was  established  by  Father  Junipero  Serra  and  named 
San  Francisco  de  Asis,  later  known  as  Mission  Dolores. 

For  seventy  years  the  new  colony  of  Yerba  Buena  was  no  more  than 
an  isolated  outpost,  occupied  largely  by  the  military.  Its  few  civilians 
and  priests  carried  on  sporadic  trade  in  tallow  and  hides,  sea  otter  and 
seal  pelts.  For  the  most  part  they  lived  in  tents  and  adobe  huts.  The 
first  house,  it  appears,  was  erected  in  1835  by  an  Englishman,  Capt. 
William  A.  Richardson,  for  whom  Richardson's  Bay  was  named.  Jacob 
Primer  Leese,  an  American,  opened  the  first  store  in  the  following 
year;  Jean  Vioget,  a  Swiss,  made  the  first  attempt  to  lay  out  streets 
in  the  straggling  settlement,  which  had  been  named  Yerba  Buena  (good 
herb),  for  a  grass  that  grew  thickly  on  the  sand  dunes. 

By  1840  the  Spanish- Americans  of  Yerba  Buena  were  threatened 
with  foreign  invasion  by  Anglo-Americans  from  the  East.  In  July, 
1846,  within  three  months  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War,  Capt. 
John  B.  Montgomery  landed  marines  from  the  Portsmouth  on  the 
plaza,  hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  took  possession  of  the  town 
in  the  name  of  the  United  States.  Soon  the  plaza  was  Portsmouth 
Square ;  the  street  passing  along  it  was  rechristened  in  honor  of  Captain 
Montgomery;  and  Yerba  Buena  became  San  Francisco. 

Some  20  nationalities  and  races  were  represented  in  the  population  of 
the  settlement  when,  in  1846,  a  group  of  thrifty  and  energetic  Mormon 
artisans  arrived  under  the  leadership  of  Samuel  Brannan,  who  had  tried 
unsuccessfully  to  induce  Brigham  Young  to  abandon  Utah  and  settle 
in  California.  For  twenty  years  Brannan  was  a  powerful  figure  in  San 
Francisco;  in  January,  1847,  he  established  its  first  newspaper,  the 
California  Star,  and  later  was  the  principal  organizer  of  the  first  vigi- 
lantes. Brannan  and  Brigham  Young  continually  bickered  over  the  dis- 
position of  tithes  collected  by  Brannan  from  the  Mormons  in  California ; 
on  several  occasions  Young  sent  his  Destroying  Angels  to  seize  them  by 
force,  but  they  were  never  successful.  Although  he  amassed  a  fortune, 
Brannan  became  a  drunkard  and  died  in  poverty. 

When  news  reached  San  Francisco  that  on  January  24,  1848,  James 
W.  Marshall  had  picked  up  a  gold  nugget  on  the  South  Fork  of  the 
American  River,  its  first  effect  was  to  depopulate  the  town.  Almost 
every  able-bodied  man  hurried  off  to  the  diggings.  Ships  lay  abandoned 
in  the  harbor  as  crews  and,  in  some  cases,  their  officers  turned  from  the 
sea  to  dig  feverishly  for  gold.  Communications  were  slow,  and  it  was 
autumn  before  the  East  had  first  account  of  the  discovery.  The  news 
trickled  north,  south,  and  into  the  Middle  West,  setting  thousands  of 
fortune-seekers  in  motion  toward  the  Golden  Gate,  augmented  by 
throngs  from  Central  and  South  American  countries.  By  1850  the  city 


SAN     FRANCISCO        271 

had  a  more  or  less  settled  population  of  almost  25,000,  of  every  race, 
creed,  and  color.  Those  that  remained  in  San  Francisco  probably 
profited  more  than  miners  at  the  diggings.  Lodgings  were  scarce ;  rooms 
rented  from  $200  to  $300  a  month ;  washing  cost  $20  for  a  dozen  pieces ; 
an  apple  brought  $5,  an  egg  $i,  a  loaf  of  bread  75^.  Many  huge  for- 
tunes had  their  inception  in  San  Francisco  during  this  era  of  profiteering. 
In  the  last  nine  months  of  1849,  549  vessels  dropped  anchor. 

Portsmouth  Square  became  the  city's  amusement  center.  In  the 
streets  spreading  fanwise  from  it,  dozens  of  gambling  houses  opened, 
some  in  lean-tos  or  tents.  In  the  early  days  of  the  rush  women  were  so 
few  that  the  passage  of  one  down  the  street  emptied  the  ubiquitous 
saloons  and  gambling  dens.  Theatrical  performances  and  other  amuse- 
ments were  rare;  gambling  and  drinking  were  the  sole  diversions  left 
to  the  miners. 

Six  great  fires  devastated  the  town  within  four  years;  one  in  1850 
consumed  18  blocks  of  frame  houses  in  10  hours.  Necessity  directed 
attention  to  fireproofing  of  buildings  and  paving  of  streets,  for  in  the 
rainy  season  the  latter  were  quagmires  into  which  horses,  wagons — and 
fire  engines — sank. 

After  the  fires  came  the  days  of  vice  and  extensive  gambling.  Dozens 
of  saloons  studded  Portsmouth  Square  and  environs,  each  a  gambling 
hall  and  a  recruiting  station  for  the  brothels  of  the  world-notorious 
Barbary  Coast  on  Pacific  Street,  from  Sansome  Street  to  Grant  Avenue. 
This  area  was  closed  in  1917,  but  many  of  the  old  frame  buildings  still 
bear  signs  of  their  boisterous  heyday — "Spider  Kelly  Presents  Texas 
Tommy" — "Purcell's  Liveliest  Colored  Show  in  Town" — "No  Minors 
Allowed."  In  dark  corners  of  the  city  were  hideouts  of  such  vicious 
gangs  as  "The  Hounds"  and  "The  Sydney  Ducks,"  the  latter  composed 
largely  of  escaped  convicts  from  Botany  Bay,  Australia.  These  gangs 
preyed  on  other  thugs  and  respectable  citizens  without  discrimination, 
entering  business  places  and  helping  themselves,  invading  the  Chinese 
and  foreign  sections  and  clubbing  the  residents  unmercifully.  Their 
leaders  were  allied  with  powerful  politicians,  and  they  generally  escaped 
punishment. 

The  city  might  smile  at  the  gambling  and  the  Barbary  Coast,  but  it 
could  not  condone  gangsterism  married  to  crooked  politics.  The  first 
Vigilance  Committee  was  formed  in  June,  1851,  an  organization  that 
at  the  height  of  its  influence  had  several  thousand  members,  who  took 
the  law  into  their  hands,  hanged  the  worst  offenders,  and  inspired  a 
general  exodus  among  the  others.  A  grand  jury  indicted  nine  of  the 
vigilantes,  but  they  stood  high  among  the  "respectables"  and  the  serious 
charges  against  them  were  dropped.  During  the  relatively  peaceful 
years  between  1852  and  1854  the  Committee  disbanded. 

By  the  summer  of  1855  the  city  was  again  swarming  with  swindlers, 
thieves,  highwaymen,  and  thugs.  A  few  months  later  U.  S.  Marshal 
George  W.  H.  Richardson  was  shot  and  killed  by  Charles  Cora,  an 
Italian  gambler,  with  powerful  political  supporters.  A  demand  for  his 
immediate  trial  and  conviction  was  led  by  thundering  editorials  in  the 


272        CALIFORNIA 

Bulletin,  established  in  October,  1855,  under  the  editorship  of  James 
King  of  William,  who  signed  his  name  thus  to  distinguish  himself  from 
other  James  Kings.  He  was  bitterly  opposed  by  James  Casey,  rival 
editor  and  local  politician,  who,  exhausting  his  verbal  weapons,  shot 
King  down  as  he  emerged  from  the  office  of  the  Bulletin  in  May,  1856. 
Confident  of  protection,  Casey  immediately  gave  himself  up  to  the 
authorities. 

A  crowd  began  to  collect  at  the  police  station,  summoned  by  the 
tolling  of  a  fire  bell.  As  it  grew,  confederates  rushed  Casey  to  the 
county  jail,  where  a  large  force  of  armed  deputies  and  militia  was  mus- 
tered to  defend  him  from  the  mob.  Before  nightfall  a  new  Vigilance 
Committee  was  begun,  and  during  the  night  it  enrolled  some  2,000 
members,  all  sworn  to  absolute  secrecy,  under  the  leadership  of  William 
T.  Coleman  and  other  members  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  1851. 
An  executive  committee  of  thirty-three  was  formed;  all  vigilantes,  soon 
numbering  almost  10,000,  were  equipped  with  arms  and  organized  into 
military  companies ;  headquarters  were  established  in  a  mercantile  build- 
ing on  Sacramento  Street,  which  was  fortified  with  cannon  as  "Fort 
Gunnybags."  Unlike  its  predecessor,  the  committee  of  1856  was  a 
deliberately  planned  and  well-knit  organization. 

Four  days  after  the  shooting  of  King,  the  vigilantes  surrounded  the 
jail  and  demanded  Casey  and  Cora,  both  of  whom  were  surrendered 
wjthout  a  struggle.  They  were  tried,  found  guilty,  and  hanged  from 
in  Fort  Gunnybags  on  May  22,  two  days  after  the  death  of 
,  whose  large  funeral  procession  was  directed  down  Sacramento 
past  the  dangling  bodies.  A  cleansing  and  reform  of  the  local 
government  was  instituted,  with  salutary  effects  for  years  to  come,  and 
the  'Vigilance  Committee  disbanded  in  August,  1856.  San  Francisco 
continued  to  be  a  lively  and  lighthearted  city,  but  with  less  physical  and 
moral  Valence. 

An-erfi  of  expansion  followed,  broken  by  brief  excitement  during  the 
Civil  (War,  when  California  heatedly  debated  whether  to  support  the 
Union  cause  or  set  itself  up  independently  as  the  Pacific  Republic. 
Oratory  w$xed  loud  and  feeling  ran  high  in  the  city  until  the  State 
legislature  .vpted  against  secession.  During  these  years  Bret  Harte 
contributed  tp  the  Golden  Era  and  in  1864  became  secretary  of  the  U.  S. 
branch  mint;;Mark  Twain  paused  momentarily,  one  jump  ahead  of  his 
creditors ;  ,a  YJozen  newspapers  were  established,  and  as  many  weeklies, 
some  of  which  are  still  extant.  From  the  fabulous  Comstock  and  Mother 
lodes,  from  the^entral  Pacific  Railroad,  came  the  vast  fortunes  that 
Leland  Stanford,: Charles  Crocker,  Collis  P.  Huntington,  Mark  Hop- 
kins, James  Flood,  William  S.  O'Brien,  John  W.  Mackay,  James  G. 
Fair,  William  C.  Ralston,  "Lucky"  Baldwin,  and  others  spent  on 
ornate  Victorian  palaces  on  Nob  Hill,  Lucullan  banquets,  enameled 
carriages  w.ith  -liveried  footmen,  great  country  estates,  and  on  the  fabri- 
cation and  lubrication  of  political  machines  as  relentless  as  steam  rollers. 
There  were  frequent  scandals  and  occasional  duels.  Dennis  Kearney 
addressed  large  -  crowds  of  workers  on  the  sand  lots;  the  base  of  San 


SAN     FRANCISCO        273 

Francisco's  development  as  a  union  town  had  been  laid  previously 
with  the  formation  of  the  Working  Men's  Trade  and  Labor  Union. 

In  1873  the  lumbering  horsecars  and  the  unique  round  "balloon 
cars"  were  supplemented  with  and  later  superseded  by  Andrew  Halli- 
dies'  cable  cars.  The  city's  population  doubled  in  two  decades,  and 
San  Francisco  celebrated  in  1894,  with  tne  Midwinter  Exposition,  its 
first  great  carnival,  in  "Opal  City,"  Golden  Gate  Park.  Weathering 
the  depression  of  1893-96  and  its  attendant  strikes,  it  became  increas- 
ingly the  railroad  and  maritime  center  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  those 
days  a  traveler  from  any  point  along  the  coast  between  the  Mexican 
and  Canadian  borders  simply  asked  for  a  ticket  to  "the  City"  with 
complete  assurance  that  he  would  be  routed  to  San  Francisco.  Although 
Seattle  profited  most,  the  Klondike  gold  strike  brought  new  wealth  and 
residents;  by  1903  the  city  had  a  population  of  425,000,  and  plans  were 
laid  for  immediate  improvements  and  future  expansion. 

Steps  were  being  taken  for  rezoning,  for  the  creation  of  additional 
public  parks,  for  the  elimination  of  slum  areas,  when  at  5:16  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  April  18,  1906,  the  great  San  Andreas  fault,  extend- 
ing up  and  down  the  coast,  settled  violently.  The  greatest  earthquake 
ever  to  strike  California  shook  San  Francisco  to  its  foundations.  With 
the  breaking  of  gas  and  water  mains,  fire  broke  out  and  for  three  days 
roared  through  the  city  unchecked ;  it  was  finally  brought  under  control 
by  dynamiting  buildings  along  Van  Ness  Avenue.  An  early  edition 
of  a  Los  Angeles  newspaper,  so  it  is  said,  carried  a  huge  headline,  "San 
Francisco  Punished!"  In  New  York,  Will  Irwin,  an  adopted  son,  sat 
down  and  wrote  sadly  of  "the  city  that  was." 

But  the  city's  decease,  like  Mark  Twain's,  was  greatly  exaggerated, 
although  it  had  suffered  a  staggering  blow.  Casualties  included  500 
dead  and  missing ;  four  square  miles,  including  virtually  all  of  the  busi- 
ness district,  were  destroyed — an  area  of  497  blocks,  some  30,000  build- 
ings. Damage  was  estimated  at  500  million  dollars,  of  which  200 
millions  remained  a  net  loss  after  payment  of  insurance.  Food  and 
clothing  for  the  thousands  of  homeless  were  rushed  from  all  parts  of 
the  United  States;  Europe  and  Asia  contributed  millions  to  relieve 
suffering. 

The  ruins  were  still  smoking  when  plans  for  reconstruction  were 
started.  The  first  contract  for  a  new  building  was  signed  six  days 
after  the  disaster.  "Don't  talk  earthquake,  talk  business,"  read  placards 
on  the  streets.  New  building  and  fire  laws  insured  that  no  catastrophe 
of  such  proportions  could  occur  again.  Within  three  years,  in  spite 
of  graft  scandals  and  civic  turbulence,  20,000  new  buildings  had  been 
constructed.  Within  seven,  a  new  City  Hall  and  a  new  Public  Li- 
brary were  under  way,  and  electric  tramways  had  replaced  the  cable 
lines  except  on  the  hills. 

For  four  years  before  the  fire  the  government  of  San  Francisco  had 
been  dominated  by  the  notorious  Ruef-Schmitz  machine.  Masquerad- 
ing as  the  Union  Labor  Party,  the  ring  was  financed  by  gambling 
houses,  saloons,  the  brothels  of  the  Barbary  Coast — but  principally 


274        CALIFORNIA 

by  the  city's  traction  and  utility  corporations.  The  attack  on  the 
machine  was  launched  by  Hearst  and  followed  up  by  Fremont  Older  of 
the  San  Francisco  Bulletin,  Rudolph  Spreckels,  and  James  D.  Phelan. 
The  newspaper  campaign  was  interrupted  by  the  earthquake  and  fire, 
but  shortly  after  was  resumed  and  the  charges  against  Ruef  and  Schmitz 
led  to  their  indictment.  Other  figures  prominent  in  promoting  public 
utilities  were  named  codefendants.  Francis  J.  Heney  was  appointed 
special  prosecutor  and  detective  William  Burns  was  retained.  The 
trials  dragged  on  for  two  years  amidst  considerable  violence,  in  the 
course  of  which  Older  was  kidnapped,  Heney  was  shot  (to  be  replaced 
by  Hiram  Johnson),  and  the  residence  of  an  important  witness  was 
dynamited.  The  trials  ended  with  the  conviction  of  Ruef,  and  the  cases 
against  his  codefendants,  the  utility  promoters,  were  not  pressed. 

In  1914  the  city  acquired  control  of  the  Hetch  Hetchy  watershed, 
near  Yosemite,  ultimately  to  supply  400,000,000  gallons  of  water  daily. 
The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  on  August  15,  1914,  was  of  immense 
benefit  to  the  city's  maritime  trade.  In  1915  the  Panama-Pacific  Inter- 
national Exposition  at  "Rainbow  City,"  built  beside  the  Presidio  on 
the  Marina  was  inaugurated.  At  its  close,  the  exposition  presented  the 
city  with  funds  to  build  the  Municipal  Auditorium. 

The  history  of  the  years  from  1915  to  the  building  of  the  bridges 
and  the  planning  of  the  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition  for  1939, 
has  been  in  part  a  story  of  labor  unrest,  particularly  during  the  World 
War  and  the  depression  of  the  1930*8  (see  LABOR). 

The  bombing  of  the  Preparedness  Day  Parade  made  the  year  1916 
a  black  one.  The  conviction  of  Tom  Mooney  and  Warren  K.  Billings 
for  the  bombing  on  questionable  evidence  inspired  a  world-wide  protest 
that  was  not  allayed  until  1939,  when  Governor  Olson  unconditionally 
pardoned  Mooney.  On  the  following  day  Mooney  led  a  large  parade 
up  Market  Street,  lined  for  miles  on  both  sides  with  cheering  crowds. 
Above  the  cheers  screamed  the  siren  on  the  Ferry  Building,  opened  full 
blast,  as  it  had  been  to  announce  the  bombing  23  years  before. 

In  1936  the  Pan-American  Airways  initiated  weekly  passenger  ser- 
vice from  San  Francisco  to  the  Orient  by  means  of  giant  flying  "clipper 
ships,"  but  the  crowning  accomplishment  of  1936  and  1937  was  the 
completion  of  the  two  great  bridges — the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay 
Bridge  in  November,  1936;  the  Golden  Gate  Bridge  in  May,  1937. 
The  site  of  the  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition  of  1939  is 
Treasure  Island,  created  by  dredging  the  bay  near  Yerba  Buena  Island 
(see  GOLDEN  GATE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION). 

San  Francisco  has  been  associated  in  larger  or  smaller  measure  with 
the  careers  of  many  who  have  made  names  for  themselves  in  the  arts, 
notably,  Jack  London;  Isadora  Duncan,  the  dancer;  George  Sterling, 
the  poet;  Bret  Harte;  Henry  George,  founder  of  the  single  tax  move- 
ment and  at  one  time  managing  editor  of  the  local  Times.  It  has  been 
the  subject  of  innumerable  stories,  novels,  and  non-fiction  works.  First 
described  as  an  unlovely  Spanish  settlement  by  Richard  Henry  Dana 
in  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,  the  city  has  been  pictured  in  Frank 


SAN     FRANCISCO        275 

Norris'  McTeague,  Gertrude  Atherton's  Rezanov,  Stewart  Edward 
White's  The  Rose  Dawn  (vigilante  days),  Dashiell  Hammett's  The 
Maltese  Falcon,  and  William  Saroyan's  stories.  From  the  days  when 
audiences  showered  gold  nuggets  and  pouches  of  gold  dust  at  a  popular 
performer's  feet,  when  a  theater  was  built  and  given  to  Edwin  Booth 
to  keep  him  from  deserting  his  public,  when  "road  shows"  skipped  from 
Chicago  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  San  Francisco  and  back  East  again  with- 
out a  stop,  the  city  has  been  stage-struck  and  music-mad.  It  has  a  club 
founded  by  artists  and  art  lovers,  which  has  grown  and  prospered  until 
it  possesses*  massive  quarters  on  a  downtown  street,  and  holds  an  annual 
musical  festival  in  its  own  private  forest. 

Perhaps  some  of  San  Francisco's  glamor  has  been  drowned  under  a 
flood  of  neon  lights;  skycrapers  have  replaced  some  of  the  rambling 
buildings  mellowed  by  time  and  weather;  and  old-timers  lament  the 
happy-go-lucky  days  "before  the  fire."  But  it  is  still  a  gay  city,  con- 
vivial and  dignified,  for  its  gayety  has  always  worn  a  silk  hat;  and  it 
heatedly  objects  to  the  nickname  "  'Frisco,"  used  by  unsuspecting  out- 
siders. San  Francisco  has  granite  qualities  as  well ;  fogs  cannot  dampen 
its  ardor;  earthquakes,  political  scandals,  and  labor  wars  have  failed 
to  shake  its  confidence  in  itself  and  the  future;  it  has  remained  unmis- 
takably itself.  It  is  still  "the  City." 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

(See  San  Francisco  Map  for  Nos.  /-j,  41-76;  see  San  Francisco  Down- 
town Map  for  Nos.  4-4.0.)  \ 

(Market  Street  and  Downtown) 

1.  The  FERRY  BUILDING,  foot  of  Market  St.,  completed  in 
1903,  has  a  24O-foot  central  tower  topped  with  a  four-faced  clock  and  a 
set-back  "belfry"  and  cupola  in  four  stages.    Each  dial  of  the  clock  is  22 
feet  in  diameter,  with  numerals  3  feet  long.    The  clock  was  stopped  at 
5:16  a.m.,  April  18,  1906,  by  the  earthquake,  and  remained  so  for  more 
than  a  year  until  repairs  were  completed.    The  first  ferry  sheds,  erected 
in   1877,  succeeded  a  wharf  built  here  as  early  as   1850.     The   State 
Division  of  Mines  has  a  GEOLOGICAL  MUSEUM   (open  9-5  Mon.-Fri., 
9-12  m.  Sat.;  July  and  Aug.  8-4  Mon.-Fri.,  8-12  m.  Sat.)     Along  the 
entire  second  floor  corridor  is  a  huge  relief  map  of  California,  broken 
only  by  entrances  to  the  upper  decks  of  ferry  boats. 

The  EMBARCADERO,  formerly  called  East  St.,  is  a  crescent- 
shaped  street  lined  with  piers  and  wharves  paralleling  the  bay  shore  for 
three  and  one-half  miles.  The  west  side  is  largely  given  over  to  stores 
and  lodging  houses  frequented  by  sailors  and  longshoremen.  During 
the  maritime  strike  of  1934  the  Embarcadero  was  the  scene  of  numerous 
battles  between  police  and  strikers. 

2.  The  SITE   OF  THE   PREPAREDNESS   DAY   PARADE 
BOMBING    (1916),    SW.   corner   Steuart   and   Market   Sts.,   is   un- 
marked but  has  been  kept  continually  in  the  public  mind  by  unremitting 


276        CALIFORNIA 

efforts  to  establish  the  innocence  and  obtain  the  release  of  Tom  Mooney 
and  Warren  K.  Billings  from  prison.  Mooney  was  pardoned  by  Gov- 
ernor Olson  on  January  7,  1939.  The  Southern  Pacific  Building  now 
covers  this  site. 

3.  The  SAN  FRANCISCO-OAKLAND  BAY  BRIDGE,  San 
Francisco  approach  from  Bryant  and  5th  Sts.,  completed  in  I937>  was 
designed  and  constructed  by  the  Department  of  Public  Works  of  the 
State  of  California.  Spanning  the  broad  waters  of  the  East  and  West 
Bay,  this  magnificent  steel  and  concrete  bridge  serves  as  a  giant  traffic 
artery  between  San  Francisco  and  the  neighboring  towns  in  Alameda 
County.  It  stretches  its  lofty  spans  from  the  anchorage  in  San  Fran- 
cisco to  Yerba  Buena  Island,  and  continues  at  an  oblique  angle  to  the 
eastern  approaches  of  Berkeley  and  Oakland.  The  bridge  proper,  in- 
cluding the  island  crossing,  is  approximately  4.5  miles  long,  and  more 
than  8  miles  in  length  from  the  ends  of  the  east  and  west  approaches. 

The  bridge  is  a  double-deck  structure,  with  six  traffic  lanes  for 
automobiles  on  the  upper  level,  and  three  truck  lanes  and  two  interur- 
ban  tracks  on  the  deck  below.  The  western  section  of  the  bridge,  216 
feet  above  the  water,  consists  of  two  suspension  spans,  fastened  midway 
between  San  Francisco  and  Yerba  Buena  to  a  steel  and  concrete  an- 
chorage, the  latter  rising  502  feet  from  the  rock  floor  of  the  bay.  The 
two  center  spans  on  each  side  of  the  anchorage  are  2,310  feet  in  length. 
The  bridge  is  illuminated  at  night  with  strings  of  yellow  sodium  vapor 
lights,  the  brilliant  rays  of  which  can  penetrate  the  thickest  fog. 


DOWNTOWN  SAN  FRANCISCO.     Points  of  Interest 

I,  2,  3. — See  San  Francisco  map.      22.  Fairmont  Hotel 

4.  San  Francisco  Terminal  23.   Pacific  Union  Club 

5.  Donahue  Monument  24.  Grace  Cathedral 

6.  Nevada  Bank  Building  25.  Kong  Chow  Temple 

7.  Lotta's  Fountain  26.  Mandarin  Theatre 

8.  Palace  Hotel  27.  Chinese  Hospital 

9.  Telephone  Building  28.  Chinese  Telephone  Exchange 

10.  San  Francisco  Stock  Exchange      29.  Tin  How  Temple 

11.  Russ  Building  30.  Old  St.  Mary's  Church 

12.  St.  Patrick's  Church  31.  St.  Mary's  Square 

13.  The  Turntable  32.  Portsmouth  Square 

14.  Native  Sons  Monument  33.  Montgomery  Block 

15.  Union  Square  34.  "Golden  Era" 

1 6.  St.  Francis  Hotel  35.  Hotaling  Building 

17.  450  Sutter  Building  36.  Stevenson  and  Booth  Houses 

1 8.  Native  Sons  Building  37.  Pioneer  Park 

19.  Olympic  Club  38.   SS.  Peter  &  Paul  Church 

20.  Bohemian  Club  39.  California  School  of  Fine  Arts 

21.  Mark  Hopkins  Hotel  40.  Fishermen's  Wharf 


SAN     FRANCISCO         277 


DOWNTOWN 
SAN  FRANCISCO 


278        CALIFORNIA 

At  YERBA  BUENA  ISLAND  (formerly  called  Goat  Island) 
midway  between  San  Francisco  and  Oakland,  a  3OO-acre  Government 
reservation  (open  only  with  written  pass,  obtainable  at  100  Harrison 
St.),  the  roadway  passes  through  a  double-deck  tunnel,  76  feet  wide  by 
50  feet  high,  the  largest  bore  tunnel  in  the  world,  and  emerges  on  the 
East  Bay  sector  of  the  bridge.  The  main  cantilever  span  of  1400  feet 
has  5io-foot  anchor  arms.  East  of  this  span  are  five  truss  spans,  each 
509  feet  in  length,  and  14  truss  spans,  291  feet  long. 

The  east  or  Alameda  County  approaches,  each  accommodating  two- 
way  traffic,  are  on  Ashley  Avenue  in  Berkeley,  and  on  3 8th  and  37th 
Streets,  at  Market  and  Cypress,  and  at  Cypress  and  Seventh  Streets,  in 
Oakland. 

The  west  approaches  in  San  Francisco  are  in  the  form  of  long  over- 
head runways  with  a  system  of  branching  loops  to  minimize  the  inter- 
section of  incoming  and  outgoing  traffic  lines. 

4.  The  SAN  FRANCISCO  TERMINAL  BUILDING,  ist  and 
Mission  Sts.,  completed  in  1939,  the  final  unit  of  the  Bay  Bridge  Elec- 
tric Railway  facilities,  was  constructed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
California  Toll  Bridge  Authority  by  the  State  department  of  public 
works. 

This  modern  building  is  virtually  an  enclosed  system  of  ramps  and 
stairs  connecting  the  elevated  tracks  of  the  Interurban  Electric  (S.P.), 
the  Key  System,  and  the  Sacramento-Northern  Railways,  which  enter 
the  terminal  over  a  looping  viaduct  from  the  bridge  to  the  streetcar 
concourse  and  the  street.  There  are  six  railway  tracks  on  the  upper 
level,  arranged  in  pairs,  with  long  7oo-foot  platforms  between.  The 
tracks  and  platforms  are  164  feet  wide,  roofed  over  with  large  sky- 
lights. From  these  platforms  spacious  ramps  and  stairs  lead  to  a 
mezzanine  concourse  half  way  between  the  upper  level  and  the  street, 
with  access  to  an  outer  streetcar  platform  at  the  same  level,  and  to  the 
main  passenger  entrance  on  Mission  Street. 

5.  The  DONAHUE  MONUMENT,  intersection  Market,  Bush, 
and  Battery  Sts.,  locally  known  as  the  "Mechanics'  Monument,"  is  the 
work  of  Douglas  Tilden,  noted  deaf-mute  sculptor.    Executed  in  bronze 
and  dedicated  to  Peter  Donahue,  founder  of  one  of  the  city's  first  iron 
works,   it  consists  of  a  fountain   surmounted  with   a  group  of  three 
artisans  struggling  to  force  the  blade  of  an  enormous  mechanical  punch 
through  plate  metal.     A  tablet  set  in  the  pavement  at  the  foot  of  the 
monument  marks  the  shoreline  of  Yerba  Buena    (San   Francisco)    in 
1848. 

6.  In  the  NEVADA  BANK  BUILDING,  NE.  corner  Market  and 
Montgomery  Sts.,  loth  floor,  is  a  MUSEUM  (open  9-5  Mon.-Fri.,  9-12 
Sat.)  of  California  history.     Among  the  Wells-Fargo  relics  here  are  a 
stagecoach  shipped  around  the  Horn  in  the  1850*5;  the  massive  scales 
used  in  the  Wells-Fargo  office  at  Columbia,  Tuolumne  County,  and 
said  to  have  weighed  55  of  the  87  million  dollars  worth  of  gold  mined 
in  the  Mother  Lode ;  the  mining  tools  used  by  James  W.   Marshall, 
discoverer  of  the  gold ;  and  a  priceless  collection  of  nuggets  loaned  by 


SAN     FRANCISCO        279 

the  Menendez  estate.     Another  exhibit  contains  a  large  collection  of 
Colt  firearms. 

7.  LOTTA'S  FOUNTAIN,  intersection  of  Market,  Kearny,  and 
Geary  Sts.,  transformed  from  a  watering  trough  for  horses  to  a  drink- 
ing fountain  for  humans,  is  of  bronze,  in  the  ornate  style  of  the  1 870*8. 
It  was  presented  to  the  city  in  1875  by  Lotta  Crabtree,  the  beloved 
actress  of  gold  rush  days.     Here  on  Christmas  Eve,  1910,  Luisa  Tet- 
razzini,  who  won  her  first  acclaim  in  San  Francisco,  sang  carols  to  great 
throngs  in  the  streets. 

8.  The  PALACE  HOTEL,  SW.  corner  Market  and  New  Mont- 
gomery Sts.,  is  a  seven-story,  yellow  brick  structure  erected  in  1910  by 
Trowbridge  and  Livingston  of  Boston  on  the  framework  of  the  early 
hostelry  gutted  by  the  fire  of  1906.     Its  main  attraction  was  the  drive- 
way extending  into  the  huge  Palm  Court,  enabling  guests  to  alight  from 
their  carriages  at  the  desk.     Within  the  walls  of  these  successive  build- 
ings  a   king  and   a   president  have   died — King  Kalakaua   of   Hawaii 
in  the  old,  President  Warren  G.   Harding  in  the  new.     In  the  Pied 
Piper  Buffet  is  a  Maxfield   Parrish  mural  depicting  the  legend,   and 
many  caricatures  of   local  and  national   celebrities  by  Antonio   Soto- 
mayer. 

9.  The  TELEPHONE  BUILDING,  140  New  Montgomery  St., 
designed  by  Miller,  Pflueger  and  Cantin,  is  a  modern  setback  skyscraper 
erected  in  1923,  one  of  the  first  in  San  Francisco.     It  rises  twenty-six 
stories  on  a  steel  frame  faced  with  off-white  terra  cotta  tile.     Pilasters 
capped  by  a  cluster  of  stylized  flowers.     The  setbacks  are  adorned  with 
pilasters,  and  a  row  of  eagles  crowns  the  towers.    As  the  official  storm- 
warning  station  in  the  city,  the  building  has  a  high  flagpole  flying  storm 
and  hurricane  flags  by  day  and  supporting  three  great  electric  lanterns 
at  night. 

10.  The  SAN  FRANCISCO  STOCK  EXCHANGE,  SW.  corner 
Pine  and  Sansome  Sts.,  consists  of  a  one-story  structure,  housing  the 
trading  room,  and  an  adjoining  ten-story  office  building,  both  designed 
in  the  neo-classic  style.    Flanking  the  Doric  entrance  loggia  of  the  trad- 
ing room  are  heroic  sculptures  by  Ralph  Stackpole.    Above  the  entrance 
to  the  office  on  Sansome  St.  is  a  bas-relief  figure  by  the  same  sculptor. 
The  interior  of  the  trading  room  is  adorned  with  concrete  bas-reliefs  by 
Robert  Boardman  Howard,  while  in  the  luncheon  club  room  are  fres- 
coes by  Diego  Rivera,  representing  the  growth  of  California's  agricul- 
ture, mining,  and  industry. 

11.  The  RUSS  BUILDING,  Montgomery  St.  between  Bush  and 
Pine  Sts.,  is  an  imposing  3 1 -story  skyscraper  of  stone  and  terra  cotta 
facing,  with  modified  Gothic  detail.     Before  the  fire  of  1906  this  site 
was  occupied  by  the  Russ  House,  once  San  Francisco's  finest  hostelry, 
built  by  Christian  Russ,  a  pioneer  of   1847  a°d  proprietor  of  an  im- 
mensely popular  beer  garden  and  concert  hall  in  the  early  days.     The 
building  was  designed  by  George  Kelham. 

12.  ST.  PATRICK'S  CHURCH,  Mission  St.  between  3rd  and  4th 
Sts.,  is  sometimes  called  "the  most   Irish  church  on  this  continent." 


280       CALIFORNIA 

Constructed  of  brick,  with  a  slender  tower  and  steeple,  it  is  the  fourth 
building  and  the  third  site  of  this  parish,  established  in  1851  by  Father 
Maginnis,  then  the  only  English-speaking  priest  in  San  Francisco.  The 
interior  of  the  church  is  finished  in  green  translucent  Connemara  marble 
and  Caen  stone,  for  which  the  late  pastor,  Father  Rogers,  searched  Ire- 
land. On  the  floor  is  a  mosaic,  The  River  of  Life.  The  crucifix  and 
vestments  are  by  Mia  Cranwill,  Irish  artist,  after  designs  of  the  sixth 
and  eighth  centuries. 

13.  On  the  TURNTABLE,  Powell  and  Market  Sts.,  the  southern: 
terminus  of  the  Powell  Street  cable  line,  the  cars  are  turned  around 
bodily  by  the  crew  before  starting  the  journey  up  the  hill  again. 

14.  The  NATIVE  SONS  MONUMENT,  intersection  of  Mar- 
ket, Turk  and  Mason  Sts.,  by  Douglas  Tilden,  is  a  tall  granite  shaft  sur- 
mounted by  a  bronze  figure  holding  an  open  book  inscribed  "September 
9,  1850,"  the  date  of  California's  admission  to  the  Union;  below  stands 
a  male  figure  holding  a  flag  with  a  new  star  for  California.    The  col- 
umn was  presented  to  the  city  in  1897  by  Sen.  James  D.  Phelan,  then 
mayor. 

15.  UNION  SQUARE,  Post  St.  between  Stockton  and  Powell  Sts., 
extending  to  Geary  St.,  originally  a  huge  sandbank  known  as  O'Farrell 
Mountain,  was  presented  to  the  city  in  1850  by  John  W.  Geary,  first 
mayor  of  the  American  City.     The  plot,  leveled  and  landscaped,  was 
given  its  present  name  because  of  pro-Union  meetings  held  here  before 
and  during  the  Civil  War.     In  1864  the  Mechanics'  Institute  held  a 
fair  in  the  pavilion  on  the  square;  after  the  1906  disaster  the  square  was 
dubbed  "Little  St.  Francis"  because  of  the  temporary  building  erected 
here  to  house  guests  of  the  St.  Francis  Hotel.     In  the  center  of  the 
square  is  the  VICTORY  MONUMENT,  by  Robert  Ingersoll  Aitken,  com- 
memorating Dewey's  victory  in  Manila  Bay,  a  96-foot  granite  shaft 
topped  with  a  bronze  figure  symbolizing  naval  conquest. 

1 6.  The  ST.  FRANCIS  HOTEL,  SW.  corner  Post  and  Powell 
Sts.,  a  gray  stone  structure,  is  one  of  San  Francisco's  largest  and  best- 
known  hotels.     Almost  destroyed  by  the  1906  fire,  its  walls  were  scarcely 
cold  when  a  banquet  was  held  in  the  White  and  Gold  Room  to  celebrate 
the  beginning  of  reconstruction.    The  rebuilt  hotel  has  a  Borgia  Room,  a 
replica  of  the  room  of  that  name  in  the  Vatican  at  Rome.     A  large 
painting  of  Mount  Tamalpais  by  Jules  Mersfelder  hangs  over  the  desk 
in  the  main  lobby. 

17.  The  450  SUTTER  BUILDING,  450  Sutter  St.,  is  a  modern 
25-story  skyscraper  of  steel,  glass,  and  terra  cotta,  designed  by  Miller 
and  Pflueger.     Light  buff  in  color,  it  has  windows  set  flush  with  the 
outside  walls,  accentuating  the  vertical  mass.     Ancient  Mayan  hiero- 
glyphs and  stylized  ornament  carry  out  the  decorative  motif  in  both  ex- 
terior and  interior  detail. 

18.  The  NATIVE  SONS  BUILDING,  414  Mason  St.,  a  red 
brick  building  with  terra  cotta  facing,  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Native 
Sons  of  the  Golden  West,  an  organization  of  native-born  Californians. 
Around  the  two  entrances  are  tile  plaques  representing  California  ex- 


Cities  II 


masffm^^ 


CITY  HALL,  LOS  ANGELES 


WILSHIRE  BOULEVARD,  LOS  ANGELES 


AIR  VIEW,  LONG  BEACH 


OLD  SPANISH  LIGHTHOUSE,  SAN  DIEGO 


COURT  HOUSE,  SANTA  BARBARA 

••I 


CABRILLO  BEACH,  SAN  PEDRO 


ROSE  BOWL,  PASADENA 


m$ 


- 


LOS  ANGELES  TENNIS  CLUB 


TOURNAMENT  OF  ROSES,  PASADENA 


REAL  ESTATE  OFFICE 


RESTAURANT 


LOS  ANGELES 


ANGELUS  TEMPLE,  LOS  ANGELES 


'AIMCf   SIMPII 


YACHT  RACE  IN  ALAMITOS  BAY.  LONG  BEACH 


GRAUMAN'S  CHINESE  THEATER,  HOLLYWOOD 


RtVBnHrW 

« 

..  *•! 


: 


TORTILLA  MAKER,  OLVERA  STREET,  LOS  ANGELES 


SAN     FRANCISCO         28l 

plorers  and  pioneers.     The  building  has  an  auditorium  seating   1,300, 
frequently  used  for  lectures. 

19.  The  OLYMPIC  CLUB    (private),   524  Post   St.,   is  a  buff 
brick  building  with  the  club's  "winged  O"  symbol  carved  over  the  white 
stone  entrance.     The  club  was  organized  in  1860  and  claims  to  be  the 
oldest  amateur  athletic  club  in  existence.     In  the  club  is  a  large  swim- 
ming pool  supplied  with  salt  water  directly  from  the   Pacific  Ocean. 
Annually  on  New  Year's  Day  it  holds  a  modified  beach  marathon  along 
the  ocean  shore,  after  which  participants  take  their  first  plunge  of  the 
new  year. 

20.  The  BOHEMIAN  CLUB    (private),   NE.  corner  Post  and 
Taylor  Sts.,  a  massive  dark  red  brick  building,  houses  one  of  San  Fran- 
cisco's best  known  artistic  organizations.     Originally,   its  membership 
was  limited  to  distinguished  artists  and  writers,  but  others  interested  in 
the  arts  are  now  permitted  to  join.     Every  January  the  club  sponsors  a 
free  exhibition  of  paintings  by  its  members,  one  of  the  rare  occasions 
when  women  are  admitted  to  any  part  of  the  building,  and  during  its 
''Mid-summer  Jinks"  at  Bohemian  Grove  on  the  Russian  River    (see 
TOUR  2a)   holds  an  annual  Grove  Play,  with  text,  music,  and  per- 
formance members.     On  the  Post  Street  facade  is  a  bronze  bas-relief 
memorial  to  Bret  Harte,  the  work  of  Jo  Mora. 

21.  The  MARK  HOPKINS  HOTEL,  SE.  corner  California  and 
Mason   Sts.,   a  buff  brick  skyscraper,   combines   baronial   French   and 
Spanish  Renaissance  styles.    The  hotel,  perpetuating  the  name  of  Mark 
Hopkins,  one  of  the  railroad  "big  four,"  occupies  the  site  of  the  old 
Hopkins    residence,    a    "magnificent    monstrosity"    destroyed    in    1906. 
The  Room  of  the  Dons  contains  murals  of  early  California  history  by 
Maynard   Dixon   and   Frank  van   Sloun.     The   Peacock   Court  has  a 
lunette  of  Leda  and  the  Swan,  by  Ray  Boynton,  done  by  the  ancient 
method  of  encaustic  painting,  in  which  hot  wax  and  color  are  applied 
directly  to  the  wall. 

22.  The    FAIRMONT    HOTEL,    NE.    corner    California    and 
Mason  Sts.,  was  built  in  1906,  by  Mrs.  Herman  Oelrichs,  daughter  of 
James  G.  Fair,  one  of  the  bonanza  kings  of  the  Comstock  Lode.    In  this 
massive  granite  hostelry  are  the  TERRACE  PLUNGE    (open   10  a.m.-io 
p.m.  daily)]  the  CIRCUS  ROOM,  with  murals  by  Esther  Bruton;  and 
two  rare  sixteenth  century  Florentine  mirrors,   the  only  examples  of 
this  type  in  America,  brought  from  the  Castello  de  Vincigliata,  Flor- 
ence, by  Mrs.  Oelrichs.    The  hotel  contains  a  theater  seating  200. 

23.  The  PACIFIC  UNION  CLUB,  NW.  corner  California  and 
Mason  Sts.,  the  only  one  of  the  brownstone  Nob  Hill  mansions  little 
damaged  by  the  great  fire,  was  formerly  the  home  of  James  C.  Flood, 
bonanza  king  who  began  his  career  as  a  saloonkeeper. 

24.  GRACE  CATHEDRAL,   NE.  corner  California  and  Jones 
Sts.,  is  an  uncompleted  gray  stone  building  of  modified  Gothic  design, 
the  work  of  Lewis  P.  Hobart.     The  spire  will  rise  500  feet  above  sea 
level,  and  in  size  its  nave  will  exceed  that  of  any  English  cathedral.  The 
Chapel  of  Grace,  the  apse,  and  half  of  the  nave  are  finished  (1939)  ;  the 


282        CALIFORNIA 

carillon,  donated  by  Dr.  N.  T.  Coulson,  will  be  used  in  the  Golden 
Gate  International  Exposition  before  being  installed  in  the  bell  tower. 
Off  the  south  nave,  the  Chapel  of  Grace,  a  delicate  structure  in  Gothic 
style  and  the  gift  of  Ethel  Sperry  Crocker,  contains  a  tenth  century 
stone  altar  from  Brittany  and  a  fourteenth  century  carved  stone  table 
used  as  a  credence  table.  The  cathedral  stands  on  the  site  of  homes 
built  by  Charles  Crocker,  the  "hurry-up  man"  and  hard  driver  of  the 
"big  four,"  and  his  son,  William  H.  Crocker,  a  banker.  Heirs  of  the 
family  donated  the  land  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Cali- 
fornia in  1910. 

(Chinatown  and  Old  San  Francisco) 

25.  The  KONG  CHOW  TEMPLE   (open  W  a.m.-i  a.m.  daily; 
voluntary  offering),  520  Pine  St.,  is  the  largest  Chinese  joss  house  in 
America  and  is  one  of  two  in  San  Francisco  open  to  the  white  public. 
Dedicated  to  the  hero  Quan  Dai,  it  has  two  altars;  before  one  tea  is 
served  every  morning;  on  the  other  are  paper  and  pencil  for  recording 
worshipers'  requests.     On  the  balcony,  overlooking  the  courtyard,  is  the 
"prayer  tree"  in  which  written  prayers  may  be  placed. 

26.  The   MANDARIN   THEATER    (open   7:30-12  p.m.  daily, 
adm.   25$-$0<j;f   2$$   after   g   p.m.   patrons    may    enter  at   any    time), 
1021    Grant  Ave.,   is  at   the   northern   end   of   Chinatown,   where   it 
merges  with    "Little   Italy."     The   uninitiated   Occidental   is   apt    to 
be  amazed  at  the  performance,  which  lasts  from  7 130  p.m.  to  mid- 
night.    The  stage  is  devoid  of  curtains  or  scenery,  and   "props"   are 
brought  on  and  removed  throughout  the  performance   by  nonchalant 
stagehands;  there  are  no  actresses,  for  all  female  roles  are  played  by 
males;  the  musicians,  when  not  playing,  sit  on  the  side  of  the  stage  and 
sip  tea;  meanwhile,  the  audience  comes  and  goes,  interrupts  the  players 
at  will,  and  chews  watermelon  seeds  continuously.    The  Chinese  theater 
in   the   United   States  originated   at   the   Mandarin,   although   another 
on    Jackson    Street    occasionally    presents    Chinese    operas     (see    the 
THEATER). 

27.  The  CHINESE  HOSPITAL,  Jackson  St.  between  Stockton 
and   Powell   Sts.,   a  four-story  stone  building,   is  the  only  one  in  the 
United  States.    It  is  completely  modern  in  equipment  and  procedure  and 
largely  staffed  by  Chinese  doctors  and  nurses.     There  are  57  beds,  in- 
cluding a  small  maternity  ward.    White  patients  are  welcome. 

28.  CHINESE   TELEPHONE   EXCHANGE    (open   8  a.m.-p 
p.m.  daily),  743  Washington  St.,  a  building  of  Chinese  architecture,  is 
a  branch  of  the  Pacific  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company,  being  the 
only  completely  Chinese  exchange  outside  of  China.     The  operators  are 
Chinese  girls  who  are  required  to  know,  in  addition  to  English,  five 
Chinese  dialects,  and  to  memorize  the  numbers  of  2,300  subscribers,  for 
most  Chinese  call  by  name  and  not  by  number. 

29.  The  TIN  HOW  TEMPLE   (open  10  a.m.-i  a.m.;  voluntary 
offering),  125  Waverly  PL,  the  oldest  Chinese  joss  house  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, is  situated  on  the  fourth  floor  of  the  building  (ring  for  priest  or 


SAN     FRANCISCO        283 

assistant),  because  no  human  creation  but  a  roof  is  allowed  to  stand 
above  the  gods.  This  joss  house  was  established  by  Day  Ju,  one  of  the 
first  three  Chinese  to  arrive  in  San  Francisco.  The  altar  to  Tin  How, 
Queen  of  the  Heavens  and  Goddess  of  the  Seven  Seas,  was  installed  on 
their  ship  for  daily  worship  and  later  removed  to  the  temple.  The 
present  main  altar,  covered  with  gold  leaf  and  intricate  carvings  repre- 
senting the  life  of  Confucius,  is  many  centuries  old.  In  the  temple  are 
ceremonial  wands  resembling  ancient  battle-axes;  massive  bronze  urns 
containing  prayer  sticks ;  and  Yuen  Bo  Pon,  a  fireplace  in  which  written 
messages  to  the  gods  can  be  burned  and  thus  recorded  in  the  ether. 

30.  OLD  ST.  MARY'S  CHURCH,  NE.  corner  Grant  Ave.  and 
California  St.,  in  the  heart  of  Chinatown,  is  a  red  brick  structure  of 
Victorian  Gothic  design.     Material  for  the  structure  was  brought  both 
from  China  and  around  the  Horn;  in  1855  bells  arrived,  were  hung, 
and  blessed.     The  church,  the  main  part  of  which  was  built  by  Arch- 
bishop Alemany  in  1854,  later  became  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral, 
and  in  1894  was  transferred  to  the  Paulist  Fathers.     The  congregation 
is  still  white  although  there  is  a  Chinese  branch  of  the  church  at  Stock- 
ton and  Clay  Streets.     The  clock  in  the  California  Street  tower  bears 
the  inscription,  "Son,  observe  the  time  and  flee  from  evil." 

31.  ST.  MARY'S  SQUARE,  opposite  Old  St.  Mary's  Church,  for- 
merly explained  the  inscription  on  the  church  tower,  for  it  was  once 
St.   Mary's  Alley,   a  part   of  the   old   red-light   district.      This   grass- 
covered  municipal  square  is  a  favorite  romping  place  for  Chinese  chil- 
dren.    In  the  center  is  a  stainless  steel  and  concrete  STATUE  OF  SUN 
YAT  SEN  by  Beniamino  Bufano. 

32.  PORTSMOUTH  SQUARE,  Kearny  St.  between  Washing- 
ton and  Clay  Sts.,  the  birthplace  of  San  Francisco,  was   Candelario 
Miramontes'  potato  patch  in   1833;  then  it  became  the  Spanish  and 
Mexican  Plaza.     A  plaque  in  the  NW.  corner  commemorates  Mont- 
gomery's raising  of  the  American  flag  here  in  1846.     In  the  square  also 
is  a  BRONZE  GALLEON,  mounted  on  granite,  "to  remember  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson,"  who  frequented  the  park  and  its  environs  for  local  color. 

33.  The  MONTGOMERY  BLOCK,  628  Montgomery  St.,  built 
in  1853  by  Gen.  H.  W.  Halleck  with  bricks  and  cement  brought  in 
clipper  ships  from  England  and  France,  is  the  oldest  of  San  Francisco's 
"fireproof"  buildings.     Once  the  home  of  the  Stock  Exchange,  the  ram- 
bling structure,  affectionately  nicknamed  the  "Monkey  Block,"  is  now 
the  heart  of  the  city's  Bohemia;  many  artists  and  writers  have  had 
studios  in  the  building.     During  the  fire  of  1906  it  narrowly  escaped 
dynamiting  by  the  Army. 

In  1938  the  revived  "Order  of  E  Clampus  Vitus,"  the  gold  miners* 
burlesque  fraternity,  placed  a  commemorative  plaque  on  the  site  of 
Parker's  Bank  Exchange  Saloon,  at  the  Washington  Street  corner  of 
the  block,  where  Duncan  Nichol  invented  the  celebrated  drink,  Pisco 
Punch.  This  saloon  was  frequented  by  the  mad  "Emperor"  Norton 
and  the  reform  editor,  James  King  of  William,  who  was  brought  here 
after  being  shot  by  Casey. 


284        CALIFORNIA 

Joshua  A.  Norton,  the  "Emperor,"  was  born  in  England  in  1819- 
At  the  age  of  30  he  arrived  in  San  Francisco  with  $40,000,  which  he 
pyramided  to  a  quarter  of  a  million.  Attempting  to  corner  the  rice 
market,  he  and  his  colleagues  lost  their  fortunes.  Norton  went  into 
seclusion  for  several  years;  when  he  reappeared,  his  mind  was  unbal- 
anced, and  he  soon  became  the  favorite  ward  of  the  city.  Clad  in  an 
old  uniform  and  military  cap,  with  a  small  sword  dangling  at  his  side 
and  a  stick  or  umbrella  in  his  hand,  trailed  always  by  two  mongrel 
dogs,  Bummer  and  Lazarus,  he  was  a  familiar  figure  on  the  downtown 
streets.  Norton  declared  himself  Emperor  of  the  United  States  and 
Protector  of  Mexico:  one  of  his  frequent  proclamations  dissolved  the 
Democratic  and  Republican  parties  in  the  interests  of  peace;  another 
dissolved  a  steamship  company  because  a  purser,  violating  imperial 
privilege,  had  summarily  put  him  ashore;  a  third  called  the  public's 
attention  to  the  duty  of  replenishing  his  wardrobe.  He  was  the  first 
to  "propose"  a  bridge  across  the  bay.  He  was  permitted  to  eat,  drink, 
and  amuse  himself  gratis,  and  to  draw  checks  up  to  50  cents  on  San 
Francisco  banks.  These  checks  were  always  honored,  and  Norton  added 
to  his  cash  by  selling  5O-cent  bonds  and  by  collecting  "taxes."  He 
dropped  dead  on  the  street  in  1880  and  was  given  an  elaborate  funeral 
by  the  city. 

34.  The  "GOLDEN  ERA,"  718-20  Montgomery  St.,  an  old  red 
brick  building  now  used  as  a  plumbing  shop  and  Chinese  laundry,  is  the 
last  of  San  Francisco's  noted  ship  buildings.     These  odd  structures  were 
built  around  abandoned  ships  drawn  up  and  fastened  at  what  was  then 
the  waterfront.     In  the  interior  the  tapered  woodwork  on  the  forecastle 
leads  to  a  forepeak.     It  was  here  that  Bret  Harte  worked  as  a  com- 
positor on  the  Golden  Era  and  wrote  his  earliest  works. 

35.  The  HOTALING  BUILDING,   451   Jackson   St.,   a  three- 
story  stone  and  brick  building  designed  in  the  style  of  the  French  Second 
Empire,    has   been   continuously   occupied   since    1866    by   a   wholesale 
liquor  company.     Some  of  the  original  furniture  is  still  in  use — desks, 
chairs,    and   bookcases   of    beautiful   hardwood    in    excellent   condition. 
Prints  of  early  San  Francisco  hang  on  the  walls.     After  the  earthquake 
and  fire  of  1906,  a  popular  ditty  by  Charles  K.  Field  ran: 

If,  as  they  say,  God  spanked  the  town 
For  being  over-frisky, 

Why  did  He  burn  all  the  churches  down 
And  spare  Hotaling's  Whiskey? 

36.  The  STEVENSON  AND  BOOTH  HOUSES,  287  and  289 
Union  St.  between  Sansome  and  Montgomery  Sts.   (accessible  only  on 
/oo/),  are  pointed  out  as  the  former  homes  of  the  author  and  the  actor. 
Actually,  the  decrepit  little  frame  house  at  287,  with  steeply  pitched 
roof  and  gingerbread  trim,  was  the  home  of   Edwin   Booth's  hostler 
(Booth  himself  lived  on  Pine  Street),  and  the  modernized  stucco  studio 
building  next  door  was  Booth's  stable.     Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  how- 
ever, did  live  at  289  during  the  early  i87o's. 


SAN     FRANCISCO        285 

37.  In  PIONEER  PARK,  on  the  crest  of  Telegraph  Hill,  stands 
the  COIT  MEMORIAL  TOWER   (elevator  service  9-4  daily;  adm.  25$), 
erected  in  1933  with  a  legacy  left  by  Mrs.  Lillie  Hitchcock  Coit.     It  is 
a  cylindrical  concrete  structure  210  feet  high,  affording  a  fine  view  of 
the  city  and  bay.    The  frescoes  on  the  walls  of  the  ground  floor,  depict- 
ing life  and  labor  in  California,  are  by  the  Public  Works  Art  Project. 
A  plaque  at  the  main  entrance  marks  the  site  of  "the  inner  signal  sta- 
tion— 1849,  and  the  first  Western  Telegraph  Station — 1853." 

38.  SS.  PETER  AND  PAUL  CHURCH,  650  Filbert  St.,  facing 
Washington  Square,  is  of  Romanesque  design,  with  two  191-foot  tur- 
reted  towers  of  terra  cotta.     It  was  built  in  1924  by  Charles  Fantoni. 
Two  mosaics  are  in  preparation  (1939)  for  the  front  entrance,  depict- 
ing Columbus  disembarking  on  American  soil  and  Dante  at  work  on 
the  "Paradise."     In  the  heart  of  San  Francisco's  Italian  section,  this 
church  is  known  locally  as  the  "Church  of  the  Ten  Commandments," 
because  part  of  the  motion  picture  of  that  name  was  filmed  here.    Shortly 
after  the  construction  of  the  church  it  was  bombed  three  times  by  an 
unknown  fanatic  but  was  not  seriously  damaged. 

39.  The  CALIFORNIA  SCHOOL  OF  FINE  ARTS,  Chestnut 
and  Jones  Sts.,  of  modified  Italian  Renaissance  design,  is  constructed  of 
unpolished  concrete,  with  a  campanile.     In  one  of  the  exhibition  rooms 
a  huge  fresco  by  Diego  Rivera  in  seven  sections  illustrates  the  painting 
of  a  fresco,  and  shows  a  startling  rear  view  of  the  Mexican  artist  him- 
self.   The  Anne  Bremer  Memorial  Library,  one  of  the  best  art  libraries 
in  America,  has  received  numerous  donations  from  the  well-known  col- 
lector, Albert  Bender. 

The  school  was  started  in  1874  and  is  still  maintained  by  the  San 
Francisco  Art  Association.  In  1893  the  Mark  Hopkins  residence  was 
deeded  in  trust  to  the  University  of  California  for  the  Art  Association, 
and  under  the  name  of  the  Mark  Hopkins  Institute  of  Art  it  became  well 
known.  The  catastrophe  of  1906  left  it  a  heap  of  ruins,  but  the  school 
carried  on  in  temporary  buildings  until  the  site  was  sold  in  1923,  and  the 
present  building  was  erected  on  the  top  of  Russian  Hill,  affording  match- 
less views  of  the  Bay.  The  college  gives  fine  and  applied  arts  courses, 
a  special  four-year  normal  school  course  for  art  teachers,  and  courses  in 
commercial  art  and  design.  In  1938  it  had  an  enrollment  of  600. 

40.  FISHERMAN'S  WHARF,  Taylor  St.  at  the  Embarcadero,  is 
the  embarking  and  landing  point  for  the  city's  many  Italian  fishermen. 
Brightly  painted  fishing  boats,  mostly  in  blue,  the  Virgin's  color,  lazily 
tug  at  their  anchors  or  mooring  lines  as  weather-beaten  old  men,  wear- 
ing large  gold  earrings,  mend  nets  with  wooden  needles  on  the  wharf. 
When  vessels  arrive  with   their   day's  catch,   the  wharf   seethes  with 
activity  as  dealers  and  fishermen   haggle   over  prices.     Along  Taylor 
Street  are  sidewalk  stands  displaying  shellfish,  and  at  the  curb  big  iron 
cauldrons  boil  large  freshly  caught  crabs  to  be  eaten  there  or  carried 
away  by  the  purchaser.     In  the  neighboring  sea-food  restaurants,  the 
diner  has  the  assurance  that  his  favorite  dish  was  swimming  in  the 
Pacific  only  a  few  short  hours  before. 


286        CALIFORNIA 

(Marina  and  Presidio) 

41.  ST.  BRIGID'S  CHURCH,  SW.  corner  Van  Ness  Ave.  and 
Broadway,  probably  the  only  church  in  the  world  built  of  old  paving 
blocks,  is  constructed  of  slabs  of  hewn  granite  that  served  as  pedestrian 
crossings  in  the  days  of  cobblestone  streets.     It  is  of  Romanesque  design, 
with  a  terra  cotta  entrance  carved  with  liturgical  symbols.     Henry  A. 
Minton  was  the  architect. 

42.  The  OCTAGONAL  HOUSE   (private),  2618  Gough  St.,  a 
two-story  adobe  structure  covered  with  frame,  was  built  in   1864  for 
Mrs.   Harriet  Sober  McElroy,  a  pioneer.     This  house  with  a  small 
cupola  has  eight  sets  of  double  windows  on  each  floor.     The  rooms  are 
square,  with  the  angles  taken  up  by  closets.     In  front  of  the  house  are 
three  California  live  oaks. 

43.  AQUATIC  PARK  (open  daily),  foot  of  Polk  Street  and  Van 
Ness  Ave.,  San  Francisco's  newest  recreation  center,  was  built  by  the 
WPA  and  opened   in  January,    1939.     The  landscaped   park  spreads 
along  a  semicircle  of  beach  on  a  cove  in  the  lee  of  Black  Point.     The 
municipal  pier,  circular  in  shape,  encloses  a  half-mile  stretch  of  water 
for  swimming,  boating,  and  racing.     Inland  rises  the  white  Casino,  four 
stories  high  toward  the  sea,  with  ends  rounded  like  a  ship's  stern,  and 
stories,  or  decks,  semielliptical  in  shape.     Its  seaward  face  is  almost 
entirely  of  glass.     On  the  lowest  floor  are  bathing  facilities  to  accom- 
modate several  thousand  persons  a  day.     In  the  Polk  Street  entrance  is 
a  large  slate  sculpture  executed  by  the  Federal  Art  Project;  the  central 
lounge  room  on  the  second  floor  is  decorated  with  murals  by  the  Federal 
Art  Project,  picturing  marine  and  undersea  life;  elsewhere  are  statues 
of  St.  Francis  and  Sun  Yat  Sen.     Opening  from  the  main  lounge  is  a 
glass-enclosed  dining  salon  in  yacht  club  motif.    Above,  on  the  smaller 
floors  or  decks,  are  other  lounges  and  dining  rooms,  with  windows  like 
portholes  on  the  land  side,  and  wide  expanses  of  glass  toward  the  sea. 
On  each  side  of  the  Casino  are  stone  bleachers  and  a  promenade  running 
the  length  of  the  beach.    At  the  eastern  and  western  extremities  of  the 
playground  are  5O-foot  towers  in  modernistic   style,   containing  loud- 
speakers to  broadcast  sporting  events  and  music. 

44.  FORT  MASON,  Van  Ness  Ave.  and  Bay  St.,  is  an  Army  Sup- 
ply Depot  and  contains  the  residences  of  the  commanding  general  and 
ranking  staff  officers  of  the  Ninth  Corps  Area.     This  67-acre  reserva- 
tion was  once  the  home  of  John  C.  Fremont,  who  built  a  house  here  in 
1853,  since  occupied  by  36  commanding  officers. 

THE  ARMY  TRANSPORT  DOCKS,  northwest  shore  of  the  reservation, 
are  three  in  number,  one  500  feet  long,  the  others  650  feet;  each  year 
they  receive  and  ship  to  and  from  Pacific  and  Far  East  posts  about 
45,000  officers  and  enlisted  men. 

45.  YACHT  HARBOR,  Divisadero  St.  and  Marina  Blvd.,  is  pro- 
tected on  the  north  by  a  narrow  spit,  Marina  State  Park.     Hundreds 
of  pleasure  craft  are  berthed  here,  from  small  speedboats  and  sailboats 
to  palatial  private  yachts.     The  ST.  FRANCIS  YACHT  CLUB   (private) 


SAN     FRANCISCO        287 

is  on  the  eastern  tip  of  Marina  State  Park.  To  the  south  of  the  harbor 
is  MARINA  PARK,  fronting  the  bay,  a  long  grass-covered  strip,  popular 
on  Sundays  with  promenaders. 

46.  The  PALACE  OF  FINE  ARTS,  Baker  St.  between  Jefferson 
and  Bay  Sts.,  is  the  last  surviving  building  of  the  Panama-Pacific  Inter- 
national Exposition  of  1915.     This  neo-classic  structure,  built  on  land 
reclaimed  from  the  bay,  is  of  brown  stucco  with  a  Roman  rotunda  and 
Corinthian  peristyle.     Once  an  art  gallery,  it  is  now  used  for  indoor 
tennis.    Two  ornamental  gondolas  float  on  the  lagoon  before  the  Palace 
entrance. 

47.  The   PRESIDIO    (open:  night  parking  prohibited),  entrance 
gate  at  Baker  and  Lombard  Sts.,  once  the  garrison  of  Spanish  soldiers 
protecting  the  mission,  is  a  U.  S.  military  reservation  of  1,542  acres,  and 
the  headquarters  of  the  Ninth  Corps  Area.     Within  the  reservation  is 
the  LETTERMAN  HOSPITAL  for  service  men  and  their  families.     One 
block  to  the  west  is  the  old  STATION  HOSPITAL,  built  in  1854  and  still 
in  use.    Its  brick  foundations  and  pine  and  hemlock  girders  were  shipped 
around  the  Horn.     The  CEMETERY,  largest  national  cemetery  in  the 
United  States  with  the  exception  of  Arlington,  contains  the  graves  of 
more  than  15,000  veterans  and  their  wives.     One  woman  interred  here 
is  not  a  veteran's  wife — Pauline  Cushman  Tyler,  a  young  actress,  who 
was  a  Union  spy  during  the  Civil  War  and  later  commissioned  an 
honorary  officer  of  the  Army.    At  the  southern  anchorage  of  the  Golden 
Gate  Bridge  stands  FORT  WINFIELD  SCOTT,  on  a  site  fortified  since 
1776,  but  from  which  a  hostile  shot  has  never  been  fired.     It  was 
originally  known  as  the  Castillo  de  San  Joaquin.     In   1846  Fremont 
stole  over  from  the  Sausalito  and  spiked  its  guns,  and  the  American  flag 
was  hoisted  over  the  Presidio  on  July  9  of  that  year.    In  1854,  tne  bluff 
at  Fort  Point  was  graded  to  the  water's  edge,  and  the  present  fort, 
somewhat  similar  to  Fort  Sumter,  was  completed  in  1860.    The  old  fort 
is  now  dismantled,  but  plans  are  under  way  to  restore  it  as  a  historical 
monument,  with  old  artillery  pieces  remounted  and  their  muzzles  point- 
ing out  over  the  Golden  Gate.    The  OFFICERS'  CLUB,  once  the  Spanish 
comandante's  headquarters  and  the  oldest  building  standing  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, is  a  long  low  adobe  structure  built  about    1776;  the   Presidio 
MARKER  nearby  records  its  history.     In  front  of  the  marker  stand  two 
old  Spanish  guns,  named  "Poder"  and  "San  Pedro,"  bearing  the  Span- 
ish coat-of-arms  and  inscribed,  "Lima,  Peru — 1673." 

On  August  27,  1915,  in  a  destructive  fire  at  the  Presidio,  the  wife 
and  three  daughters  of  Gen.  John  Pershing  lost  their  lives. 

48.  The  GOLDEN  GATE  BRIDGE,  main   San   Francisco  ap- 
proach from  the  Presidio,  was  designed  by  Joseph  B.  Strauss,  and  com- 
pleted in  May  1937  at  a  cost  of  $35,500,000.     The  huge  web-like  span, 
illuminated  at  night  with  strings  of  yellow  sodium  vapor  lights,  sus- 
pended high  above  the  water,  links  northern  California  to  the  peninsula 
of  San  Francisco.   Two  enormous  steel  towers,  erected  on  concrete  piers, 
act  as  props  and  hold  up  the  giant  "clothes  line"  cables  from  which  the 
bridge  is  hung.     The  massive  steel  framework  of  these  towers  consists 


288        CALIFORNIA 

of  two  soaring  steel  legs  which  rise  in  five  tapering  stages,  with  heavy 
diagonal  and  horizontal  cross  braces  or  struts  to  the  cable  saddles  at  the 
top.  The  legs  of  the  tower,  each  32  feet  by  53  feet,  rise  746  feet  above 
the  water  (the  height  of  a  65-story  building).  The  skeleton  super- 
structure of  the  towers,  together  with  the  steel  framework  of  the  bridge 
floor  and  the  sweeping  cables,  forms  an  impressive  silhouette. 

The  main  central  span,  4,200  feet  in  length,  is  the  longest  single 
span  in  the  world.  The  minor  spans  at  either  end  are  each  1,125  feet 
in  length.  Above  are  the  two  sagging  cables,  each  more  than  a  yard  in 
diameter  and  fastened  at  both  shores  to  huge  concrete  anchorages.  The 
suspended  floor  structure  is  90  feet  wide  and  25  feet  deep,  and  supports 
a  reinforced  concrete  six-lane  roadway  and  sidewalks.  The  center  of 
the  span  clears  the  water  by  220  feet. 

At  the  south  end  of  the  bridge  proper  are  a  large  steel  arch  passing 
over  Fort  Winfield  Scott,  four  125-foot  truss  spans,  and  finally  the  Toll 
Plaza,  from  which  lead  two  roads,  one  to  the  northeastern  section  of 
San  Francisco  and  the  other  southward.  The  Marin  County  end  of 
the  bridge  has  five  175-foot  truss  spans  and  is  in  Fort  Baker,  a  U.  S. 
Army  reservation. 

49.  TEMPLE  EMANU-EL,  Arguello  Blvd.  (ist  Ave.)  between 
Lake  and  Clay  Sts.,  erected  in  1925,  is  a  huge,  cream-colored  concrete 
edifice  of  modified  Byzantine  design  with  a  red  tile  dome.     Standing  in 
the  Pacific  Heights  residential  district,  this  temple  is  the  home  of  the 
largest  Jewish  congregation  in  San  Francisco. 

(Midtown) 

50.  The  UNITED  STATES  POST  OFFICE,  NE.  corner  7th 
and  Mission  Sts.,  one  of  the  few  public  buildings  to  withstand  the  fire  of 
1906,  is  Italian  Renaissance  in  design.     Constructed  of  granite,  it  was 
built  in  1905  under  the  direction  of  James  Knox  Taylor,  then  super- 
vising architect  of  the  Treasury  Department.    The  first  floor  corridors, 
decorated   by  skilled   artisans   brought   from   Italy,   are  of    Pavonezza 
marble    trimmed    with    glass    mosaic;    the    floors    and    ceiling    are    of 
mosaic  tile. 

51.  The  CIVIC  CENTER,  just  off  Market  St.,  roughly  bounded 
by  McAllister,  Franklin,  Hayes,  and  Leavenworth  Sts.,  has  a  number 
of  municipal  and  Federal  buildings  designed  in  Italian  Renaissance  style 
grouped  about  it. 

The  FEDERAL  OFFICE  BUILDING,  McAllister  St.  between  Leaven- 
worth  and  Hyde  Sts.,  extending  to  Fulton  St.,  is  a  five-story  colonnaded 
structure  built  around  a  central  court,  with  entrances  at  the  north  and 
south  ends.  The  building,  newest  of  the  Civic  Center  group,  was  erected 
in  1936  and  houses  practically  all  the  Federal  offices  of  San  Francisco 
except  the  Post  Office,  and  those  in  the  Appraisers  Building. 

The  SAN  FRANCISCO  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  (open  Q  a.m.-io  p.m.  week- 
days; 1:30-5  Sun.),  SE.  corner  McAllister  and  Larkin  Sts.,  is  on  the  site 
of  the  old  City  Hall  and  Public  Library  destroyed  in  the  1906  fire.  De- 
signed by  George  Kelham,  the  new  granite  structure  was  completed  in 


SAN     FRANCISCO        289 

1917,  the  Carnegie  Foundation  donating  a  third  of  the  cost.  The  principal 
facade  is  designed  with  a  colonnaded  loggia  at  the  second  story,  adorned 
with  coupled  Ionic  columns  and  sculpture.  The  entrance  hall  and  staircase, 
and  the  main  delivery  room  on  the  second  floor  are  finished  in  travertine 
marble.  Along  the  second  floor  corridor  are  low-toned  murals  of  California 
scenery  by  Gottardo  Piazzoni;  in  the  reference  and  reading  rooms  are 
murals  by  Frank  Vincent  DuMond,  depicting  various  phases  of  the  State's 
history.  The  library  has  an  excellent  music  department,  with  a  piano  for 
the  use  of  patrons  wishing  to  try  out  selections.  The  main  stack  room 
accommodates  500,000  volumes,  40,000  by  foreign  writers;  on  exhibition 
and  in  the  library  are  the  Max  John  Kuhl  collection  of  fine  printing  and 
binding,  and  the  James  D.  Phelan  Memorial,  a  collection  of  manuscripts 
and  first  editions  of  the  works  of  California  writers. 

The  STATE  BUILDING,  McAllister  St.  between  Larkin  and  Polk  Sts., 
is  a  five-story  granite  structure  of  neo-Classic  design,  housing  the  San 
Francisco  offices  of  the  State  government,  chambers  of  the  California 
Supreme  Court,  and  the  Hastings  College  of  Law  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. The  LAW  LIBRARY  (open  only  to  students  and  alumni,  g-i,  2-5 
daily}  contains  about  46,000  volumes. 

The  CIVIC  AUDITORIUM  (also  called  Municipal  Auditorium  and 
Exposition  Auditorium),  facing  Grove  St.  between  Polk  and  Larkin  Sts., 
is  a  heritage  from  the  Panama-Pacific  International  Exposition  of  1915. 
Constructed  of  granite,  and  designed  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style,  with 
a  triple-arched  central  section,  flanking  wings  and  low  octagonal  dome,  the 
auditorium  was  designed  by  Arthur  Brown,  Jr.  and  cost  $2,000,000.  The 
main  auditorium  has  an  elaborate  canopied  ceiling  and  seats  more  than 
10,000  persons;  there  are  n  smaller  halls.  The  building  contains  one  of 
the  largest  pipe  organs  ever  constructed.  The  1920  national  convention  of 
the  Democratic  Party  was  held  here. 

MARSHALL  SQUARE,  Hyde  St.  from  Fulton  to  Grove  Sts.  and  extend- 
ing to  Larkin  St.,  used  frequently  for  open-air  meetings,  is  the  city's  nearest 
approach  to  a  "Hyde  Park."  The  PIONEER  MONUMENT,  at  the  southeastern 
corner,  was  donated  in  1894  by  James  Lick,  founder  of  the  Lick  Observa- 
tory. The  work  of  Frank  Happersberger,  it  is  really  a  group  of  five 
monuments,  the  central  figure  representing  California  and  the  others  char- 
acterizing significant  periods  in  the  State's  history. 

The  PUBLIC  HEALTH  BUILDING,  SW.  corner  Polk  and  Grove  Sts., 
constructed  of  granite  and  marble,  is  designed  in  harmony  with  the  civic 
group  and  contains  the  Central  Emergency  Hospital,  a  detention  hospital, 
and  the  offices  of  the  city  health  department. 

The  War  Memorial  Group,  facing  Van  Ness  Ave.,  consists  of  twin 
buildings  erected  as  a  unit  in  1932 — the  MUNICIPAL  OPERA  HOUSE,  the  only 
one  in  the  United  States,  and  the  VETERANS  WAR  MEMORIAL  BUILDING — 
both  constructed  of  granite,  and  designed  in  modified  Italian  Renaissance 
style,  with  arched  and  rusticated  first  story  walls,  Doric  colonnaded  loggias 
and  ribbed  metal  roofs.  The  Opera  House  seats  3,000  and  possesses  the 
most  modern  equipment.  The  basement  has  an  emergency  hospital  and  a 
buffet.  The  War  Memorial  Building,  commemorating  San  Franciscans 
killed  in  the  World  War,  is  headquarters  for  almost  150  veterans'  organ- 
izations. In  the  SOUVENIR  AND  TROPHY  GALLERY  {open  Q-Q  daily)  on  the 
first  floor  stands  a  granite  shaft  with  sod  from  a  soldier's  grave  inside  it 
and  a  perpetual  light  burning  over  it.  The  gallery  contains  relics  of  the 
Civil,  Spanish-American  and  World  Wars.  The  fourth  floor  of  the  build- 
ing is  occupied  by  the  GALLERIES  OF  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  ART  ASSOCIATION 
(open  i-io  daily],  in  which  permanent  and  traveling  exhibitions  of  all 
schools  and  periods  are  presented. 

The  CITY  HALL,  facing  Polk  St.  between  McAllister  and  Grove  Sts.,  is 
modeled  after  the  U.  S.  Capitol,  its  dome  being  13^  feet  higher.  Designed 
by  Bakewell  and  Brown  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style,  it  is  constructed 
of  granite;  the  interior  is  finished  with  carved  sandstone  and  marble.  Its 


2QO        CALIFORNIA 

two  main  facades  have  central  Doric  pedimented  pavilions,  flanked  by  long 
two-story  colonnades.  The  high  drum  of  the  central  dome  is  adorned  with 
a  colonnade  of  the  same  order,  and  topped  with  an  elaborate  cupola.  In 
the  interior,  winding  stairs  lead  up  from  the  center  of  a  vast  rotunda,  with 
balconies  on  the  four  upper  floors  looking  down  into  the  lobby.  Facing  the 
building  is  a  formal  French  garden  with  flower  beds,  fountains,  tiled  walks, 
and  flocks  of  pigeons.  Left  of  the  Polk  Street  entrance  is  a  bronze  STATUE 
OF  LINCOLN  by  Haig  Patigian,  while  at  the  McAllister  Street  side  is  a 
MONUMENT  TO  HALL  MCALLISTER,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  early  days;  it 
is  the  work  of  Robert  Aitken. 

52.  The  LIBRARY  OF  THE  CALIFORNIA  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY   (open   10-4  Mon.-Fri.t  10-12  Sat.},  456  McAllister  St., 
opened  in  1938  and  conducted  in  conjunction  with  the  Society  of  Cali- 
fornia Pioneers,  contains  rare  prints  and  other  material  illustrating  the 
State's  history,  including  "State  documents"  by  "Emperor"  Norton,  a 
notice  of  an  exhibit   of   "the   head   of   the   renowned   bandit,   Joaquin 
Murrieta,  and  the  hand  of  three-fingered  Jack,  notorious  robber  and 
murderer";  solid  ivory  poker  chips  used  by  the  bonanza  kings  in  their 
$75,000  games  at  the  old  Palace  Hotel;  the  watch  of  Luis  Antonio 
Arguello,  first  Mexican  governor  of  California;  and  the  whisky  flask 
that  Jack  London  carried  on  his  celebrated  voyage  on  the  Snark. 

53.  ST.  MARY'S  CATHEDRAL,  NW.  corner  Van  Ness  Ave. 
and  O'Farrell  St.,  a  brick  building  of  Victorian  Gothic  design,  dates 
from  1891  and  is  the  seat  of  the  Roman  Catholic  diocese  of  San  Fran- 
cisco.    The  church  narrowly  escaped  destruction  in  1906  when  flying 
brands  ignited  the  belfry.     Two  priests  climbed  to  the  roof  and  extin- 
guished the  blaze  by  means  of  buckets  and  a  garden  hose. 

54.  In  LAUREL  HILL  CEMETERY,   entrance  Bush   St.  and 
Presidio  Ave.,  dating  back  to  1854,  are  tne  graves  of  Senator  David  C. 
Broderick,  William  C.  Ralston,  James  King  of  William,  Senator  James 
G.  Fair,  Senator  William  Sharon,  and  many  other  pioneers  and  mining 
kings.     Samuel  Woodworth,  author  of  "The  Old  Oaken  Bucket,"  has 
a  tombstone  here,  although  his  body  has  been  removed.     On  the  tomb- 
stone of  Judge  Sanderson,  an  early  jurist,  is  the  inscription,   "Final 
Decree." 

55.  The  MEMORIAL  COLUMBARIUM  (open  9-5,  daily],  en- 
trance, i  Loraine  Court,  is  a  cream-colored  building  constructed  entirely 
of  stone,  metal,  and  glass.     The  structure  has  a  metal  dome  and  is 
adorned  with  mosaic  ornaments  and  stained  glass  windows.     The  only 
columbarium  in  San  Francisco,  its  niches  contain  the  ashes  of  more  than 
25,000  persons. 

56.  The  SAN  FRANCISCO  COLLEGE  FOR  WOMEN,  Turk 
St.  between  Parker  and  Masonic  Aves.,  opened  in   1932,  is  a  Roman 
Catholic   institution   offering  a   four-year   arts   course   to   girls   of   any 
denomination.     The  buildings,  of  Gothic  design,   are  finished  in  pale 
pink  stucco,  and  the  campus  occupies  the  whole  arc  of  Lone  Mountain, 
one  of  the  city's  major  hills. 

57.  The  UNIVERSITY  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO,  Fulton  St.  be- 
tween Clayton  St.  and  Parker  Ave.,  founded  as  St.  Ignatius  College  in 


SAN     FRANCISCO        29 1 

1855,  was  granted  a  State  charter  in  1859.  In  1930,  on  the  75th  anni- 
versary of  the  founding,  the  name  was  changed  to  the  University  of  San 
Francisco.  After  the  acquisition  of  the  present  2O-acre  campus,  the 
cornerstone  of  the  first  of  its  pinkish  concrete  buildings  was  laid  in  1920. 
The  university,  coeducational  and  with  an  average  enrollment  of  about 
1,000,  consists  of  a  day  school  for  men,  and  a  law  school  and  night 
school  for  both  men  and  women.  Although  the  institution  is  controlled 
by  the  Jesuits,  its  faculty  and  student  body  are  nonsectarian. 

58.  ALAMO  SQUARE,  Fulton  St.  between  Steiner  and  Scott  Sts., 
and  extending  to  Hayes  St.,  was  part  of  the  squatter's  stronghold  held 
by  Charles  and  Jack  Duane  in  the  iSso's.    Charles  P.  (Dutch  Charlie) 
Duane,  a  lieutenant  in  the  political  army  of  Senator  Broderick  and  chief 
engineer  of  the  fire  department,  narrowly  escaped  hanging  by  the  vigil- 
antes in   1851   after  he  shot  and  killed  a  theater  manager  who  had 
refused  him   free  admission.     The   second  Vigilance   Committee   "de- 
ported" him  from  the  city,  and  the  municipality  finally  gained  possession 
of  the  property  in  1877  a^ter  nme  separate  suits. 

59.  SAN  FRANCISCO  STATE  COLLEGE,  124  Buchanan  St., 
is  still  in  process  of  rehabilitation  (1939).     A  few  of  the  old  wooden 
buildings  erected  when  the  college  was  founded  in  1899  still  remain, 
but  they  are  being  superseded  by  one-story  buff  colored  concrete  build- 
ings of  Mediterranean  style.     On  the  campus  are  tennis  and  basketball 
courts,  and  the  Roberts  Stadium.     This  was  originally  a  teachers'  col- 
lege, being  distinguished  in  the  field  by  the  pioneer  work  of  Dr.  Fred- 
erick Burk;  authorized  in  1937  to  offer  a  B.Ed,  degree,  it  has  a  faculty 
of  8 1  and  1,970  students. 

60.  The  UNITED  STATES  MINT,  NW.  corner  Duboce  Ave. 
and  Buchanan  St.,  completed  in  1937,  replaced  the  old  mint  at  5th  and 
Mission  Streets,  where  Bret  Harte  once  worked.     The  present  struc- 
ture,  designed  by  Gilbert   Stanley  Underwood,  Treasury   Department 
architect,  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $1,500,000.     Three  stories  high  in  the 
rear  and  five  in  front,  it  has  heavy  exterior  walls  of  reinforced  concrete 
and  granite.    The  seventy  of  the  walls  is  relieved  by  a  row  of  medallions 
below  the  fourth  floor,  representing  all  coins  issued  by  the  United  States. 
Precautions  against  robbery  include  electrically  controlled  doors,  a  gun 
tower,  and  tear  gas  lines.     The  Mint  stands  on  a  loo-foot  cliff,  with 
foundations  set  deep  into  solid  rock,  and  was  considered  impregnable 
until  January  1939,  when  two  schoolboys  by  daylight  scaled  a  wall  by 
means  of  a  drain  pipe,  slipped  through  a  window  opened  for  ventila- 
tion, and  threw  out  a  copper  plate,  "just  to  see  if  it  could  be  done." 

61.  The  SPANISH  WAR  MONUMENT,  just  below  Market 
St.   in  the  parkway  that  intersects   Dolores   St.,   a  Tilden   sculpture, 
erected  in  honor  of   California's  volunteers   in   the   Spanish-American 
War,   represents  an  equestrian  Victory  of  heroic   size,   with   a  young 
soldier  marching  beside  her. 

62.  The  MISSION  DOLORES  (open  9-5  daily,  May-Sept.;  9:30- 
4:30,  Oct. -Apr.),  Dolores  St.  between  i6th  and  I7th  Sts.,  was  founded 
in  1776  by  Father  Junipero  Serra.  First  named  in  honor  of  St.  Francis 


292        CALIFORNIA 

of  Assisi,  common  usage  soon  gave  it  the  name  of  Mision  de  los  Dolores 
from  a  nearby  marsh  known  as  Laguna  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  los 
Dolores  (Lagoon  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows).  The  first  mass  was  sung 
five  days  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed  at  Phila- 
delphia. The  adobe  building  was  begun  in  1782  and  is  an  unusual 
example  of  Spanish  mission  architecture.  Due  to  the  angle  of  the 
coping  line  on  the  fagade,  the  original  roof  line  is  believed  to  have  been 
changed.  The  rectangular  structure  is  constructed  of  stone  covered 
with  plaster.  The  fagade  is  designed  with  a  simple  arched  entrance 
and  a  superimposed  surface  colonnade  of  crudely  shaped  Doric  columns. 
A  thin  iron  railing  once  extended  along  the  cornice  above  the  doorway. 
The  side  and  rear  walls  have  been  covered  with  clapboards.  No  nails 
were  used  in  its  construction;  the  wooden  beams  of  the  arched  roof 
were  tied  with  leather  thongs  by  Indian  workmen.  The  Indians 
painted  the  interior  walls  with  vegetable  colors  that  are  still  bright  after 
more  than  150  years.  The  high  hand-carved  altar  covered  with  gold 
leaf  was  brought  from  Mexico  in  1870.  The  earthquake  of  1906  dam- 
aged the  building,  but  failed  to  raze  it. 

Behind  the  mission  in  the  high-walled,  flower-covered  GRAVEYARD 
are  buried  many  of  the  famous  dead  of  San  Francisco's  early  days, 
including  Don  Luis  Argiiello,  a  native  San  Franciscan  and  the  first 
governor  of  California  under  Mexican  rule.  Argiiello  was  a  brother  to 
Concepcion  Argiiello,  famed  in  California  legend  and  stories  because  of 
a  romantic  love  affair  with  Rezanov,  the  Russian  plenipotentiary.  The 
graves  of  Casey  and  Cora,  hanged  by  the  vigilantes  in  1856,  are  a 
reminder  of  lawless  days.  Many  of  the  graves  are  unmarked. 

63.  MOUNT  OLYMPUS,  lyth  and  Clayton  Sts.,  is  crowned  with 
the  LIBERTY  MONUMENT,  the  work  of  the  Belgian  sculptor,  Antoine 
Wiertz,  and  a  gift  of  Adolph  Sutro  in  1887.     Sometimes  called  "The 
Triumph  of  Light,"  it  portrays  a  woman  symbolizing  Liberty,  with  a 
male  figure,  representing  Despotism,  cowering  at  her  feet.    The  figure's 
torch  and  sword,  it  is  said,  were  removed  by  ship  masters  because  the 
statue  threw  them  off  their  course  to  the  Golden  Gate. 

64.  TWIN    PEAKS    (910   alt.),   Twin    Peaks   Blvd.,    appear   in 
legends  of  the  Tamal  Indians,  and  were  called  by  the   Spanish   Los 
Pechos  de  la  Choca  (the  breasts  of  the  Indian  maiden).     The  figure- 
eight  drive  around  the  peaks  affords  a  wide  view  from  all  vantage  points. 
At  night  the  lights  of  the  city  twinkle  far  below.  The  long  tunnel  con- 
structed under  Twin  Peaks  by  the  Municipal  Railway,   leading  from 
Market  Street  to  the  St.  Francis  Wood  and  Ingleside  districts,  stimu- 
lated the  development  of  these  residential  districts.     On  Twin  Peaks 
will  be  erected  Beniamino  Bufano's  i8o-foot  stainless  steel  statue  of  St. 
Francis,  storm  center  of  a  spirited  controversy. 

65.  The  AFFILIATED  COLLEGES  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA,  Parnassus  Ave.  between  Arguello  Blvd.  and  4th 
Ave.,   consist  of   the    Hooper   Foundation   for   Medical    Research,   the 
University  of  California   Hospital,   and  the   Schools  of   Medicine  and 
Dentistry  of  the  University  of   California.     The   Hooper  Foundation 


SAN     FRANCISCO        2Q3 

and  the  Medical  Research  Library  (private)  are  housed  in  a  single 
brown  brick  building;  the  Dental  School  in  another.  The  Hospital,  the 
Medical  School,  and  the  Experimental  Research  Laboratory  are  in  new 
buildings  of  concrete  and  white  stone.  The  Hooper  Foundation  con- 
ducts experiments  in  hygiene,  surgery,  and  preventive  medicine,  and  has 
accomplished  important  work  in  botulism,  infantile  paralysis,  sleeping 
sickness,  and  undulant  fever. 

66.  SUTRO  FOREST,  a  large  tract  northwest  of  Twin  Peaks  and 
through  which  paved  roads  have  been  constructed,  is  dark  with  cypress 
and  eucalyptus  trees,  and  alive  with  small  animals  and  birds.    The  forest 
was  planted  by  Adolph  Sutro  in  the  iSyo's  and  has  been  enlarged  by 
additional  plantings  by  school  children.     Mount  Sutro,  909  feet  high, 
occupies  the  center  of  the  area;  this  originally  barren  hill  was  part  of 
San  Miguel  Rancho. 

(Along  the  Ocean) 

67.  LINCOLN  PARK,  entrance  33rd  Ave.  and  Clement  St.,  ex- 
tends northwest  almost  to  the  ocean.    A  flagpole  in  the  park  marks  the 
western  terminus  of  the  Lincoln  Highway  (US  3040).     Here  at  one 
time  were  the  city's  cemeteries,  each  segregated  according  to  nationality. 
The  old  Chinese  Cemetery  is  now  the  Municipal  Golf  Links,  on  which 
the  first  hazard  is  the  sacrifice  stone,  a  stone  oven  used  for  roasting  pigs 
to  propitiate  the  gods.    Near  the  I5th  green  is  a  25-foot  bronze  monu- 
ment to  Mrs.  Rebecca  H.  Lambert,  founder  of  the  Ladies'  Seamen's 
Friend  Society. 

The  PALACE  OF  THE  LEGION  OF  HONOR  (open  10-5  dally;  free 
organ  recitals  3-4,  Sat.  and  Sun.),  adjacent  to  the  golf  links,  is  designed 
in  the  manner  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  Palace  in  Paris.  The  entrance 
to  the  classic  U-shaped  building  is  through  an  impressive  forecourt  in 
form  of  an  Ionic  peristyle  with  a  massive  central  arch.  It  was  con- 
structed as  an  art  museum  and  presented  to  San  Francisco  in  1924  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adolph  B.  Spreckels  as  a  memorial  to  the  California 
soldiers  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  World  War.  The  palace  has  19 
galleries  exhibiting  permanent  and  loan  collections  of  paintings,  sculp- 
ture, porcelain,  tapestry,  antique  furniture  and  prints ;  it  also  has  a  little 
theater,  two  enclosed  gardens,  and  a  pipe  organ  used  for  recitals. 

68.  LAND'S  END,  a  precipitous  promontory  reached  by  a  path 
leading  northeast  from  Lincoln   Park  along  the  route  of  the  former 
"Scenic  Route"  streetcar  line,  has  long  been  a  favorite  haunt  of  lovers 
of  the  sea.     From  here  is  a  fine  view  of  Mile  Rock  Lighthouse,  a  few 
hundred  feet  offshore,  which  can  be  reached  by  boat   (by  arrangement 
with  U.  S.  Lighthouse  Service  at  Customs-house).    Beyond  Mile  Rock, 
toward  the  Marin  shore,  is  an  area  of  ocean  known  as  the  Potato  Patch, 
usually    covered    with    whitecaps,    which    mark    a    navigable    channel 
through  the  dangerous  shoals  near  Golden  Gate. 

69.  SUTRO  HEIGHTS  (house  private;  visitors  on  foot  permitted 
in  garden),  Point  Lobos  Ave.  and  Great  Highway,  was  the  home  of 
Adolph  Sutro,  Nevada  capitalist  and  former  mayor  of  San  Francisco. 


294        CALIFORNIA 

The  house,  built  in  1879,  is  surrounded  by  a  20-acre  garden  donated  to 
the  city  by  Sutro's  daughter,  Dr.  Emma  Sutro  Merritt;  the  shrubbery 
is  dotted  with  marble  statues  from  Belgium,  carried  to  San  Francisco 
in  ships  as  ballast. 

70.  CLIFF  HOUSE,  Great  Highway  opposite  Sutro  Heights,  has 
been  a  noted  restaurant  since  the  first  house  of  that  name  was  built  in 
1858.     The  original  Cliff  House,  bought  by  Adolph  Sutro  in   1883, 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1894,  and  its  successor  likewise  in  1907.    The 
present  house,  erected  in  1907,  was  remodeled  and  reopened  after  being 
vacant  a  number  of  years.    The  building  has  a  dining  room  overlooking 
the  ocean,  and  a  redwood  cocktail  bar.     From  the  lookout  platform  by 
the  Cliff  House  is  a  view  offshore  of  the  sharply  pointed  SEAL  ROCKS, 
on  which  hundreds  of  "seals"   (actually  California  sea  lions)    disport 
themselves,  being  protected  by  State  law.     Binoculars  can  be  rented  for 
a  close-up  view.    On  clear  days  the  Farallon  Islands  are  visible. 

OCEAN  BEACH,  extending  from  the  Cliff  House  to  Golden  Gate 
Park,  is  not  much  used  for  bathing  at  this  end  because  of  a  strong  under- 
tow, but  the  Esplanade  flanking  the  beach  affords  a  broad  view  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  is  crowded  with  sun  bathers  on  warm  days.  On  the 
east  side  of  the  Great  Highway  below  Sutro  Heights  is  a  miniature 
Coney  Island,  with  restaurants  and  the  usual  attractions. 

71.  The   FLEISHHACKER   POOL    (open   8-5  daily],   PLAY- 
GROUND   (open  9-5  daily),  and  ZOO    (open   10-5  daily),  Great 
Highway  and  Sloat  Blvd.,  occupy  a  128-acre  tract.    The  open-air  pool 
is  1,000  by  100  feet,  with  a  i5O-foot  offset  in  the  center  for  races,  and 
contains  6,500,000  gallons  of  water.    It  has  locker  accommodations  for 
5,000,  and  20  lifeguards  are  on  duty. 

On  the  Playground  are  tennis  courts,  a  baseball  field,  sand  boxes,  a 
miniature  steam  railway,  and  a  wading  pool. 

The  Zoo  is  being  remodeled  (1939)  by  the  Works  Progress  Ad- 
ministration on  the  cageless  plan,  under  which  the  animals  will  live  in 
a  reproduction  of  their  natural  environment  with  deep  moats  between 
them  and  the  public.  The  zoo  has  900  specimens,  including  a  notable 
collection  of  members  of  the  cat  family. 

72.  MOUNT  DAVIDSON  (956  alt.),  in  Mount  Davidson  Park 
and  accessible  only  on  foot,  is  the  highest  point  in  the  city.    On  the  sum- 
mit stands  the  Easter  Cross  of  concrete  and  steel,  iO3-feet  high,  before 
which  Easter  sunrise  services  are  held,  attended  by  60,000  persons  and 
broadcast  from  coast  to  coast.     During  Easter  Week  floodlights  illum- 
inate the  cross.    At  its  base  is  a  crypt  containing  relics  from  Palestine; 
the  crypt  is  sealed  with  concrete  mixed  with  water  from  the  Holy  Land. 
The  present  permanent  cross  is  the  fifth  on  the  site. 

(Golden  Gate  Park) 

73.  GOLDEN  GATE  PARK,  Stanyan  St.  between  Fulton  St.  and 
Lincoln  Way,  extending  to  the  ocean,  contains   1,013   acres.     A  half 
mile  wide  and  more  than  four  miles  long  with  its  "Panhandle"  to  the 


SAN     FRANCISCO       295 

east,  the  park  was  created  from  bare  sand  dunes  in  the  1870*5  by  John 
McLaren,  a  Scotsman,  who  is  still  superintendent  (1939)  in  spite  of  his 
9O-odd  years.  The  park  is  noted  for  its  rhododendrons;  the  Midwinter 
Fair  of  1894  was  held  here. 

KEZAR  STADIUM,  Frederick  St.  between  Stanyan  St.  and  Arguello  Blvd., 
is  a  concrete  bowl  accommodating  60,000  spectators.  Municipally  owned, 
it  is  the  scene  of  the  annual  All-Star  East  and  West  football  game  on  New 
Year's  Day  sponsored  by  the  Shrine.  During  football  season  the  stadium 
is  used  by  college  teams  that  are  not  members  of  the  Coast  League. 

The  CONSERVATORY  has  a  collection  of  rare  orchids  and  begonias,  and 
many  varieties  of  ferns.  In  front  of  the  Conservatory  is  a  large  flower  bed 
on  which  various  messages  adapted  to  the  season  or  special  events  are 
spelled  out  with  flowers.  The  building,  similar  to  the  conservatory  in  Kew 
Gardens,  London,  was  bought  by  popular  subscription. 

The  DEYOUNG  MEMORIAL  MUSEUM  (open  10-5  weekdays;  1-5  Sun.;  closed 
holidays]  houses  a  broad  art  and  historical  collection,  much  of  which  has 
never  been  catalogued.  The  museum  is  especially  rich  in  Aztec,  Mayan, 
Incan,  and  pre-Columbian  American  Indian  art.  The  original  building 
was  a  gift  of  M.  H.  deYoung  in  1919;  in  1920  a  new  wing,  designed  by 
Louis  C.  Mullgardt  in  the  Spanish  Renaissance  style  with  elaborate  bas- 
relief  frieze  and  cresting,  was  added,  with  sculptures  by  Haig  Patigian. 
This  wing  includes  56  galleries  and  a  sunken  court.  Near  the  museum, 
among  other  statues,  are  the  ROBERT  BURNS  STATUE,  by  Earl  Cummings,  the 
JUNIPERO  SERRA  MONUMENT,  by  Douglas  Tilden,  and  the  CERVANTES  MONU- 
MENT by  Jo  Mora,  depicting  Don  Quixote  and  Sancho  Panza  kneeling 
before  their  creator. 

A  stone  BANDSTAND,  the  gift  of  Claus  Spreckels,  is  an  open-air  shell  in 
the  Music  Concourse;  the  Municipal  Band  presents  concerts  here  every 
Sunday  afternoon. 

The  JAPANESE  TEA  GARDEN,  an  authentic  reproduction  of  an  original  in 
Nippon,  includes  a  zashiki,  or  Japanese  home ;  a  granite  shrine  with  an 
altar;  and  an  arched  bridge  built  in  the  shape  of  a  drum.  In  and  around 
the  thatched  tea  houses,  rice  cakes  and  tea  are  sold  by  girls  dressed  in 
native  costume. 

The  NATURAL  HISTORY  MUSEUM  (open  10-4  weekdays;  10-5  Sun.  and 
holidays],  together  with  the  Steinhart  Aquarium  and  the  Simson  African 
Hall,  is  conducted  by  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences.  The  museum 
contains  departments  of  ornithology,  herpetology,  and  paleontology,  but  the 
half  million  persons  who  visit  it  annually  are  mainly  attracted  by  its 
mammal  groups,  mounted  animals  in  social  or  family  assemblage  against 
natural  backgrounds.  Other  exhibits  include  flowers,  semiprecious  stones, 
butterflies,  herbariums,  and  Indian  baskets.  Set  in  the  pavement  at  the 
main  entrance  of  the  academy  building  are  four  old  millstones,  the  oldest 
of  which  was  brought  around  the  Horn  for  use  in  a  local  flour  mill  in  1851. 

SIMSON  AFRICAN  HALL  (open  1-5  Sun.,  1-4.  Wed.},  was  built  in  1932 
to  house  a  number  of  habitat  groups  of  African  mammals  collected  by 
Leslie  Simson  and  mounted  by  Frank  Tose,  who  spent  many  years  in 
Africa.  In  the  basement  is  an  exhibit  of  fish,  and  on  the  second  floor  one 
of  insects,  neither  of  which  is  specifically  African. 

The  STEINHART  AQUARIUM  (open  10-5  daily,  1-4.  in  winter],  approached 
through  an  open  court  in  which  are  five  large  pools,  was  named  for 
Ignatz  Steinhart,  who  donated  $240,000  for  its  foundation.  The  large 
reinforced  concrete  aquarium  contains  one  of  the  most  colorful  collections 
of  live  fish  in  the  world,  including  many  Hawaiian  and  Orieiftal  speci- 
mens. Outside  the  aquarium  is  a  tank  in  which  California  sea  lions  swim 
and  sun  themselves  on  artificial  rocks. 

The  SHAKESPEARE  GARDEN,  suggested  in  1923  by  Miss  Alice  Eastwood  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  contains  every  flower  mentioned  in  Shakespeare's 


296        CALIFORNIA 

plays.  The  only  duplicate  of  the  bust  of  Shakespeare  in  the  Stratford 
(England)  church  was  presented  to  the  city  by  Sir  Archibald  Flower,  mayor 
of  Stratford-on-Avon.  This  bust  is  preserved,  and  a  bronze  reproduction 
is  displayed  in  the  garden. 

STOW  LAKE,  the  largest  of  the  park's  ponds,  all  of  which  are  artificial, 
holds  25,000,000  gallons  of  water  and  is  densely  populated  with  waterfowl, 
from  mud  hens  to  swans.  The  San  Francisco  Fly  Casting  Club,  with 
headquarters  here,  holds  contests  every  Saturday  and  Sunday  from  March 
to  November. 

The  PRAYER  BOOK  CROSS,  a  gift  of  George  W.  Childs,  Philadelphia  pub- 
lisher, is  an  lona  cross  of  Colusa  marble,  57  feet  high,  designed  by  Ernest 
Coxhead  and  erected  under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese 
of  Northern  California.  It  commemorates  the  first  Christian  service  held 
in  English  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  1579,  by  Sir  Francis  Drake's  chaplain 
on  the  shore  of  Drake's  Bay  (see  TOUR  la). 

On  Lloyd  Lake,  beyond  Lindley  Meadow,  is  the  celebrated  PORTAL  OF 
THE  PAST,  a  classic  marble  doorway  from  the  A.  N.  Towne  home  destroyed 
in  the  fire  of  1906.  The  doorway,  flanked  by  Irish  yews,  bears  an  inscrip- 
tion relating  its  history. 

SPRECKELS  LAKE  is  the  scene  of  miniature  yacht  races  every  Sunday.  The 
owners  of  the  model  yachts,  built  to  scale,  complete  in  detail,  and  not  more 
than  three  feet  long,  are  members  of  a  model  yacht  association  and  hold 
occasional  regattas.  Beyond  Spreckels  Lake  is  the  Chain  of  Lakes,  a 
"waterscaped"  series  of  artificial  lakelets  with  artificial  islands  and  banks 
of  waterlilies. 

The  DUTCH  WINDMILLS,  facing  the  ocean,  at  the  northwestern  and  south- 
western corners  of  the  park,  are  operated  by  electric  pumps.  The  water 
enters  a  reservoir  two  miles  away  to  feed  the  park  lakes.  To  the  left  of 
the  northern  windmill  is  the  ship  GJOA  (pronounced  Yoah),  presented  to 
the  city  by  the  late  Roald  Amundsen,  the  Norwegian  explorer.  This  tiny 
vessel  was  the  first  craft  to  navigate  the  Northwest  Passage,  the  objective 
of  many  of  the  early  voyages  to  the  New  World. 

ELK  GLEN  is  a  fenced  enclosure  containing  several  varieties  of  elk,  so 
tame  that  they  accept  leaves  and  grass  from  visitors'  hands. 

Beyond  the  ARBORETUM,  which  includes  trees  from  many  parts  of  the 
world,  the  southeastern  section  of  the  park  is  devoted  to  recreation,  with  a 
baseball  park,  handball  courts,  bowling  greens,  and  a  children's  playground. 
To  the  north  is  DELAVEAGA  DELL,  with  its  rhododendrons  and  bear  pits. 

(Islands) 

74.  ALCATRAZ  ISLAND  (Sp.,  pelican),  in  the  bay  between  San 
Francisco  and  Sausalito,  is  one  of  the  world's  most  feared  and  widely 
publicized  penal  institutions,  the  Federal  prison  for  incorrigibles  (visi- 
tors by  wardens  permission  only).  Alcatraz,  known  colloquially  as 
"The  Rock,"  a  12-acre  island,  was  fortified  by  the  Spanish  prior  to 
American  occupation.  From  1859  it  was  used  as  a  military  prison  and 
a  United  States  Army  disciplinary  barracks;  during  and  after  the 
World  War  many  conscientious  objectors  were  removed  here  from  Fort 
Leavenworth.  Alcatraz  was  made  a  Federal  penitentiary  in  1933,  to 
house  unruly  prisoners  from  other  Federal  institutions.  The  rigid  dis- 
cipline, its  elaborate  barriers  to  prevent  escape,  including  the  "electric 
eye"  to  detect  the  presence  of  metal  on  a  prisoner,  and  the  names  of  its 
notorious  inmates  have  combined  to  make  thousands  of  newspaper  head- 
lines. Swift  currents  flowing  around  aThe  Rock"  make  escape  by  water 


SAN     FRANCISCO        2Q7 

practically  impossible.     Two  prisoners  made  the  attempt  in   1938,  but 
their  ultimate  success  or  failure  is  unknown. 

75.  ANGEL  ISLAND    {Government  boats  make  free  trips  from 
Fort  Mason  and  Pier  5,  Ferry  Building,  daily,  7  a.m.-i2  p.m.),  N.  of 
Alcatraz  and  the  largest  island  in  the  bay,  is  the  district  headquarters 
and  detention  barracks  of  the  Immigration  and  Naturalization  Service; 
here  immigrants  arriving  via  the  Pacific  are  received,  and  deportees  to 
the  Orient  and  the  Antipodes  are  shipped  out.     It  is  also  the  quarantine 
station  of  the  Public  Health  Service,  and  an  overseas  replacement  depot 
for  the  U.  S.  Army. 

The  first  white  visitor  to  the  island  was  Juan  Manuel  de  Ayala, 
who  came  in  1775  and  gave  the  island  its  name.  In  1851  a  prison  brig 
was  anchored  near  it,  but  escape  proved  too  easy  and  the  prisoners  were 
removed  to  San  Quentin,  which  was  completed  in  1854.  Angel  Island 
was  the  scene  of  many  duels,  the  most  famous  being  the  Johnston- 
Ferguson  encounter  in  1858,  over  the  slavery  question.  Senator  Wil- 
liam I.  Ferguson  was  killed,  and  his  antagonist,  George  P.  Johnston, 
clerk  of  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court,  was  tried  and  acquitted.  In  1853 
Johnston,  then  an  assemblyman,  had  advocated  severer  punishment  for 
dueling. 

76.  The  FARALLON  ISLANDS  (closed)  consist  of  three  groups 
of  small  islands  in  the  Pacific,  26  miles  west  of  the  mainland,  and  visible 
on  clear  days  from  the  Cliff  House  and  other  points.     They  are  a  con- 
stituent part  of  San  Francisco,  yet  no  county  or  city  official  may  set  foot 
on  them  without  the  permission  of  the  lighthouse  superintendent.     The 
bare  waterless  islands  are  inhabited  by  four  lighthouse  keepers,  seven 
Navy  men  in  charge  of  the  Radio  Beam  Compass  Station,  and  their 
families.    The  light,  one  of  the  most  powerful  on  the  coast,  stands  358 
feet  above  water  at  high  tide.     The  islands  are  a  bird  refuge;  only 
Italian  fishermen  visit  the  Farallon  Banks  regularly. 


&&G8i^t&3&^^ 


San  Jose 


Railroad  Stations:     65  Cahill  St.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines. 
Bus  Stations:     Union  Bus  Station,  25  S.  Market  St.,  for  Pacific  Greyhound  and 
Peerless  Stages;  San  Jose  Travel  Bureau,  44  W.  San  Carlos  St.,  for  Airline  Bus 
Line  and  Dollar  Line. 

Airport:  San  Jose  Airport,  4.2  m.  NW.  of  business  district;  taxi  6otf  to  85^; 
no  scheduled  service. 

Taxis:  Meter  system,  15$  first  half-mile,  10$  each  additional  half-mile,  no 
charge  for  extra  passengers ;  zone  system,  10^  to  25$,  10$  for  each  additional 
passenger. 

City  Busses:    Fare  7^,  4  tokens  for  25$. 

Traffic  Regulations:  Pedestrians  have  right-of-way  except  at  controlled  cross- 
ings. 

Accommodations:     33  hotels;  nine  auto  trailer  camps. 

Information  Service:  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Civic  Auditorium,  San  Carlos 
and  S.  Market  Sts.;  American  Automobile  Assn.,  926  The  Alameda;  California 
State  Auto  Assn.,  1024  The  Alameda. 

Radio  Station:    KQW  (1010  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:     Main  Theater  and  Dunn  Little  Theater 

in  Civic  Auditorium,  San  Carlos  and  S.  Market  Sts.,  road  shows  and  concerts; 

10  motion  picture  houses. 

Golf:    Hillview  Public  Golf  Course,  Tully  Rd.  and  Swift  Lane,  18  holes,  greens 

fee  50$  weekdays,  75$  Sat.,  $i  Sun.  and  holidays. 

Tennis:     San  Jose  Tennis  Courts,  7th  and  E.  Humboldt  Sts.,  lighted;  Backesto 

Park,   i3th  and  Jackson  Sts.,  12  courts;   City  Playfield,  Home  St.  and  Delmas 

Ave.,  4  courts. 

Swimming:     Alum  Rock  Park,  7  m.  NE.  on  Alum  Rock  Ave.   (pool  open  Mar.- 

Nov.),  adm.  50$,  includes  suit  and  towel,  children,  25^;  Roosevelt  Junior  High 

School  pool  (open  to  public  during  evenings  in  summer),  i7th  and  Santa  Clara 

Sts.,  adm.  35$,  includes  suit  and  towel. 

Riding:     Twenty-five  miles  of  bridle  paths  in  Alum  Rock  Park,  7  m.  NE.  on 

Alum  Rock  Ave.;  $i  first  hour,  75$  each  hour  thereafter. 

Annual  Events:  Maximum  bloom  of  100,000  roses  in  Municipal  Rose  Garden, 
Naglee  and  Dana  Aves.,  early  May;  Fiesta  de  las  Rosas  Golf  Tournament, 
Hillview  Public  Golf  Course,  Sept. 

SAN  JOSE  (pronounced  San  Ho-say';  100  alt.,  57,651  pop.)  is  built 
on  the  flat  alluvial  soil  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  at  the  southern 
and  shallow  end  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  50  miles  south  of  San  Francisco. 
The  city  itself  is  eight  miles  from  the  waters  of  the  bay,  separated  by 
low  ground  and  marshlands.  Mountains  are  visible  from  almost  any 
point  in  the  city:  brown,  bare  foothills  merge  into  the  peaks  of  the 
Mount  Hamilton  Range  to  the  east  and  to  the  west  is  the  green  and 
thickly  wooded  Coast  Range.  These  mountains  trap  rains  and  fogs 
generated  over  the  ocean  and  give  San  Jose  a  semi-arid  climate  with  no 

298 


SAN     JOSE        299 

rain  at  all  during  the  summer  months.  The  Guadalupe  and  Coyote 
Rivers  run  through  the  city,  but  water  flows  in  their  channels  only  in 
early  spring. 

San  Jose's  business  district,  compact  and  busy,  particularly  during 
the  packing  season,  is  roughly  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  its  arms 
running  north  and  south  and  east  and  west.  *  Office  buildings,  depart- 
ment stores,  hotels,  theaters,  and  shops  are  grouped  along  First  and 
Santa  Clara  Streets.  The  geographical  center  of  town  is  the  crossing 
of  these  two  streets.  West  of  First  Street,  business  buildings  merge 
into  an  industrial  district  of  shops,  warehouses,  garages,  and  factories. 

East  of  First  Street  is  the  older  residential  district,  its  streets  run- 
ning at  right  angles,  landscaped  with  lawns,  gardens,  and  rows  of  palms, 
oaks,  and  willows.  The  older  houses  are  of  frame  construction,  built  of 
local  redwood;  newer  residences  are  stucco.  North  of  the  business 
district  on  First  Street  is  another  of  the  older  residential  sections — frame 
mansions  built  during  the  iSyo's  and  i88o's.  These  sedate  homes  give 
way  farther  out  to  bungalows  and  more  pretentious  houses  in  the 
Spanish-Colonial  style.  Fringing  the  city  limits  are  new  residential 
sections. 

Santa  Clara  (see  TOUR  2b)  is  a  separate  city  northwest  of  San 
Jose,  but  connected  with  it  by  solid  blocks  of  houses  and  stores.  The 
main  artery  between  the  two  cities  is  The  Alameda,  a  broad  avenue 
lined  with  willow  trees  originally  planted  as  windbreaks  and  for  pro- 
tection against  wild  cattle.  Along  The  Alameda  are  some  fine  examples 
of  the  gingerbread  school  of  architecture:  large  Victorian  frame  man- 
sions with  tall  windows,  towers  and  turrets,  stained  glass,  intricate  fret- 
work decorations,  built  by  wealthier  citizens  during  the  city's  first  agri- 
cultural prosperity;  they  are  being  gradually  replaced  by  modern 
houses. 

San  Jose  was  California's  first  town,  as  distinguished  from  forts  and 
missions,  and  was  the  first  capital  of  the  State  following  American 
occupation.  It  is  the  seat  of  Santa  Clara  County,  and  has  a  State 
College,  which  was  the  first  and  for  many  years  the  only  normal  school 
in  California. 

First  known  inhabitants  of  this  section  were  the  Olhone  Indians, 
who  painted  themselves  with  cinnabar  ore  from  New  Almaden  and 
worshiped  the  sun.  Mission  life  and  white  men's  diseases  and  ways 
gradually  exterminated  them.  An  anthropologist  in  San  Jose  has  a 
standing  offer  of  $500  to  anyone  who  will  bring  him  a  full-blooded 
Olhone. 

The  population  now  includes  a  few  descendants  of  early  Spanish 
settlers,  such  as  the  Bernals,  Ortegas,  Peraltas,  and  Berryessas;  a  solid 
core  of  "old  families"  descended  from  Americans  who  settled  after 
1840;  farmers,  workers,  business  and  professional  men,  students,  and 
teachers,  all  largely  of  native  American  stock;  and  groups  of  Italians, 
Mexicans,  Portuguese,  Slavs,  and  a  few  Negroes,  attracted  by  farming 
and  industry.  These  groups  retain  only  a  few  of  their  folk  ways,  chiefly 
manifested  in  religious  festivals. 


300       CALIFORNIA 

On  November  29,  1777,  in  response  to  orders  from  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico,  nine  soldiers,  five  pobladores  (settlers)  with  their  families,  and 
one  cowboy,  were  detailed  to  found  the  Pueblo  de  San  Jose  de  Guada- 
lupe,  named  in  honor  of  St.  Joseph.  This  was  the  first  of  a  series  of 
towns  established  in  Alta^California  to  foster  agriculture  and  handicraft 
and  make  the  territory  self-supporting.  Each  man  was  allotted  two 
cows,  two  oxen,  two  mules,  two  sheep,  two  goats,  seed,  necessary  imple- 
ments for  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  was  promised  monthly  stipends 
of  about  $10  during  his  first  years.  The  missions  were  not  pleased 
by  this  encroachment,  but  could  do  nothing  about  it.  The  first  settlers 
built  their  small  huts  about  a  mile  north  of  the  present  business  section. 
In  later  years  the  town  was  moved  to  higher  ground  because  of  seasonal 
floods  from  the  Guadalupe  River. 

Mexico  broke  from  the  Spanish  Crown  in  1821,  and  the  Mexican 
flag  was  raised  over  Monterey,  the  capital,  the  next  April  (1822)  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  May  10,  1825,  that  San  Jose  got  around  to  acknowl- 
edging Mexican  rule.  Then  there  was  a  three-day  public  celebration, 
complete  with  music  and  dancing. 

In  1831  the  town  had  only  524  residents  (Indians  were  not 
counted).  The  chief  industry  was  stock  raising;  only  enough  crops 
were  grown  to  satisfy  local  needs.  The  main  interest  of  the  young 
bloods  was  the  bull  and  bear  fights;  bears  were  lassoed  in  the  foothills 
and  brought  back  to  town  in  a  bullock  cart.  The  bear  and  bull  were 
tied  together  and  the  fight  continued — one  bear  usually  being  good  for 
three  or  four  bulls — until  a  fresh  bull  finally  gored  the  tired  bear  to 
death. 

In  the  i84o's,  with  the  beginning  of  mass  emigration  from  the  East 
on  the  overland  route,  San  Jose  began  to  grow.  Descendants  of  such 
noted  expeditions  as  the  Bidwell-Bartleson,  the  Donner,  and  the  Murphy 
parties  still  live  in  San  Jose,  some  of  them  grown  rich  through  min- 
ing and  real  estate  operations. 

When  Capt.  Thomas  Fallon,  with  19  men,  entered  San  Jose  on 
July  14,  1846  and  raised  the  United  States  flag  over  the  town  hall,  he 
found  a  sleepy  pueblo,  its  population  composed  mostly  of  Mexicans, 
Peruvians,  Chileans,  Spanish  Californians,  and  Indians.  The  gold  rush 
changed  all  that.  San  Jose  became  one  of  the  supply  cities  for  men  on 
their  way  to  and  from  the  mines  in  the  Sierra  foothills.  It  grew  so 
fast  that  in  1849  it  was  the  logical  choice  for  State  capital. 

The  first  California  Legislature  convened  in  San  Jose  on  Dec.  15, 
1849.  It  was  known  as  "the  legislature  of  a  thousand  drinks."  Because 
of  the  shortage  of  local  women,  the  countryside  was  "raked  for 
senoritas,"  who,  at  the  appointed  time,  made  their  appearance  at  the 
Assembly  Hall  and  danced  and  imbibed  with  the  solons  of  the  region. 
"The  legislators  were  good  drinkers — they  drank  like  men.  If  they 
could  not  stand  the  ceremony  on  any  particular  occasion,  they  would  lie 
down  to  it  with  a  becoming  grace."  Drinking  and  gaiety  did  not  end 
with  the  first  grand  ball.  A  fandango  usually  cheered  the  weary  legis- 
lators each  evening  after  strenuous  hours  of  deliberation.  But  accom- 


SAN     JOSE        301 

modatfons  were  poor  in  San  Jose  and  in  Feb.  1851,  the  capital  was 
moved  to  Benicia. 

Meanwhile  the  city  was  incorporated  in  1850,  with  a  population  of 
3,000.  Stage  and  boat  connections  were  established  with  San  Francisco, 
but  were  discontinued  in  1864  when  the  first  railroad  came  through. 
In  the  i88o's  the  steady  growth  of  the  city  was  stimulated  by  a  real 
estate  boom  which  came  to  a  climax  in  August  1887.  Land  sales 
zoomed  to  a  high  of  $2,000,000  a  day,  and  then  collapsed.  After  the 
Civil  War,  when  the  gold  fever  had  run  its  course,  experiments  in  prune 
and  apricot  growing  were  made  in  the  fertile  regions  around  the  city. 
Growth  of  apricots,  prunes,  and  grapes  promised  to  be  profitable.  Ranch 
land  rose  in  value,  and  San  Jose,  with  its  rail  connections,  became  the 
region's  logical  shipping  center. 

San  Jose  is  today  the  largest  canning  and  dried-fruit  packing  center 
in  the  world,  and  a  distributing  point  for  the  prune  and  apricot  industry. 
There  are  18  canneries,  13  dried-fruit  packing  houses,  and  12  fresh-fruit 
and  vegetable  shipping  firms.  It  was  one  of  the  first  California  cities  to 
develop  industries  for  making  all  the  mechanical  equipment  for  special- 
ized farming — or  ranching,  as  it  is  called  in  the  West.  There  are  also 
pottery  works,  meat-packing  houses,  lumber  and  boatbuilding  yards,  and 
breweries. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

CITY  HALL  PARK,  a  double  landscaping  of  S.  Market  St.  be- 
tween San  Carlos  and  W.  San  Fernando  Sts.,  is  the  civic  center  of  San 
Jose.  The  Civic  AUDITORIUM,  San  Carlos  and  S.  Market  Sts.,  is  a 
one-and-a-half-story,  yellow  concrete  building,  erected  in  1936.  Besides 
offices,  it  contains  the  Main  and  Little  (Dunn)  Theaters.  CITY  HALL, 
at  the  south  end  of  the  park,  a  four-story  red  brick  building,  contains 
city  offices.  North  of  City  Hall  is  a  plaque  commemorating  the  site  of 
California's  first  State  capitol.  The  actual  site  is  at  San  Antonio  and 
South  Market  Streets. 

ST.  JAMES  PARK,  N.  1st  St.  between  St.  John  and  St.  James 
Sts.j  is  planted  with  shrubs  and  flowers  and  is  distinguished  for  its  tall 
palms  and  elm  trees.  In  1933  two  men  accused  of  kidnapping  and  mur- 
dering the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant  were  dragged  from  jail  and 
hanged  to  trees  in  the  park.  The  country  rang  with  details  of  the 
lynching,  and  James  Rolph,  Jr.,  then  Governor,  caused  further  re- 
verberations by  approving  the  mob's  action.  The  trees,  stripped  of  bark 
and  twigs  by  souvenir  hunters,  had  to  be  cut  down. 

COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE,  on  ist  St.  facing  the  park,  of  classic 
design  with  a  wide  portico  supported  by  Corinthian  columns  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome,  was  built  in  1866-68. 

SAN  JOSE  STATE  COLLEGE,  main  entrance  S.  4th  and  San 
Antonio  Sts.,  in  the  center  of  Washington  Park,  is  the  oldest  State- 
owned  public  educational  institution  in  California.  It  was  opened  on 
this  site  in  1862.  The  original  building,  a  towering  frame  structure 
built  of  California  redwood,  burned  in  the  seventies  and  was  replaced 


3O2        CALIFORNIA 

by  a  four-story  brick  building,  fronted  by  a  wide  lawn.  In  the  early 
igoo's  the  campus  was  enlarged  to  26  acres,  and  the  older  buildings 
were  erected  at  this  time.  New  groups  of  California  mission  style  build- 
ings have  been  added,  with  red  tile  roofs  and  arched  windows.  The 
student  body  numbers  2,600. 

The  EDWIN  MARKHAM  HOME,  430  S.  8th  St.,  is  a  simple 
three-story  redwood  building  with  a  wide  front  porch — a  typical  family 
home  of  the  period.  The  poet  lived  here  between  1857  and  J899;  in  the 
last  year  of  his  residence  here  he  wrote  "The  Man  with  the  Hoe." 
The  building  is  now  the  infirmary,  or  Health  Home,  of  the  San  Jose 
State  College,  from  which  Markham  was  graduated. 

The  SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  STATION,  main  entrance  on  The 
Alameda  at  Stockton  Ave.,  built  in  1935,  is  of  glazed  brick  in  yellow 
and  dull  red  shades.  It  is  designed  in  a  modified  mission  style,  modern- 
ized by  bronze  doors  and  window  frames.  In  the  waiting  room  is  a 
mural  by  J.  MacQuarrie  depicting  an  early  California  scene,  with  sky- 
scrapers and  a  railroad  train  in  the  background. 

ROSICRUCIAN  PARK  AND  HEADQUARTERS,  1342  Na- 
glee  Ave.,  is  the  center  of  the  Ancient  and  Mystical  Order  of  the  Rosy 
Cross  (AMORC)  for  the  Western  Hemisphere,  This  fraternal  order 
claims  to  be  the  only  genuine  representative  of  the  ancient  Rosicrucian 
Order,  and  states  that  it  is  neither  a  school,  a  forum,  nor  a  religious 
body.  The  buildings  are  all  of  stone  and  concrete  in  the  Egyptian  style 
of  architecture. 

In  the  EGYPTIAN  TEMPLE  AND  ORIENTAL  MUSEUM 
(open  9-5  Mon.-Fri.,  7:30-9  Mon.,  9-1  Sat.,  12-5  Sun.;  guide)  the 
walls,  painted  in  the  ancient  Egyptian  manner,  are  hung  with  gold  and 
bronze  plaques  and  with  tapestries  said  to  be  from  temples  in  Cairo  and 
Luxor.  The  interior  is  lighted  by  artificial  moonlight.  The  Museum 
contains  a  full-size  reproduction  of  an  Egyptian  rock  tomb  of  the  seven- 
teenth or  eighteenth  dynasty. 

The  PLANETARIUM  (open  3:45-5  and  7:30-9  Sun.,  free;  lecture 
and  demonstration  4  and  8  p.m.  Sun.,  adm.  25$,  children  15$)  is  one 
of  the  few  in  the  United  States  and  the  only  one  in  northern  California. 

The  AMENHOTEP  SHRINE,  a  stone  pylon  in  the  center  of  the  park, 
bears  a  descriptive  tablet.  The  other  buildings  include  the  Francis 
Bacon  Auditorium  and  Convention  Hall,  the  Science  Lecture  Hall  and 
Laboratories  (for  classes  and  correspondence  courses  in  "esoteric 
science"),  and  the  General  Administration  Building  and  Library. 

The  SAN  JOSE  MUNICIPAL  ROSE  GARDEN  (open  daily), 
Naglee  and  Dana  Aves.,  of  five-and-a-half  acres,  was  opened  in  1931. 
The  finest  collection  of  roses  in  the  United  States  has  been  built  up  by 
donations  from  private  sources.  Mrs.  Fremont  Older  gave  bushes  from 
1 8  of  the  21  California  mission  gardens.  Besides  1,686  varieties  of  old- 
fashioned  climbing  and  hedge  roses,  there  are  42  species,  2,451  varieties 
of  show  roses,  two  of  which  have  never  been  on  the  market.  Choice 
items  are  the  red  and  white  Lancaster- York  rose,  symbolizing  the  peace 
that  ended  the  English  War  of  the  Roses;  the  Damascene  rose  of  the 


SAN     JOSE        303 

Crusaders;  and  the  Viridifolia,  a  Chinese  rose  with  green  petals.  In 
the  center  of  the  garden  is  a  reflecting  pool,  bordered  by  copper-colored 
and  yellow  roses.  The  garden  is  at  its  best  early  in  May,  when  100,000 
are  in  bloom,  but  there  are  always  blossoms. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Winchester  Mystery  House,  externalization  of  a  psychopathic  mind,  4  m.; 
Alum  Rock  Park,  8.5  m.;  New  Almaden  Village  and  Quicksilver  Mines, 
worked  since  1844,  12.3  m.;  Lick  Observatory,  18.8  m.  (see  TOUR  2b). 


mssaKG^^ 


Santa  Barbara 


Railroad  Stations:     State  and  Montecito  Sts.  for  Southern  Pacific  Lines. 

Bus  Station:     29  W.  Carrillo  St.  for  Greyhound  Lines. 

Airport:     Municipal  at  Goleta,  8  miles  N.  on  US   101,  for  United  Air  Lines; 

taxi  $i,  time  20  min. 

Taxis:     15^  first  %  m.,   10^  each  additional    l/2  m. ;   five  passengers   permitted 

for  one  fare. 

Busses:     $$  and  10^  fare  zones. 

Traffic  Regulations:    Pedestrians  have  right-of-way  at  all  street  crossings. 

Accommodations:     18  hotels;  auto  courts. 

Information  Service:  Chamber  of  Commerce,  14  E.  Carrillo  St.;  Community 
Center,  Carrillo  and  De  la  Vina  Sts. 

Radio  Station:     KDB   (1500  kc.),  KTMS  (1220  kc.). 

Theaters  and  Motion  Picture  Houses:  Lobero  Theater,  33  E.  Canon  Perdido 
St.,  commercial  and  community  productions;  four  motion  picture  houses. 
Golf:  Montecito  Country  Club,  Summit  Road,  Montecito,  3.7  m.,  18  holes,  guest 
cards  available  through  Santa  Barbara  Golfers'  Association;  greens  fee  $i 
weekdays,  $1.50  Sun.  and  holidays;  club  rental,  75$  per  set.  La  Cumbre  Golf 
and  Country  Club,  Modoc  Road  (Hope  Ranch),  4  m.,  fee  $1.50  per  day,  short- 
time  memberships  available. 

Tennis:  Oak  Park,  W.  Junipero  St.  at  Mission  Creek;  Plaza  del  Mar,  W. 
Cabrillo  Blvd.  and  Castillo  St.,  meter  lights;  Biltmore  Hotel  courts,  Channel 
Drive  and  Olive  Mill  Rd.,  Montecito,  free;  Stadium  Tennis  Courts,  US  101, 
opposite  Bird  Refuge,  9  courts,  4  meter  lighted.  Shower  and  lockers  free  in 
daytime. 

Swimming:  West  Beach,   320  W.   Cabrillo  Blvd.,   still   water   and   surf,   public 
dressing  rooms,  20$  up;  East  Beach,  E.  Cabrillo  Blvd.  and  Por  la  Mar  Drive, 
surf,  dressing  rooms,  May  to  Sept.,  20$;  wading  pool  for  children. 
Riding:     30  miles  of  bridle  paths  in  foothills,  20  on  beaches;   rates  usually  $i 
per  hour. 

Polo:  Fleischmann  Field,  Serena,  8  miles  E.  on  US  101,  Dec.-Apr.,  free  week- 
days, 50^  Sun.;  July-Sept.,  50^  daily. 

Fishing:  Surf  fishing  off  breakwater  and  Stearns  Wharf,  S.  end  of  State  St. 
Deep-sea  and  channel  fishing  for  halibut,  tuna,  marlin,  swordfish,  mackerel,  cod, 
and  black  sea  bass;  boats  for  rent  at  Stearns  Wharf. 

Annual  Events:  Garden  Tours,  from  Recreation  Center,  no  E.  Carrillo  St., 
spring  and  summer;  Old  Spanish  Days,  3  days  full  moon  of  each  Aug.;  horse 
and  dog  show  in  summer;  Semana  Nautica,  marine  celebration,  July  4;  Artists' 
Street  Fair,  July. 

SANTA  BARBARA  (37  alt.,  33,613  pop.)  lies  on  a  coastal  shelf 
that  rises  from  a  curving  beach  into  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Santa 
Ynez  Mountains.  With  its  extensive  landscaped  estates,  and  the  pre- 
dominant Spanish  flavor  of  its  architecture,  Santa  Barbara  has  long 
maintained  a  reputation  of  ease  and  leisure,  principally  because  of  its 

304 


SANTA     BARBARA        3O5 

large  proportion  of  wealthy  residents.  The  earthquake  of  1925  created 
the  opportunity  to  condense  within  a  few  years  the  rebuilding  of  a  city 
in  harmony  with  the  dominant  architectural  motif.  As  a  result,  it  has 
an  air  of  spaciousness  and  quiet  comfort;  even  the  railroad  roundhouse 
is  disguised,  and  looks  like  a  Spanish  bull  ring. 

During  the  iSyo's  the  city  overcame  a  temptation  to  number  and 
letter  its  streets,  which  commemorate  ancient  Spanish  families  (De  la 
Guerra,  Carrillo),  the  Indians  (Yanonali),  and  even  an  outlaw 
(Valerio).  Canon  Perdido  (lost  cannon),  Salsipuedes  (get  out  if  you 
can),  and  Indio  Muerto  (dead  Indian)  all  refer  to  episodes  in  Santa 
Barbara's  history. 

Santa  Barbara  has  carefully  preserved  the  beauty  of  its  waterfront. 
From  the  foot  of  State  Street  a  broad  strand  stretches  for  several  miles 
to  the  east,  a  large  section  of  it  operated  by  the  city  as  a  public  bathing 
beach.  The  paralleling  highway  is  landscaped,  and  an  area  of  marsh- 
land near  the  beach's  eastern  extremity  has  been  converted  into  a  bird 
refuge. 

The  city  is  bisected  by  its  main  thoroughfare,  State  Street,  which 
carries  a  steady  stream  of  coastwise  motor  traffic.  It  is  flanked  by 
residential  sections,  the  more  restricted  areas  being  to  the  north.  Upper 
State  Street  is  lined  with  swanky  shops  and  motion  picture  theaters; 
the  lower  end  is  a  district  of  second-hand  stores,  "second-run"  movie 
houses,  drinking  places,  and  a  small  Mexican  quarter.  A  few  hun- 
dred Negroes  also  live  in  this  area,  and  there  is  a  small  group  of 
Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Filipinos  near  the  old  presidio  area.  In  out- 
lying districts  meandering  streets  and  roads  conform  to  the  rolling 
and  hilly  terrain. 

For  three  days  during  the  full  moon  in  August  the  city  returns  to 
its  past  in  "Old  Spanish  Days,"  a  fiesta  inaugurated  in  1924.  It  com- 
mences with  a  reception  and  pageant  held  on  the  steps  of  the  old 
Mission,  where  Franciscan  padres  welcome  the  participants  beneath 
chiming  ancient  bells.  The  following  afternoon  thousands  line  the 
main  streets  for  the  parade,  depicting  the  city's  past  from  Indian  times 
to  the  arrival  of  American  troops.  Squealing  carretas  (carts)  carry 
old  Spanish  families,  and  scores  of  fine  horses  mounted  by  distin- 
guished visitors  pass  between  red  and  gold  banners  along  the  line  of 
march.  Gaily  caparisoned  serenaders  stroll  the  streets  singing  songs 
of  Spanish  days,  and  descendants  of  pioneer  families  dance  the  folk 
dances  of  their  forefathers.  There  is  a  pageant  on  the  site  of  a 
Canalino  village,  street  dances  every  night,  and  a  variety  of  free 
entertainment. 

In  1542,  when  the  navigator  Cabrillo  came  up  the  coast,  he  was 
met  in  the  channel  by  a  fleet  of  Canalino  (channel)  Indians,  who 
greeted  him  from  great  canoes.  Cabrillo's  account  states  that  "most 
of  the  Indian  chiefs  were  men,  but  the  ruler  of  one  of  the  villages 
was  a  very  wrinkled  old  woman,  which  seemed  very  queer  to  us." 
Cabrillo  was  fatally  injured  in  a  perilous  landing  and  lies  in  an 
undiscovered  grave  on  one  of  the  Channel  Islands.  Vizcaino  entered 


306        CALIFORNIA 

the  channel  on  Saint  Barbara's  Day,  December  4,  1603,  and  named 
the  region  Santa  Barbara. 

In  1768,  rumor  reached  Spain  that  Russia  intended  to  explore  and 
claim  the  territory  south  of  Alaska,  and  King  Charles  III  ordered 
the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  to  establish  presidios  and  missions  in  California. 
Spanish  colonization  had  already  begun  when  Capt.  Jose  Francisco 
Ortega,  accompanied  by  Governor  Neve,  Father  Junipero  Serra,  and 
fifty  men,  entered  Santa  Barbara  on  April  21,  1782,  and  founded  the 
presidio. 

Indians,  paid  in  food  and  clothing,  brought  fish  and  game  and 
assisted  in  hewing  timbers  and  making  adobe  bricks  for  the  fort.  After 
their  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith,  they  were  set  to  work,  under 
supervision  of  the  padres,  constructing  dwellings,  building  the  mission, 
cultivating  large  acreages,  and  raising  cattle.  After  secularization  of 
the  Missions  in  1834  tne  presidio  officers  became  barons  of  wide  estates 
and  prolific  herds,  and  the  Indian  population  waned.  (The  last  sur- 
vivor of  the  Canalino  tribe  died  in  1930.)  The  presidio  "dons"  were 
of  a  proud  heritage,  many  bearing  noble  names,  and  they  indulged 
their  traditions  of  urbanity  and  social  grace.  Mexico  shook  off  the 
yoke  of  Spain  in  1821,  Yankee  trade  developed,  and  the  exchange  of 
New  England  wealth  for  hides  and  tallow  greatly  enriched  them. 

The  Barbarenos  enjoyed  this  productive  economy  for  three  decades. 
"My  house  is  your  own,  Senor,"  was  the  greeting,  and  mahana  was 
the  philosophy.  An  occasional  revolution  was  staged,  bloodless  and 
courteous  as  a  tennis  match. 

But  the  influx  of  the  Yankees  foretold  a  change.  The  serene  exist- 
ence of  the  Californios  had  led  many  a  Yankee  sea  captain  to  desert 
his  calling  for  marriage  with  a  wealthy  senorita;  American  trappers 
had  been  drawn  by  the  rich  hauls  of  seal  and  otter  at  the  Channel 
Islands.  Commodore  Stockton  landed  in  Santa  Barbara  Bay  in  August 
1846,  ran  up  the  American  flag,  and  left  a  small  garrison.  Several 
weeks  later  the  garrison  was  attacked,  and  given  the  choice  of  surren- 
der or  flight.  It  fled,  but  in  Christmas  week  of  the  same  year  Lt.  Col. 
John  C.  Fremont,  after  dodging  an  ambush  in  Gaviota  Pass,  re-entered 
Santa  Barbara  and  held  it.  Three  weeks  later  California  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States. 

Under  the  new  American  regime  the  town  prospered.  Great  herds 
of  cattle  were  driven  north  to  feed  the  miners.  "Every  bullock  was 
a  skinful  of  silver  and  his  marrow  as  fine  as  gold."  Luxurious  furnish- 
ings filled  adobe  dwellings,  and  fine  silks  trailed  on  clay  floors.  The 
civilization  of  the  dons  reached  its  apex,  with  gay  Castillian  cavalcades, 
the  gallantries  of  caballeros  and  fan-wielding  senoritas,  cock-fighting 
and  gambling. 

The  decay  of  all  this  glory  began  with  a  drought  in  1864.  There 
were  200,000  cattle  in  the  county  in  1863;  only  5,000  gaunt  crea- 
tures were  alive  the  following  year.  A  primitive  wharf  built  two 
years  later  put  an  end  to  landings  in  small  boats  through  the  surf  such 
as  those  described  in  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast.  In  1872  a  more 


SANTA     BARBARA        307 

elaborate  wharf  was  completed  to  which  ships  and  side-wheel  steamers 
could  tie.  The  real  estate  boom  of  the  early  1870*5  collapsed  in  1877 
because  of  another  drought,  and  Santa  Barbara  dozed  in  gentle  dignity 
until  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  entered  the  city  from  the  south 
in  1887.  In  1901  the  line  was  extended  to  San  Francisco;  Santa 
Barbara  took  its  place  on  the  tourist  map  and  began  its  metamorphosis 
into  a  wealthy  residential  community. 

There  are  oil  wells  on  the  mesa  south  of  the  city,  and  some  com- 
mercial fishing,  but  industry  is  almost  nonexistent.  Cattle  raising  and 
agriculture  are  important  in  surrounding  areas. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

The  SANTA  BARBARA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  Ana- 
pamu  and  Anacapa  Sts.,  is  a  rambling,  white  stucco  structure  with 
wide  arches  and  towers,  resembling  the  palace  of  a  Spanish  prelate. 
The  assembly  room  (open  g-$  weekdays}  on  the  second  floor  has  murals 
by  Dan  Sayre  Groesbeck  portraying  the  arrival  of  Cabrillo,  the  build- 
ing of  the  mission,  and  the  coming  of  the  American  troops. 

The  MUSEUM  OF  THE  SANTA  BARBARA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
(open  2-4  Mon.),  at  the  top  of  the  circular  staircase,  contains  Indian 
relics,  saddles,  branding  irons,  and  the  like,  and  the  canon  perdido 
(lost  cannon),  which  was  cast  ashore  on  the  wreckage  of  the  American 
brig  Elizabeth,  lost  off  the  coast  of  Santa  Barbara  during  the  winter 
of  1847-48.  The  12-pound  brass  cannon  was  found  by  a  group  of 
native  Californians,  who  hid  it  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Canon 
Perdido  Street.  Fearing  that  the  natives  might  use  the  gun  against 
the  Americans,  Governor  Mason  levied  a  fine  of  $500  on  the  town 
of  Santa  Barbara,  and  sent  soldiers  from  Los  Angeles  to  collect  it. 
Tradition  relates  that  the  State  returned  the  money  to  the  town  to 
build  a  jail.  Local  officials,  dissatified  with  the  amount,  sought  to 
increase  it  to  $1,000  by  staking  it  in  a  game  of  Yankee  poker.  They 
lost  the  whole  $500,  and  shamefacedly  gave  up  their  plan  for  a  jailhouse. 

The  CARRILLO  ADOBE,  15  E.  Carrillo  St.,  the  old  Joaquin 
Carrillo  House,  is  occupied  by  the  Santa  Barbara  Foundation  and  an 
antique  shop.  Little  of  the  original  structure  remains,  but  the  restored 
patio  is  notable.  This  house  belonged  a  century  ago  to  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  families  of  the  region.  Leo  Carrillo,  actor  of  Spanish  and 
Mexican  roles  in  motion  pictures,  is  a  descendant. 

LOBERO  THEATER,  33  E.  Canon  Perdido  St.,  a  commercial 
playhouse  presenting  foreign  films,  legitimate  drama  and  concerts,  occa- 
sionally stages  amateur  community  plays,  as  it  did  exclusively  before 
1937.  The  original  Lobero  Theater  was  built  in  1872  by  Jose  Lobero, 
an  Italian  who  opened  a  saloon  in  Santa  Barbara  in  the  sixties  and 
made  the  fortune  he  later  lost  in  sponsoring  local-talent  orchestras 
and  grand  operas.  In  1924  the  original  adobe  buildings  were  torn 
down  and  the  present  structure  erected  by  the  Community  Arts  Asso- 
ciation. 


3O8         CALIFORNIA 

EL  PASEO  DE  LA  GUERRA,  15  E.  De  la  Guerra  St.,  called 
the  historical  center  of  Santa  Barbara,  is  built  around  the  house  of 
Don  Jose  de  la  Guerra,  comandante  of  the  presidio  a  century  ago. 
Courtyards  and  passageways  simulating  streets  in  old  Spain,  with 
small  shops  and  a  restaurant  opening  into  them,  have  been  built  around 
the  original  adobe.  Another  notable  house  on  this  street  is  29  E.  de  la 
Guerra. 

The  COVARRUBIAS  ADOBE,  715  Santa  Barbara  St.,  built 
about  1817,  and  still  in  excellent  repair,  is  a  notable  example  of 
Spanish-Colonial  architecture. 

The  YACHT  HARBOR,  bordering  W.  Cabrillo  Blvd.  SW.  from 
the  foot  of  State  St.,  is  a  placid  92-acre  shelter  for  transient  and  resi- 
dent craft,  protected  by  an  L-shaped  breakwater  2,364  feet  long.  The 
municipal  West  Beach,  also  protected  by  the  breakwater,  attracts  sum- 
mer bathers  to  its  restrained  surf. 

ANDREE  CLARK  BIRD  REFUGE  (open  9-5  weekdays},  E. 
end  of  E.  Cabrillo  Blvd.,  is  a  landscaped  preserve  of  49^  acres  with  an 
island-dotted  lake  in  the  center,  where  geese,  swan,  and  other  wild 
fowl  live;  the  land  was  reclaimed  from  a  swamp  and  is  maintained 
by  the  city.  There  are  bridle  paths  among  the  trees,  and  a  large 
parking  space  on  the  east  shore. 

SANTA  BARBARA  COUNTY  BOWL,  E.  end  of  E.  Anapamu 
St.,  completed  in  1937,  is  a  45OOO-seat  amphitheater  where  a  historical 
play  is  produced  annually,  as  part  of  the  city's  "Old  Spanish  Days" 
festival.  Its  large  revolving  stage — 75  by  40  feet — holds  two  sets  at 
once.  Cut  stone  seats  follow  the  natural  contour  of  the  canyon  in  which 
the  bowl  is  built.  The  bowl  is  also  used  for  concerts  and  other  pro- 
grams. 

SANTA  BARBARA  STATE  COLLEGE,  1920  Lasuen  Rd.,  a 
small  group  of  concrete  buildings  of  Eastern  Mediterranean  architecture 
standing  on  an  i8-acre  hillside  campus  overlooking  the  city  and  the 
sea,  has  a  four-year  teacher  training  course  and  uses  the  city  schools 
as  a  laboratory  for  directed  teaching.  A  new  66-acre  site  on  Cliff  Drive 
along  the  mesa  is  being  developed  as  the  future  home  of  the  college. 

It  was  founded  in  1909  by  Ednah  Rich  Morse  as  a  State  normal 
school  of  manual  arts  and  home  economics.  The  LIBRARY  of  30,000 
volumes  contains  the  7,ooo-volume  William  Wyles  collection  of  Lin- 
colniana  and  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  treatises. 

SANTA  BARBARA  MISSION  (open  8-5  weekdays,  11-5  Sun.}, 
Los  Olivos  St.  between  Garden  and  Laguna  Sts.,  called  Queen  of  the 
Missions  in  the  days  when  it  was  rich  and  powerful,  is  the  best  pre- 
served and  architecturally  one  of  the  finest  missions.  A  blending  of 
old  Spanish  and  Moorish  architecture,  it  was  constructed  in  1815  by 
the  padres,  using  Canalino  Indian  labor,  to  replace  the  building  de- 
stroyed in  the  1812  earthquake.  The  original  mission  chapel  was 
made  of  boughs  in  1786.  Damage  to  mission  buildings  by  the  1925 
earthquake  was  promptly  repaired. 

The  church,   designed   by   Padre   Riptoll,   is  constructed   of   native 


SANTA     BARBARA        3OQ 

sandstone,  painted  ivory.  It  is  rectangular  in  plan  with  massive  square 
front  towers  of  solid  masonry  and  arcaded  and  domed  belfries.  The 
towers  are  flanked  by  heavy  buttresses.  The  design  of  the  classic  facade, 
with  its  engaged  columns  of  modified  Ionic  order,  its  dentiled  cornice 
and  frieze  adorned  with  a  heavy  fret  motif  and  its  crowning  pediment, 
is  based  upon  the  detail  of  a  plate  of  the  classic  orders,  appearing  in  a 
Spanish  volume  of  Vitruvius,  still  in  the  Mission  library.  In  the 
tympanum  of  the  pediment  is  a  niched  figure  of  Saint  Barbara.  Sur- 
mounting the  pediment  are  three  seated  figures  and  a  stepped  gable 
cresting  topped  with  a  cross. 

Across  the  entire  width  of  the  facade  is  a  traditional  broad-stepped 
platform.  The  deeply  recessed  arched  entrance  with  its  simple  classic 
trim  has  double  paneled  doors.  Above  the  entrance  is  a  circular  "rose" 
window  with  deep  splayed  reveal.  At  the  left  is  the  long,  low  arcaded 
mission  house  with  red-tile  roof,  enclosing  one  side  of  the  rear  patio. 

The  interior  of  the  long  narrow  nave  is  lighted  by  small  splayed 
windows  in  the  side  walls.  It  is  finished  in  plaster  with  Ionic  pilasters 
painted  in  imitation  of  veined  marble  rising  in  support  of  a  painted 
dentil  cornice  and  has  a  flat  wooden  ceiling,  embellished  with  painted 
and  carved  rosettes.  The  structural  roof  timbers  are  concealed. 

At  the  left  of  the  entrance  is  a  door  leading  to  the  Mission  House 
and  a  spiral  stairway  in  the  left  tower.  The  walls  of  the  nave  are 
flanked  by  side  altars  with  religious  paintings  above.  In  the  first  bay, 
left  and  right,  are  chapels,  recessed  in  the  deep  side  walls.  The  main 
altar  is  screened  by  a  painted  and  paneled  reredos,  adorned  with  Roman 
Doric  columns,  painted  floral  festoons  and  figures.  On  the  Epistle 
side  of  the  main  altar  is  the  tomb  of  Father  Francisco  Garcia  Diego  y 
Moreno,  first  Bishop  of  California,  flanked  by  Ionic  columns  and  topped 
with  a  pediment.  A  doorway  to  the  left  of  the  sanctuary  leads  to  the 
sacristy  and  the  choir  room.  The  stations  of  the  cross  were  brought 
from  Mexico  in  1797. 

Two  small  side  doors  near  the  center  of  the  nave  lead  to  the  patio 
or  Monks  Garden,  on  the  left,  and  the  Mission  Cemetery  on  the  right. 
The  patio  is  landscaped  with  trees,  flower  beds,  and  radiating  walks 
around  a  central  well.  Two  sides  are  enclosed  by  the  rooms  and 
arcaded  corridors  of  the  Mission  House.  Especially  notable  are  the 
deeply  recessed  windows  with  their  turned  wooden  grilles  and  the 
unstilted  arches  of  the  arcades,  supported  by  heavy  square  piers. 

This  is  the  only  California  mission  in  which  the  altar  light  has 
not  been  extinguished  since  the  founding.  Bodies  of  Franciscan  friars 
are  interred  in  crypts  set  in  the  thick  walls  of  the  building,  and  4,000 
Indians  are  buried  in  trenches  across  the  garden.  Art  and  relics  of 
the  Canalino  tribe  are  exhibited  in  the  curio  rooms.  The  mission  has 
old  paintings,  creased  in  their  journey  from  Spain  and  the  pack-trip 
across  Mexico,  and  a  copy  of  Murillo's  Assumption  of  the  Virgin, 
which  research  may  prove  an  original. 

The  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY  (open  9-5  week- 
days, 10-5  Sun.),  Puesta  del  Sol  Road  and  Mission  Creek,  its  one-story 


3IO        CALIFORNIA 

stucco  Spanish-Colonial  type  buildings  grouped  upon  two  acres  of 
sycamore  and  live-oak  studded  grounds,  has  pavilions  with  permanent 
exhibitions  of  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  region,  natural  habitat  groups 
of  animals  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  artifacts  of  the  Hunting  People 
and  the  Oak  Grove  and  Canalino  Indians,  and  a  library  on  natural 
science.  Lectures  and  motion  pictures  on  natural  science  are  presented 
in  a  4io-seat  auditorium. 

The  museum,  maintained  by  gifts,  endowments  and  memberships, 
publishes  pamphlets  on  natural  history  and  geology,  gives  special  classes 
four  afternoons  a  week  and  broadcasts  over  KTMS  on  Friday  after- 
noons during  the  winter. 

BLAKSLEY  BOTANIC  GARDEN  (open  9-5  weekdays,  10-5 
Sun.),  1289  Mission  Canyon  Rd.,  is  a  3<>acre  creekside  tract  planted 
with  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers  indigenous  to  California.  Specimens 
are  labeled  and  arranged  in  ten  sections  to  show  characteristic  flora 
of  the  desert,  foothill,  canyon,  waterside  and  other  plant  associations. 
Literature  on  plants  and  birds  in  the  garden  is  available  near  the  en- 
trance. Experimental  culture  here  has  added  to  existing  knowledge 
on  the  habits  of  native  plants  and  their  adaptability  to  home-gardening. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  ENVIRONS 

Mission   San  Buenaventura,  27.9   m.;  Mission   Santa  Ynez,   45   m.    (see 
TOUR2c}. 


x&zzz&x^^^ 


Stockton 


Railroad  Stations:     E.   Weber  Ave.   and   Sacramento   St.  for   Southern   Pacific 

R.R. ;   San  Joaquin  and  Taylor  Sts.  for  Santa  Fe  R.R.;   Main  and  Union  Sts. 

for  Western  Pacific  R.R. 

Bus  Stations:     227  N.  Hunter  St.  for  Pacific  Greyhound;  27  E.  Weber  Ave.  for 

Byron  and  Brentwood ;  245  N.  Hunter  St.  for  River  Auto  Stages. 

Airport:     Stockton  Airport,  5  m.  SE.  on  Sharp's  Lane,  private  planes  only. 

Streetcars:     Fare  7$,  4  tokens  for  25$;  free  transfers. 

Accommodations:    88  hotels;  4  tourist  camps. 

Information  Service:  California  State  Auto  Assn.  (AAA),  929  N.  El  Dorado 
St.;  Chamber  of  Commerce,  234  N.  El  Dorado  St. 

Radio  Stations:    KGDM  (noo  kc.)  ;  KWG  (1200  kc.). 

Motion  Picture  Houses:     Seven. 

Golf:     Stockton  Municipal  Golf  Course,  7th  St.  and  Sharp  Lane.     9  holes;  50^, 

75$  Sat.  and  Sun.;  monthly  tickets  $3;  children  25^  weekdays. 

Tennis:     10  municipal  courts,  Oak  Park,  Victory  Park,  Municipal  Baths,  Arbor 

Park;  all  free. 

Swimming  Pools:    Stockton  Municipal  Baths,  S.  end  of  S.  San  Joaquin  St.;  open 

9-5,  20$,  children  10^,  suit  and  towel   10$;  American  Legion  Park  Lake,   1400 

N.  Baker  St.,  free;  lifeguards  in  summer. 

Riding:      Bridle    paths    around    Municipal    Golf    Course    and    in   Louis    Park; 

horses  75$  an  hour. 

Annual  Events:  Concerts  by  Stockton  Symphony  Orchestra,  winter;  Port  Stock- 
ton Regatta  and  Water  Carnival,  May  30  and  31;  San  Joaquin  County  Fair, 
last  full  week  of  Aug. 

STOCKTON  (23  alt.,  47,963  pop.),  at  the  head  of  tidewaters  on 
the  San  Joaquin  River,  has  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  coastal 
city.  Its  northernmost  section,  campus  of  the  College  of  the  Pacific, 
borders  the  Calaveras  River,  which  flows  into  the  San  Joaquin  on  the 
west.  The  Stockton  Channel  extends  eastward  from  the  San  Joaquin, 
cutting  through  the  city  and  stopping  at  its  center.  Other  waterways 
wind  in  and  around  the  city,  among  them  the  Mormon  Channel, 
through  the  southern  part  of  Stockton. 

The  32-foot  Stockton  Channel — nucleus  of  the  Port  of  Stockton — 
is  the  shipping  point  for  agricultural  products  of  the  fertile  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  A  flotilla  of  barges  and  launches,  the  "Mosquito  Fleet,"  goes 
out  from  here,  carrying  to  market  the  rich  produce  of  the  netherlands 
farms;  huge  ocean-going  freighters  ply  the  river  from  Stockton  to 
San  Francisco.  The  Port  is  the  outstanding  commercial  feature  of  the 
city,  and  warehouses,  factories,  and  mills  line  the  Channel. 

The  business  district  radiates  from  Courthouse  Plaza,  Weber  Ave- 
nue and  Hunter  Street.  The  tall  office  buildings,  modern  shops,  metro- 


312         CALIFORNIA 

politan  stores,  and  Civic  Center  reflect  the  new  Stockton,  starting 
point  for  trips  to  such  places  as  the  Bret  Harte  country,  Lake  Tahoe, 
and  Yosemite  Valley,  while  only  a  few  blocks  west,  along  Main  and 
El  Dorado  Streets,  stand  the  aged  landmarks  of  the  pioneer  days,  when 
Stockton  was  a  wide-open  gold  rush  town,  the  jumping  off  place  for  the 
Mother  Lode  country.  Twenty-six  tracts  are  set  aside  as  parks,  play- 
grounds, and  squares,  including  Victory  Park,  a  27^-acre  landscaped 
area  in  the  heart  of  the  northwest  residence  district. 

Ten  per  cent  of  Stockton's  population  is  Mexican.  It  is  also  a 
center  for  Basque  sheepherders.  There  are  many  Basque  restaurants, 
where  wine  is  poured  Basque  fashion  in  a  stream  from  the  leather  flask 
into  the  drinker's  open  mouth.  There  was  at  one  time  a  considerable 
number  of  Hindus  in  California's  Central  Valley,  brought  into  the 
State  for  their  knowledge  of  irrigation;  in  recent  years  many  of  them 
have  returned  to  India  with  money  they  managed  to  accumulate. 
Bearded,  turbanned  Sikhs,  grave  and  dignified,  may  still,  however, 
occasionally  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Stockton. 

Capt.  Charles  M.  Weber,  a  native  of  Germany  who  came  to  Cali- 
fornia with  the  Bidwell-Bartellson  party  in  1841,  is  generally  recognized 
as  the  founder  of  Stockton.  Weber  first  settled  in  San  Jose,  where  he 
met  William  Gulnac,  a  naturalized  Mexican  citizen.  The  two  men 
formed  a  partnership  to  establish  a  colony  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley: 
and  to  this  end  Gulnac  obtained  a  tract  from  the  Mexican  government, 
about  50,000  acres,  including  the  site  of  Stockton.  Gulnac  led  the 
first  group  of  settlers  to  the  area,  which  they  called  El  Campo  de  los 
Francesces  (Sp.  French  Camp),  but  in  1845  he  became  discouraged  and 
sold  out  to  Weber  for  a  $60  grocery  bill. 

Weber  remained  in  San  Jose,  though  in  1847  ne  founded  the  town 
of  Tuleburg  on  the  site  of  the  present  levee  of  that  name.  He  built 
corrals,  planted  wheat,  and  set  up  houses  for  ranchers.  After  discovery 
of  gold  in  1848,  Weber  moved  to  Tuleburg,  which  he  planned  to  pro- 
mote as  a  supply  post  for  miners.  He  surveyed  the  town  in  1849, 
renaming  it  Stockton  for  his  friend  Commodore  Robert  Stockton. 

The  Gold  Rush  took  Stockton  by  storm.  Bayard  Taylor,  noted 
author  and  traveler,  found  it  in  1849  "a  canvas  town  of  a  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  a  port  with  twenty-five  vessels  at  anchor !  The  mingled 
noises  of  labor  around — the  click  of  hammers  and  the  grating  of  saws 
— the  shouts  of  mule  drivers — the  jingling  of  spurs — the  jar  and  jostle 
of  wares  in  the  tents — almost  cheated  me  into  the  belief  that  it  was 
some  old  commercial  mart.  .  .  .  Four  months  had  sufficed  to  make 
the  place  what  it  was."  One  of  a  dozen  new  wholesale  firms  already 
had  done  $100,000  worth  of  business.  A  lot  80  by  100  feet  sold  for 
$6,000;  a  common,  one-story  clapboard  house  cost  $15,000  to  build. 

In  1850  Stockton  became  the  county  seat,  and  within  three  years 
the  population  grew  from  a  few  hundred  to  5,000.  Between  the  time 
he  became  an  outlaw  in  1851  and  his  death  in  1853,  the  Mexican 
bandit  Joaquin  Murrieta  ranged  as  far  north  as  Stockton.  On  one 
occasion  he  rode  into  town,  noticed  a  sign  offering  a  reward  for  his 


STOCKTON        313 

capture,  wrote  underneath  it  "I  will  give  $10,000 — Joaquin!"  then 
galloped  off  through  the  crowd,  unmolested.  An  incendiary  fire  in 
1851  destroyed  many  structures,  as  a  result  of  which  Stockton  has 
few  historic  landmarks. 

The  settlers  of  Stockton  built  churches  and  schools  as  early  as 
1850,  despite  the  gold  rush.  The  introduction  of  irrigation  after  the 
i86o's  and  the  decline  of  the  gold  mines  turned  attention  once  again 
towards  agriculture.  Grain  poured  into  the  city's  warehouses  to  await 
shipment  by  the  railroad  which  first  reached  the  city  in  1869.  This 
increased  the  demand  for  farm  implements,  and  Stockton  began  pro- 
duction of  tractors,  harvesters,  and  other  farm  machinery.  The  cater- 
pillar tractor,  first  machine  to  use  the  track-laying  traction  principle, 
originated  in  Stockton;  the  device  employed  in  these  tractors  was  later 
applied  in  the  development  of  the  military  tank,  first  used  in  the 
World  War. 

The  Deep  Water  Project,  an  $8,000,000  harbor  development,  be- 
gun in  1928,  has  provided  18  miles  of  water  front,  with  24  miles  of 
undeveloped  frontage  along  the  various  side  channels.  The  channel 
is  now  navigable  for  90  per  cent  of  all  ocean-going  vessels,  permitting 
the  shipment  of  Stockton's  wide  variety  of  manufactures — paper  and 
cedar  products,  motorboats,  road-building  and  farm  machinery,  canned 
goods,  flour  and  feeds,  and  bricks. 

In  June  1934  the  last  of  the  Pony  Express  riders,  William  Camp- 
bell, died  at  Stockton.  He  was  on  the  95-mile  run  from  Fort  Kearney 
to  Fort  McPherson.  Chased  once  for  miles  by  a  pack  of  wolves,  on  his 
return  he  left  a  poisoned  ox  on  the  trail  for  their  benefit.  His  reward 
was  a  dozen  dead  wolves  whose  hides  brought  $50. 

POINTS  OF  INTEREST 

SAN  JOAQUIN  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  Main  and 
Hunter  Sts.,  designed  in  1890  by  E.  E.  Myers  &  Son  of  Detroit,  is  built 
in  classic  style,  with  a  lofty,  gilded  dome  bearing  a  figure  of  justice. 

The  two-story  brick  SIKH  TEMPLE  (open),  1930  S.  Grant  St., 
is  said  to  be  the  only  temple  of  this  sect  in  the  United  States.  The 
building  has  high  stained-glass  windows  and  an  ornate  mosaic  entrance 
framed  by  a  horseshoe  of  electric  lights.  The  first  floor  contains  a 
library  and  a  meeting  room.  Visitors  must  take  off  their  shoes  and 
leave  them  on  the  veranda  before  entering  the  temple  proper,  which 
occupies  the  entire  second  floor.  There  are  no  chairs,  and  the  floor  is 
carpeted  with  green  velvet.  Among  its  possessions  is  a  fine  portrait 
of  Guru  Nanak,  born  in  1469,  founder  of  the  Sikh  religion,  a  dissent- 
ing sect  from  Brahmanical  Hinduism.  The  Guru  Sacred  Book 
(Grant h  Sahib)  is  covered  with  rich  silk  draperies  from  India.  Sikhism 
combines  the  teachings  of  Hinduism  and  the  Persian  Sufis;  it  rejects 
caste  and  practices  purity  of  life  and  toleration. 

The  FORTY-NINE  DRUGSTORE,  Main  and  El  Dorado  Sts., 
a  two-story  building  of  gray  stone  with  gingerbread  trim,  has  been 


3H        CALIFORNIA 

used  continuously  for  the  same  purpose  since  1850,  when  E.  S.  Holden 
built  it  and  opened  Stockton's  first  pharmacy.  The  main  room,  with 
its  vaulted  ceilings,  is  the  same  one  in  which  bearded  miners  of  the  boom 
days  purchased  their  medicines. 

Another  landmark  of  the  middle  iSso's  is  the  ODD  FELLOWS 
HALL,  17  El  Dorado  St.,  a  two-story  brick  building,  once  fraternal 
headquarters  for  lusty  miners  on  holiday  from  the  gold  fields.  It  now 
has  a  fish  market  on  the  lower  floor,  and  a  twenty-cents-a-night  hotel 
on  the  second. 

The  SITE  OF  WEBER'S  HOUSE  is  on  the  S.  side  of  the  Chan- 
nel at  Center  St.  Weber  first  lived  in  an  adobe  hut  surrounded  by 
a  stockade  and  a  ditch.  In  1850  or  1851,  he  brought  his  bride  to 
Tuleburg,  and  built  a  two-story  frame  house  adjacent  to  his  adobe. 
The  house,  constructed  of  lumber  shipped  around  the  Horn,  and  sur- 
rounded by  spacious  gardens,  was  destroyed  by  fire  shortly  after  Weber's 
death  in  1881. 

CITY  HALL,  El  Dorado  and  Lindsay  Sts.,  is  a  stone  structure  of 
modern  design.  This  site  is  called  Lindsay's  Point  for  Thomas  Lindsay, 
one  of  the  company  that  came  here  in  1844  under  the  leadership  of 
Gulnac.  The  tule  hut  Lindsay  erected  on  the  point  just  back  of  the 
City  Hall  was  the  first  house  built  by  a  white  man  within  the  city 
limits.  A  smallpox  scare  drove  out  most  of  the  settlers  soon  after  their 
arrival,  and  in  the  spring  of  1845  a  band  of  Indians  killed  Lindsay, 
set  fire  to  his  hut,  and  drove  off  the  cattle.  He  is  buried  on  the  Point. 

The  HAGGIN  MEMORIAL  GALLERY  AND  PIONEER 
HISTORICAL  MUSEUM  (open  1:30-5  daily  except  Man.;  free), 
Magnolia  St.  and  Pershing  Ave.,  was  given  to  the  city  by  Louis  Terah 
Haggin,  who  had  immense  holdings  of  land  and  dominated  stock  rais- 
ing in  pioneer  days.  Haggin,  of  Turkish  descent,  was  an  art  collector 
and  his  collection  of  300  nineteenth  century  European  and  American 
paintings  forms  the  nucleus  of  the  gallery.  There  are  also  on  exhibit 
numerous  relics  of  early  California,  among  them  the  weapons  of  a  party 
that  came  over  the  Oregon  Trail,  old  wagons,  fire  engines,  porcelains 
and  silverware. 

The  COLLEGE  OF  THE  PACIFIC,  Pacific  Ave.  and  Stadium 
Drive,  oldest  incorporated  educational  institution  in  California,  is  con- 
ducted by  the  Methodist  Church  on  an  interdenominational  basis.  The 
school  has  a  student  body  of  about  450.  The  1 1  buildings  on  the 
5O-acre  campus  are  in  English  Gothic  style,  of  red  brick  with  light  stone 
trim.  WEBER  MEMORIAL  HALL,  honoring  the  founder  of  Stockton, 
stands  near  the  Pacific  Avenue  entrance  to  the  campus.  It  houses  the 
school  auditorium  and  the  College  of  Pacific  Little  Theater.  For  its 
first  20  years  (1851-1871)  the  college  was  in  Santa  Clara,  having  been 
founded  there  by  Isaac  Owen,  the  first  Methodist  minister  in  California. 
It  was  moved  to  San  Jose  in  the  1870*8,  and  since  1924  has  been  in 
Stockton. 


<<&&&x&z&&&&^^^ 

PART  III 
Up  and  Down  the  State 


Tour  i 


Westport — Fort  Bragg — Point  Arena — San  Francisco — Santa  Cruz — 
Monterey — Carmel — San  Simeon — Morro  Bay — San  Luis  Obispo — 
Las  Cruces;  554.5  m.  State  I. 

Roadbed   paved   except   for   stretches   between   Pismo   Beach    and   Las    Cruces, 

winding  continuously,  with  frequent  sharp  turns;  occasional  slides  during  rainy 

season. 

Southern  Pacific  Lines   parallel   route   between   Davenport   and  Pacific   Grove. 

Accommodations  limited  except  in  larger  towns. 

State  I  skirts  closely  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  It  swings  outward 
around  headlands  and  inland  past  sandy-edged  coves  in  a  succession  of 
hairpin  curves;  it  climbs  barren  slopes  and  dips  into  brush-choked 
ravines.  At  times  it  edges  along  sheer  bluffs  high  above  the  surf.  East- 
ward, wind-swept  hills,  wooded  only  in  patches,  rise  to  the  timbered 
crests  of  the  Coast  Range.  After  the  first  rains  these  hills  are  briefly 
green;  at  other  times  their  slopes  are  brown  with  dried  grass,  close- 
cropped  by  grazing  sheep. 

Walled  off  by  mountains,  the  narrow  coastal  shelf  is  sparsely  settled 
except  around  San  Francisco  and  Monterey  Bays.  The  half-primitive 
ways  of  the  seventies  and  eighties,  when  lumbering,  fishing,  and  sheep 
raising  flourished,  linger  on  in  the  isolated  villages  and  farms.  The 
region  now  affords  only  a  meager  living  to  its  hard-working  inhabitants. 
Along  the  northern  section,  where  redwoods  grow  down  to  the  sea  in 
forest-choked  ravines,  the  lumber  towns  at  the  mouths  of  rivers,  once 
shipping  points  for  logs  hauled  by  narrow-gage  railways  from  the  for- 
ested hinterland,  are  sinking  into  decay  beside  abandoned  mills. 

Fishing  is  still  a  gainful  pursuit  at  such  points  as  Noyo,  Tomales 
Bay,  Monterey,  and  Half  Moon  Bay.  Flocks  of  sheep  roam  over  the 


3l8        CALIFORNIA 

hills  up  and  down  the  coast  and  great  herds  of  dairy  cattle  over  the 
knolls  and  hollows  around  Tomales  Bay.  Berries  and  peas  are  grown 
around  Fort  Bragg;  Brussels  sprouts  and  artichokes,  in  the  foggy  strip 
near  Half  Moon  Bay;  and  apples  in  the  Pajaro  Valley;  but  most  of 
the  country  is  too  rough,  too  bleak  for  farming.  The  occasional 
weather-beaten  farm  buildings  huddle  behind  ragged,  protective  files  of 
wind-battered  cypress  or  eucalyptus  trees. 

The  coastal  strip  between  the  mouth  of  the  Russian  River  and  Big 
Sur  attracts  increasing  numbers  of  vacationers  every  year.  It  is  a 
picturesque  stretch,  indented  with  rocky,  islet-studded  coves  where 
crescent-shaped  beaches  of  white  sand  lie  between  bold  promontories. 
Along  the  highway  in  this  area  are  a  succession  of  resort  towns  and 
camps  that  offer  bathing  and  fishing  in  the  surf,  clam  and  abalone  hunt- 
ing along  the  shore,  and  riding  and  hiking  in  the  forested  hinterland. 

Section  a.    WESTPORT  to  SAN  FRANCISCO;  2054   m. 

On  the  maps  the  northern  end  of  State  I  is  extended  to  a  junction 
with  US  101  not  far  south  of  Eureka,  with  feeders  from  US  101  north 
of  Westport;  but  these  connections  are  barely  passable  even  in  good 
weather. 

WESTPORT,  0  m.  (50  alt.,  200  pop.),  a  rambling  settlement  of 
frame  houses  with  rickety  picket  fences,  perched  on  bare  bluffs.  First 
named  Beal's  Landing  for  Lloyd  Beal,  who  arrived  in  1864,  the  town 
was  renamed  Westport  at  the  instigation  of  James  T.  Rogers,  a  native 
of  Eastport,  Maine.  After  construction  of  two  wharves  in  1878,  it 
became  for  a  while  an  important  lumber-shipping  point. 

North  from  Westport  on  a  poor  road  (the  sketchy  continuation  of  State 
i),  past  ROCKPORT,  11.5  m.,  a  small  lumber  camp  with  bleak,  weather- 
beaten  shacks,  to  the  junction  with  a  narrow,  ungraded  dirt  road,  14.5  m. 
Right  here,  up  a  long,  steep  forested  grade  to  a  summit,  25.5  m.,  then 
downward  to  a  junction  with  US  101,  30.1  m.  (see  TOUR  2a). 

South  of  Westport  State  I  winds  over  close-cropped  pasture  lands 
sloping  to  the  sea.  Crossing  the  marshy  bottoms  of  sluggish  Ten  Mile 
River,  7.8  m.,  it  strikes  through  an  eerie  wilderness  of  storm-blasted 
pine  and  cypress  groves,  edged  at  intervals  by  sand  dunes.  Patches  of 
farm  land  and  orchard,  crisscrossed  by  files  of  cypress  windbreaks,  hedge 
the  road. 

FORT  BRAGG,  16.2  m.  (60  alt.,  3,022  pop.),  spreads  over  a  slop- 
ing coastal  shelf  to  the  edge  of  a  wild  and  rocky  coast  line.  A  settle- 
ment of  wooden  buildings — false-front  stores,  steepled  churches,  and 
gabled  frame  houses  in  fenced  yards — it  has  a  weather-worn,  settled  air. 
Fort  Bragg's  chief  stock  in  trade  is  lumber,  but  it  also  ships  farm  and 
truck-garden  crops  (especially  berries),  poultry  and  dairy  products,  and 
fish.  Its  racial  make-up  is  mixed:  Finns  and  Swedes  predominate;  after 
them,  Germans  and  Italians. 

In  June  1857  Lt.  Horatio  Gates  Gibson  was  ordered  to  establish  a 
military  post  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Mendocino  Indian  Reserva- 


TOUR     I        319 

tion.  The  fort  he  set  up  here  and  named  for  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg  of 
Mexican  War  fame  covered  a  lO-acre  clearing.  The  land  was  thrown 
open  for  purchase  in  1867,  when  the  reservation  was  abandoned,  and  a 
lumber  town  grew  up.  It  was  damaged  by  the  earthquake  of  April  18, 
1906,  but  rebuilt  at  once. 

The  heart  of  the  town's  industrial  life  is  the  UNION  LUMBER  COM- 
PANY PLANT,  a  large  redwood  sawmill  with  a  capacity  of  350,000  to 
400,000  board  feet  a  day.  Its  red-painted  mill  buildings,  lumberyards, 
and  log  pond  lie  along  the  railroad  yards  at  the  edge  of  the  rocky  bluffs. 
The  UNION  LUMBER  COMPANY  REFORESTATION  AND  ORNAMENTAL 
NURSERY  (open  workdays  8-5),  on  Main  Street  (R)  near  the  southern 
outskirts,  established  in  1922,  raises  redwood  and  other  seedlings  for 
systematic  reforestation  of  cutover  lands. 

NOYO  (boats  for  ocean  fishing  rented},  17.9  m.  (sea  level,  93 
pop.),  lies  at  the  mouth  of  placid,  winding  Noyo  River,  crowded  with 
small  fishing  craft  tied  up  alongside  tumble-down  warehouses.  Noyo 
was  the  name  given  by  Northern  Porno  Indians  to  their  village  at  the 
river's  mouth.  The  village  escaped  the  fate  of  most  former  lumber 
towns  along  the  Mendocino  coast  by  turning  to  fishing  for  a  living. 
Settled  largely  by  Italian  fishermen,  it  is  now  the  center  of  the  area's 
commercial  fishing  industry.  It  has  fish-canning  and  drying  plants  and 
a  deep-water  harbor  protected  by  a  breakwater. 

CASPAR,  22.3  m.  (52  alt.,  250  pop.),  on  the  edge  of  high  bluffs  at 
the  mouth  of  Caspar  Creek,  is  a  collection  of  old  frame  houses  amid 
weed-grown  vacant  spaces,  dirt  paths,  and  picket  fences.  The  lumber 
mill  beside  the  log  pond  and  chute,  occasionally  operated,  was  built  in 
1861. 

At  25.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.3  m.  to  RUSSIAN  GULCH  STATE  PARK  HEAD- 
QUARTERS (camping  50$  per  car  a  day,  picnicking  25$  per  car  a  day}. 
The  park  contains  more  than  1,000  acres  of  second-growth  redwood.  Along 
the  fern-banked  canyon  bottom,  deep  among  redwoods,  alders,  and  Douglas 
fir,  are  scattered  camp  sites  and  picnic  grounds. 

MENDOCINO,  27.3  m.  (41  alt.,  500  pop.),  ranges  over  the  north- 
ern shore  of  a  half-moon-shaped  bay  at  the  mouth  of  Big  River — a 
jumble  of  weathered,  gabled  wooden  buildings  fronting  dirt  streets, 
edged  by  the  gloomy  pine  woods  of  encircling  hills.  It  was  named  for 
Cape  Mendocino,  which  Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo  discovered  in  1542 
and  named  for  Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  first  viceroy  of  New  Spain 
(Mexico). 

Intermittent  lumbering  provides  Mendocino's  main  support.  A  party 
sent  out  from  Bodega  in  1851  to  salvage  tea  and  silk  from  a  vessel 
wrecked  nearby  carried  back  information  of  the  country's  rich  timber 
resources  to  Alderman  Harry  Meiggs  of  San  Francisco,  lumberman 
and  mill  owner.  On  July  19,  1852,  the  brig  Ontario,  chartered  by 
Meiggs,  arrived  with  sawmill  machinery  imported  from  the  East. 
Meiggs,  finding  that  one  William  Kasten  had  staked  out  a  claim  to  the 


J2O        CALIFORNIA 

water-front,  purchased  the  claim  with  the  first  lumber  from  his  sawmill 
— the  first  on  the  Mendocino  coast — as  part  payment. 

The  architecture  of  Mendocino's  well-preserved  buildings  (there  has 
been  only  one  serious  fire)  reflects  the  New  England  origin  of  most  of 
its  early  settlers.  Notable  remnant  of  a  bygone  era  is  the  MASONIC 
HALL  (R),  on  Main  Street.  A  buff-colored,  gable-roofed  structure, 
the  hall  bears  on  its  cupola  a  piece  of  sculpture  carved  from  a  single 
block  of  redwood.  It  represents  the  Masonic  emblem  and  the  symbolic 
figures  of  Masonic  lore:  the  broken  pillar,  the  maiden  beside  it  with 
a  sprig  in  her  hand,  and  Father  Time  dallying  with  her  wavy  locks. 

At  30.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  graveled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.3  m.  to  VAN  DAMME  BEACH  STATE  PARK 
HEADQUARTERS  (camping  and  picnicking  fees  as  at  Russian  Gulch). 
This  i,8oo-acre  tract  fronting  a  lagoon  with  a  sloping  bathing  beach 
stretches  4  miles  up  the  forested  canyon  of  the  Little  River.  The  chief 
attraction  for  visitors  is  the  fishing:  trout  are  caught  in  the  Little  River; 
red,  blue,  and  China  cod  in  the  surf;  leaf  cod  and  salmon  in  the  bay. 

ALBION,  34.3  m.  (37  alt.,  75  pop.),  a  village  of  brightly  painted, 
shingle-roofed  cottages,  overlooks  the  cove  at  the  mouth  of  the  Albion 
River,  where  an  abandoned  lumber  mill  decays  amid  half-ruined  com- 
pany shacks.  A  sawmill  was  erected  here  in  1852-53  and  operated  until 
1928.  Today  the  inhabitants  subsist  chiefly  by  fishing  and  berry  picking. 

At  38.6  m.,  in  a  deep  valley  where  the  broad  Navarro  River  winds 
over  marshy  bottoms  and  through  a  sand  bar  into  the  sea,  is  the  junction 
with  paved  State  28. 

Left  on  State  28,  which  runs  along  the  riverbank,  shadowed  by  a  forest 
of  second-growth  redwood,  8.4  m.  to  DIMMICK  MEMORIAL  PARK  (pic- 
nicking), a  i2-acre  reserve.  The  Navarro  River  offers  fine  swimming,  and 
is  one  of  the  best  trout  and  bass  streams  in  the  State. 

On  State  28  at  14.8  m.  is  NAVARRO.  Many  of  its  gray,  weathered 
houses  stand  empty,  reminders  of  its  lively  past  as  a  lumber  town. 

The  road  enters  Anderson  Valley,  a  fertile  basin  given  over  to  apple 
growing,  and  reaches  BOONVILLE,  30.2  m.  (pop.  315).  Named  in  1868 
for  an  early  settler,  W.  W.  Boon,  the  settlement  today  furnishes  supplies 
to  ranchers  and  travelers.  It  celebrates  an  annual  County  Fair  and  Apple 
Show  in  October. 

Southwest  of  Boonville  the  highway  climbs  over  a  succession  of  hills, 
winds  past  rolling  sheep  pasturage,  and  joins  US  101  (see  TOUR  2a)  at 
57.5  m. 

ELK,  44.6  m.  (20x3  pop.),  also  known  as  Greenwood,  lying  along 
the  highway  skirting  the  very  edge  of  steep  bluffs — is  a  string  of 
frame  store  buildings,  most  of  them  left  to  sag  and  gather  cobwebs  since 
lumbering  operations  stopped  in  1931.  In  its  heyday,  when  two  or 
three  boats  anchored  offshore  every  week  to  load  lumber  brought  from 
inland  by  railroad,  Elk  had  nearly  a  dozen  saloons  and  half  as  many 
hotels.  The  loading  trestle  remains,  flung  from  the  edge  of  the  bluffs 
to  a  jagged  islet  in  the  surf.  In  the  debris-littered  gravel  bottoms  just 
south  of  town  lie  the  remains  of  the  mill,  rusted  and  rotting. 

State  i  winds  between  fences  over  sheep  ranges  and  strips  of  farm 


TOUR     I        321 

land  that  roll  upward  from  the  narrow  coastal  shelf  to  forest-fringed 
hills.  A  vast  sweep  of  surf-scalloped  shore  line  appears  at  intervals, 
curving  off  in  the  long  promontory  of  Point  Arena  (see  below).  A  far 
stretch  of  rolling  country  sweeps  to  timbered  hills  (L)  as  the  highway 
strikes  inland  from  the  shore. 

MANCHESTER,  58.8  m.  (300  pop.),  a  handful  of  buildings 
widely  scattered  among  farms  and  pastures,  lies  in  a  farming,  dairy- 
ing, and  sheep-  and  cattle-raising  region,  one  of  the  few  sections  along 
the  northern  coast  level  enough  to  permit  extensive  farming. 

At  62.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  2.5  m.  to  POINT  ARENA  LIGHT  STATION 
(visitors  /-j1  Mon.,  Wed.,  Fri.),  where  gray,  red-roofed  frame  houses 
cluster  around  the  tall  cylindrical  white  light  tower.  On  November  10, 
1792,  Capt.  George  Vancouver  spent  the  night  off  this  promontory  in  his 
ship  Discovery,  en  route  from  Nootka  to  San  Francisco.  He  named  it 
Punta  Barro  de  Arena  (Sp.,  point  sand  bar).  A  brick  light  station  erected 
here  in  1870  was  replaced,  after  its  destruction  in  the  1906  earthquake,  by 
the  present  ii5-foot  tower,  which  has  a  light  of  380,000  candle  power. 

POINT  ARENA,  64.5  m.  (39  alt.,  385  pop.),  has  scattered  cot- 
tages in  cypress-sheltered  gardens  and  trim,  stuccoed  business  buildings, 
churches,  and  schools.  It  traces  its  history  to  the  opening  of  a  store  here 
in  1859.  Although  it  was  said  to  be  the  most  thriving  town  between 
San  Francisco  and  Eureka  at  the  height  of  lumbering  operations,  it  was 
not  incorporated  until  1908.  Today  it  is  a  trading  center  for  a  dairy- 
ing region. 

South  of  Point  Arena  State  I  again  skirts  the  coast,  running  through 
dense  patches  of  dwarf-pines  and  dipping  into  gulches  choked  with 
undergrowth. 

GUALALA,  79.6  m.  (sea  level,  15  pop.),  is  on  a  curving  beach  at 
the  mouth  of  the  broad,  forest-bordered  Gualala  River.  Its  name 
(pron.  Wah-la-la),  is  probably  the  Spanish  spelling  of  the  Porno  In- 
dians' "wala'li"  or  "wa'lali,"  meaning  a  meeting  place  of  waters. 
Gualala  had  its  lumbering  boom  in  the  i86o's  and  iSyo's — although 
its  sawmill,  abandoned  now  at  the  river's  mouth,  was  operated  until 
1920.  Its  life  centers  today  around  the  two-story,  white  frame 
GUALALA  HOTEL  (1903),  with  veranda  and  balcony.  The  fishing 
season  attracts  many  visitors. 

STEWART'S  POINT,  91.3  m.  (20  alt.,  30  pop.),  named  for  a 
pioneer  lumberman  and  settler,  is  a  handful  of  frame  houses  around  a 
general  store.  On  the  rocky  point  at  the  edge  of  the  cove,  hidden  by 
trees,  are  the  abandoned  sheds  and  trestle  from  which  lumber  was  once 
shipped. 

As  State  I  winds  southward,  through  rolling  stretches  thickly  wooded 
with  dwarf  pines  and  littered  with  boulders,  the  coast  becomes  more 
and  more  rugged — saw-toothed  with  jutting  promontories  and  rocky 
inlets  where  the  surf  crashes  on  kelp-strewn  crags.  The  route  makes 
a  short  swing  inland  through  the  KRUSE  RHODODENDRON 
RESERVE,  99.3  m.,  maintained  in  its  natural  state,  where  the  rhodo- 


322        CALIFORNIA 

dendrons,  growing  20  to  30  feet  high,  blossom  in  late  May  and  early 
June. 

FORT  Ross,  107  m.  (100  alt.),  once  chief  outpost  of  Russian  civiliza- 
tion in  California,  stands  on  a  high  shelf  sloping  from  wooded  hills  to 
the  edge  of  the  cove.  At  this  place,  in  the  spring  of  1812,  the  Russian- 
American  Fur  Company's  vessel,  the  Ghirikov,  deposited  a  party  of  fur 
traders  and  Aleut  hunters  under  command  of  Ivan  Alexander  Kuskof. 
Since  1806,  when  the  Tsar's  chamberlain,  Nikolai  Rezanof,  had  visited 
the  San  Francisco  Presidio  (see  SAN  FRANCISCO)  in  quest  of  food 
for  the  starving  Russian  settlement  at  Sitka,  Alaska,  the  Russian-Ameri- 
can Company  had  planned  to  establish  settlements  in  California  as 
sources  of  food  supply  for  its  fur-trading  posts  in  the  north.  On  May 
15,  1812,  Kuskof 's  party  began  building  a  fortress;  three  months  later, 
on  August  30,  they  dedicated  it  with  ceremony,  naming  it  Rossiya 
(Russia). 

The  settlement,  laid  out  in  a  rectangle,  was  enclosed  by  a  1 4-foot 
stockade  of  hewn  timbers  and  guarded  by  two-story  blockhouses  with 
portholes  for  cannon  at  the  north  and  south  corners.  There  were  59 
buildings.  Inside  the  enclosure  were  the  chapel,  the  commandant's 
house,  barracks,  two  warehouses,  blacksmith  and  other  shops,  and  a  jail. 
Outside  clustered  the  redwood  huts  of  the  Aleut  hunters,  a  windmill, 
several  farm  buildings,  and  a  tannery.  At  the  foot  of  the  steep  bluffs 
were  a  small  wharf,  a  workshop  for  shipbuilding,  a  blacksmith  shop,  a 
bathhouse,  and  sheds  for  the  bidarkas  (skin  boats)  of  the  Aleuts  and  for 
storing  lumber. 

Despite  the  efforts  of  apprehensive  Spanish  officials  to  check  the 
growth  of  La  Fuerte  de  los  Rusos  (the  fort  of  the  Russians),  the 
colonists  began  a  thriving  trade  with  the  San  Francisco  Presidio  and 
mission,  exchanging  tobacco,  sugar,  kitchen  utensils,  iron,  cloth,  and 
wax  candles  for  grain,  peas,  meat,  tallow,  flour,  and  hides.  When 
Missions  San  Rafael  and  San  Francisco  Solano  (see  TOUR  2a)  were 
founded  to  halt  Russian  expansion  southward  the  Russians  extended 
their  trade  to  the  missions  themselves. 

The  Russian  settlement  began  to  face  economic  difficulties,  however, 
when  the  revenue  from  sea-otter  hunting  diminished  with  the  rapid 
extermination  of  the  otter  along  the  coast.  Unable  to  make  a  living 
from  farming,  the  colonists  turned  to  shipbuilding;  they  used  the  green 
timber  of  oak  to  construct  four  vessels,  two  of  160  and  two  of  200  tons, 
between  1819  and  1824;  but  the  timber  decayed  so  rapidly  that  this 
activity  was  abandoned.  The  settlement  was  in  the  end  a  failure. 
Restrained  from  expanding  southward  by  the  Spanish,  Russia  agreed 
in  1824  to  limit  its  future  settlements  to  Alaska. 

The  man  into  whose  hands  Fort  Ross  finally  passed,  when  in  1841 
the  Tsar  ordered  withdrawal  of  his  subjects,  was  Johann  August  Sutter, 
founder  of  New  Helvetia  (Sacramento).  The  price  agreed  on  for  the 
entire  property — buildings,  chattels,  livestock,  and  even  the  2O-ton 
schooner  Constantine — was  $30,000;  of  this  Sutter  agreed  to  pay 
$2,000  in  cash  and  the  rest  in  yearly  installments  of  produce,  chiefly 


TOUR     I         323 

wheat.  Sutter  dismantled  fort  and  buildings  and  shipped  everything  he 
could  carry  on  his  schooner  to  New  Helvetia.  The  transferred  property 
included  1,700  head  of  cattle,  940  horses  and  mules,  9,000  sheep,  agri- 
cultural implements  and  industrial  machinery,  and  an  arsenal,  including 
brass  pieces,  cannon,  and  muskets — all  French  weapons  picked  up  in 
1813  in  the  path  of  Napoleon's  retreat  through  the  snow  from  Moscow. 
Even  a  2O-foot-square  conservatory,  with  glass  windows  and  doors,  was 
removed  in  sections  to  Sacramento ;  Madame  Rotchev,  the  Russian  gov- 
ernor's wife,  had  begged  Sutter  (he  wrote)  "not  to  destroy  the  garden 
house  which  she  had  built  and  in  which  she  had  spent  so  many  happy 
hours.  .  .  .  However  .  .  .  my  men  .  .  .  could  not  put  it  together 
because  they  did  not  understand  the  workmanship  of  the  Russian  car- 
penters .  .  ." 

The  few  remaining  buildings  were  neglected  until  in  1906,  after 
damage  by  the  earthquake,  the  State  began  restoration.  The  only  part 
of  the  original  stockade  left  is  a  heap  of  rotting  redwood  logs — the 
remains  of  the  heptagonal  blockhouse  that  stood  at  the  north  corner. 
At  the  eastern  corner  is  the  partly  restored  GREEK  ORTHODOX  CHAPEL 
(open  8-5  except  Tues.},  a  crude  structure  20  feet  wide  and  25  long, 
with  a  squat,  dull  yellow  belfry  and  dome  on  its  weather-worn  red- 
gabled  roof.  Exhibited  in  its  two  rough-boarded  rooms  are  Russian, 
Spanish,  and  Indian  relics.  The  RUSSIAN  COMMANDANT'S  HOUSE,  a 
spacious  edifice  with  a  shingled  roof  sloping  over  a  wide  veranda,  pre- 
serves remnants  of  the  original  structure — including  the  fireplace  and 
the  log  finish  between  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  facade — reinforced 
by  later  additions. 

South  of  Fort  Ross  State  I  winds  tortuously  around  brush-grown, 
rocky  hillsides  and  through  twisting  ravines,  on  a  narrow  ledge  over- 
hanging the  boiling  surf.  At  118.8  m.  it  swings  up  the  broad  valley 
of  the  Russian  River  (see  TOUR  2a),  which  finds  its  way  to  the  ocean 
through  a  narrow  strait  in  the  great  sand  bar  that  holds  back  its  waters 
in  a  wide,  placid  lagoon. 

JENNER-BY-THE-SEA,  119.7  m.  (o  alt.,  160  pop.),  is  a  resort 
with  peak-roofed  white  and  green  cottages  hugging  the  steep  slopes 
above  the  river. 

At  120.8  772.,  where  State  i  crosses  Russian  River  on  a  giant  con- 
crete and  steel  bridge,  is  the  junction  with  paved  State  12  (see  TOUR 
2a). 

At  121.7  77z.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.2  m.  to  BODEGA-SONOMA  COAST  STATE 
PARK,  which  stretches  along  5  miles  of  picturesque  ocean  shore  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Russian  River  to  Bodega  Bay.  The  shore  waters  abound 
with  shellfish  and  abalones  and  the  surf  with  fish  that  can  be  caught  by 
line  from  the  rocks  or  by  net  in  the  breakers. 

At  122.9  m.  on  State  I  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.2  m.  to  SHELL  BEACH  in  Bodega-Sonoma  Coast 
State  Park. 


324        CALIFORNIA 

WRIGHT'S  BEACH  is  at  124.3  m.  and  ARCH  ROCK  BEACH 
at  127  m.  Both  are  wide  sandy  strands  sheltered  in  rocky  coves  in  the 
State  park. 

SALMON  CREEK  BEACH,  128.5  m.,  rimmed  by  great  sand 
dunes,  lies  at  the  mouth  of  Salmon  Creek,  where  a  sand  bar  impounds 
a  lagoon  below  scattered  cottages. 

BAY,  130.4  777.,  a  string  of  frame  houses  sheltered  by  a  lane  of 
eucalyptus  trees  overlooking  a  row  of  small  wharves  where  fishing 
smacks  are  moored,  lies  along  the  curving  shore  of  BODEGA 
BAY. 

Bodega  Bay  is  now  a  shallow,  sand-choked  inlet,  rimmed  by  mud 
flats  at  low  tide;  its  egress  to  the  sea  on  the  south  is  blocked,  except  for 
a  narrow  strait,  by  a  sandspit  stretching  from  the  mainland  on  the  east 
to  Bodega  Head  at  the  tip  of  the  long  promontory  on  the  west.  The 
bay  was  named  for  its  discoverer,  Lieut.  Juan  Francisco  de  la  Bodega  y 
Cuadra,  who  anchored  his  schooner,  the  Sonora,  off  Bodega  Head  Octo- 
ber 3,  1775.  In  1809  the  Russian-American  Fur  Company's  agent, 
Ivan  Kuskof,  landed  with  a  party  from  Sitka.  They  sowed  wheat,  and 
in  August,  with  the  harvested  grain  and  a  catch  of  2,000  sea-otter  skins, 
returned  to  Alaska.  In  1811  the  Russians  returned  to  found  the  settle- 
ments of  Port  Roumiantzoff  on  the  bay  and  Bodega  (see  below)  and 
Kuskof  in  the  hinterland.  They  cultivated  land  toward  the  tip  of  the 
Bodega  peninsula  and  erected  two  warehouses. 

First  Yankee  settlers  at  Bodega  Bay  were  three  sailors.  In  1835 
Gen.  Mariano  G.  Vallejo  gave  them  large  land  grants  on  condition 
that  they  settle  at  the  border  of  the  Russian  claims  to  check  Russian 
expansion.  In  1843  Capt.  Stephen  Smith  was  granted  the  land  formerly 
occupied  by  the  Russians.  Five  years  later  he  erected  a  small  warehouse 
and  in  1852  a  hotel.  By  1860  the  port  was  alive  with  people  and  busi- 
ness, its  harbor  crowded  with  sails.  The  warehouses  lining  the  shore 
overflowed  with  potatoes — a  variety  known  as  Bodega  Reds  for  the 
bright  maroon  coat  beneath  their  rough  skins — raised  on  great  ranches 
roundabout.  Regular  freight  and  passenger  boats  from  San  Francisco 
anchored  in  the  open  roadstead  outside  the  sandspit,  where  they  were 
loaded  from  small  lighters.  In  the  iSyo's  the  bay  began  to  fill  with 
sand.  In  time,  potato  raising  was  supplanted  by  dairying,  the  chief  in- 
dustry of  the  region  ever  since.  Vessels  no  longer  call  here — nor  have 
they  for  a  generation  past. 

State  I  winds  inland  over  rolling  farm  lands  where  cattle  graze 
in  fenced  pastures,  bordered  by  lanes  of  eucalyptus  trees  and  patches  of 
orchards. 

BODEGA,  136.4  m.  (40  alt.,  100  pop.),  clusters  amid  cypress 
patches  around  a  red-roofed  schoolhouse  and  two  white-spired  churches. 

Beside  the  road  (R)  at  138.4  m.  stands  the  WATSON  DISTRICT 
SCHOOL,  built  in  1856,  a  white  clapboarded  building  with  a  bell  tower 
jutting  from  its  peaked  red  roof.  It  was  named  for  James  Watson,  an 
immigrant  of  1853,  who  acquired  so  many  thousand  acres  of  land  from 
the  yield  of  bumper  crops  of  the  high-priced  Bodega  Reds  that  he  be- 


TOUR     I         325 

came  a  land  baron,  entertaining  the  whole  countryside  with  horse  racing 
at  his  private  course. 

VALLEY  FORD,  142.3  m.  (45  alt.,  200  pop.),  with  old  brick 
and  frame  stores,  is  among  gently  rolling  pasture  lands  dotted  with 
gracious  white  farmhouses,  roomy  barns,  and  corrals.  It  lies  at  the  head 
of  tidewater  on  the  Estero  Americano  (American  Creek),  which  emp- 
ties into  Bodega  Bay;  it  was  named  for  the  "valley  ford,"  where  an 
ancient  Indian  and  Spanish  trail  crossed  the  Estero.  This  is  a  dairying 
town:  when  the  bank  was  organized  in  1893,  it  was  called  The  Dairy- 
mans  Bank. 

TOMALES,  149.3  m.  (75  alt.,  450  pop.),  a  trim  looking  town, 
rambles  over  the  slopes  of  a  hollow.  The  countryside  is  noted  for  its 
butter,  cheese,  and  milk.  Tomales'  first  house  was  built  in  1850  by 
John  Keyes,  who  operated  a  small  schooner  between  Bodega  Bay  and 
San  Francisco  and  opened  a  trading  post  here  in  the  spring  of  1854. 

State  i  winds  through  the  shallow  gully  of  San  Antonio  Creek  to 
its  mouth  in  a  delta  of  mud  flats  at  TOMALES  BAY,  151.9  m.,  and 
then  runs  for  13  miles  along  the  shore.  (Tomales  is  a  Spanish  corrup- 
tion of  the  Coast  Miwok  Indian  word  tamal,  bay.)  The  bay  is  a  long, 
narrow,  fingerlike  inlet,  resembling  a  firth  in  the  Scottish  Highlands. 
On  the  east  bare  brown  hills  slope  down  to  the  shore ;  on  the  west,  low, 
tumbled  peaks  densely  forested  with  green.  In  the  shallow  water  off- 
shore, oyster  beds  are  fenced  in  by  a  long  file  of  slender  stakes. 

At  NICK'S  COVE  (boats  for  hire},  153.2  m.t  cottages  cluster 
around  the  store  and  the  wharf,  where  small  dories  bob  up  and  down 
with  the  lapping  tide. 

The  lower  end  of  Tomales  Bay  is  a  dank  expanse  of  mud  flats. 

POINT  REYES  STATION,  166.4  m.  (31  alt.,  143  pop.),  named 
for  nearby  Point  Reyes  (see  below),  faces  an  abandoned  railroad  sta- 
tion. The  town  and  surrounding  region  have  had  one  product — but- 
ter— since  the  1850*8,  when  a  57,o66-acre  tract  was  acquired  by  three 
men  and  leased  to  dairy  farmers  who  began  to  ship  their  butter  to  San 
Francisco  by  schooner. 

At  166.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  which  runs  northeastward  along  the  western  shore 
of  Tomales  Bay,  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road,  1.5  m.;  L.  here  0.2  m. 
to  the  MARIN  COUNTY  FISH  HATCHERY,  a  large  plant  for  hatching  rainbow 
trout. 

The  main  side  route  continues  to  INVERNESS,  3.8  m.  (sea  level,  200 
pop.),  a  summer  colony,  deep  among  greenery  at  the  edge  of  a  6-mile 
sandy  beach.  James  Black,  a  native  of  Inverness,  Scotland,  settled  here  in 
1832,  but  the  town  was  not  founded  until  1908.  The  Inverness  Yacht  Club 
is  a  center  for  yachting  on  Tomales  Bay. 

West  of  Inverness  the  road,  paved  for  0.7  miles  beyond  the  town,  winds 
over  the  thickly  wooded  hilltops  of  the  ridge  paralleling  Tomales  Bay  to 
the  headwaters  of  Drake's  Estero  (creek). 

At  9.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  0.1  m.  to  the  RADIO 
CORPORATION  OF  AMERICA  STATION  (open  by  arrangement  at  28  Geary  St., 
San  Francisco],  the  receiving  station  for  RCA's  San  Francisco  radio- 
telegraph terminal.  The  i,5oo-acre  station  has  21  short-wave  directive 
receiving  antenna  units,  which  tune  in  signals  from  Japan,  China,  the 


326        CALIFORNIA 

Dutch  East  Indies,  French  Indo-China,  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  Hawaii. 
The  Beverage  diversity  system  for  receiving  short-wave  signals,  in  opera- 
tion here,  utilizes  a  bank  of  three  antennae  spaced  approximately  1,000  feet 
apart.  Each  antenna  is  connected  by  a  separate  receiver  to  a  specially 
built  combining  unit.  Besides  radio  telegrams,  the  station  receives  occa- 
sional trans-Pacific  programs  from  the  Far  East  for  rebroadcasting  in 
America. 

Southeast  of  this  point  the  main  side  route  follows  the  bleak,  wind-swept 
slopes  of  POINT  REYES.  The  half-mile  distant  wide  beach  (R)  extends 
north  in  an  unbroken  straight  line  toward  the  hazy  bluffs  of  Tomales  Point 
and  Bodega  Head.  The  low-growing  vegetation  on  the  hill  slopes  is  bright- 
ened in  spring  with  myriads  of  tiny  red,  yellow,  and  purple  flowers. 

At  11  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  0.7  m.  to  the  UNITED 
STATES  RADIO  COMPASS  STATION,  which  broadcasts  compass  bearings  to  ships 
at  sea. 

At  15  m.  on  the  main  side  route,  south  of  a  barnyard  gate  near  a  farm- 
house, is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  1.3  m.  to  the  UNITED  STATES 
COAST  GUARD  LIFE-SAVING  STATION,  facing  DRAKE'S  BAY  from  a  cove 
in  the  lee  of  Point  Reyes.  The  white-faced  bluffs  fringing  the  bay  in  an 
immense  crescent-shaped  sweep  suggested  the  white  cliffs  of  the  English 
coast  near  Dover  to  Sir  Francis  Drake  on  June  17,  1579,  when  he  took 
refuge  here  in  the  Golden  Hinde.  The  Drake  company,  in  the  last  of  the 
five  vessels  with  which  it  had  sailed  from  England  nearly  two  years  earlier, 
was  searching  southward  along  the  coast  for  a  haven  from  the  wind,  the 
fog,  and  the  bitter  cold  that  had  plagued  them  for  weeks.  In  this  sheltered 
bay,  its  waters  as  smooth  as  a  mill  pond,  they  found  a  "convenient  and 
fit  harborough."  For  nearly  six  weeks  Drake  and  his  men  remained,  re- 
conditioning their  boats  and  causing  wonderment  among  awe-struck  Indian 
visitors  from  villages  for  miles  around  (see  INDIANS). 

A  small  party  led  by  Drake  made  a  journey  inland,  where  they  found, 
as  chaplain  Francis  Fletcher  wrote,  "a  goodly  country  and  fruitful  soyle, 
stored  with  many  blessings  fit  for  the  use  of  man."  Drake  named  it  Nova 
Albion  (Lat.,  New  England).  On  July  23,  after  religious  ceremonies, 
they  set  sail  again  while  Indians  watched  from  the  hilltops.  But  before 
"we  went  from  thence,"  wrote  Fletcher,  "our  generall  caused  to  be  set  up 
a  monument  of  our  being  there,  as  also  of  her  majesties  and  successors 
right  and  title  to  that  Kingdom;  namely,  a  plate  of  brasse,  fast  nailed  to 
a  greate  and  firme  post,  whereon  is  engrauen  her  graces  name,  and  the 
day  and  yeare  of  our  arrival  there,  and  of  the  free  giving  up  of  the 
province  and  Kingdom,  both  by  King  and  people,  into  her  maiesties  hands ; 
together  with  her  highnesses  picture  and  armes,  in  a  piece  of  sixpence 
current  English  monie,  shewing  itself  by  a  hole  made  of  purpose  through 
the  plate  .  .  ." 

Late  in  1933  a  chauffeur,  on  a  hunting  expedition  with  his  employer  at 
the  Laguna  Ranch,  just  east  of  Drake's  Bay,  picked  up  a  slab  of  blackened 
metal  near  the  roadside  and  wiping  it  off,  uncovered  in  one  corner  what 
looked  like  the  word  "Drak."  He  placed  the  metal  in  the  side  pocket  of 
itfie  car. 

A  week  later,  as  he  drove  past  a  point  near  the  mouth  of  Corte  Madera 
Creek,  where  the  southern  shore  of  Point  San  Quentin  reaches  away  from 
jthe  mainland  (see  TOUR  2a),  he  threw  the  plate  away.  On  April  6,  1937, 
a  motorist,  stopped  by  a  flat  tire,  picked  up  the  plate  near  the  highway. 
For  months  it  lay  unnoticed  among  his  effects  until  one  day,  using  it  to 
tinker  with  his  automobile,  he  noticed  its  crude  engraving  and  took  it  to 
the  head  of  the  University  of  California  history  department. 

Carefully  cleaned,  the  plate  revealed  the  inscription: 


TOUR     I        327 

Bee    It   Knowne    Vnto    All    Men    By   These    Presents 

Ivne    17   1579 

By  The  Grace  Of  God  And  In  The  Name  Of  Herr 
Maiesty  Queen  Elizabeth  Of  England  And   Herr 
Successors   Forever  I  Take   Possesson   Of  This 
Kingdome  Whose  King  And  People  Freely  Resigne 
Their  Right  And  Title  In  The  Whole  Land  Vnto  Herr 
Maiesties  Keepeing  Now  Named  By  Me  And  To  Bee 
Knowne  Vnto  All  Men  As  Nova  Albion 
Francis  Drake 

After  exhaustive  investigation  by  metallurgists,  chemists,  museum  cura- 
tors, archeologists,  and  geologists,  the  plate  was  finally  accepted  in  America 
as  the  real  "plate  of  brasse"  left  by  Drake,  though  British  scientists  still 
question  the  authenticity. 

The  main  side  route  turns  westward  to  POINT  REYES  LIGHTHOUSE  (open), 
19.9  m.,  at  the  verge  of  a  cliff  on  the  tip  of  a  knifelike  headland,  one  of 
the  windiest  points  on  the  coast.  The  light  was  established  in  1870.  Its 
white  pyramidal  tower  is  294  feet  above  water.  Throughout  the  summer, 
when  dense  fog  blankets  the  coast,  the  fog  signal  blasts  almost  constantly. 
Back  of  the  lighthouse  are  a  storm-warning  display  and  telegraph  station. 
So  many  ships  have  piled  up  on  the  treacherous  rocks  off  Point  Reyes  that 
the  San  Francisco  newspapers  are  said  to  keep  set  up  the  headline,  "Ship 
Aground  at  Point  Reyes."  At  dawn  of  November  29,  1938,  a  Seattle- 
Oakland  airliner  off  its  course  and  hours  overdue,  landed  on  the  water 
1,000  yards  offshore  and  was  battered  on  the  rocks  by  crashing  surf,  with 
the  loss  of  5  lives. 

OLEMA  (Ind.,  Olemaloke:  coyote  valley),  168.8  m.  (67  alt.,  150 
pop.),  consists  of  three  or  four  old  frame  buildings  gathered  around  an 
old-fashioned  two-story  frame  hotel  and  a  little  steepled  white  church. 

The  moss-grown,  masonry  RUINS  OF  A  LIME  KILN  occupy  a 
ravine  near  the  roadside  (R)  at  172.8  m.,  where  lime  from  an  outcrop 
on  Olema  Creek  was  fired  in  the  early  iSso's.  Against  a  cut  in  the 
slope  of  the  ravine  tower  the  kiln's  three  chimneys — two  of  them  still 
standing  and  a  third  in  ruins — resembling  giant  beehives  in  shape. 

State  I  runs  southeast  to  the  junction,  at  177.5  m.,  with  a  paved 
road. 

Right  on  this  road,  along  the  western  shore  of  a  landlocked  lagoon,  to 
the  head  of  crescent-shaped  Bolinas  Bay,  in  the  lee  of  cliff-edged  Bolinas 
Point,  probably  named  for  Francisco  Bolanos,  pilot  of  the  Vizcaino  expedi- 
tion in  1602.  The  SITE  OF  THE  BOLINAS  LIGHTER  WHARF  (L),  0.4  m.,  is 
marked  by  a  few  piles.  During  the  1850*8  ox-drawn  wagons  with  wooden 
wheels — crosscut  sections  of  huge  tree  trunks — hauled  lumber  to  the  wharf. 
From  this  point  their  loads  were  carried  by  flat-bottomed  lighters  to  cargo 
vessels  anchored  in  the  bay. 

At  1.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  here  2.6  m.  to  the  RADIO 
CORPORATION  OF  AMERICA  STATION  on  a  i,5oo-acre  tract  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  Bolinas  peninsula.  RCA's  San  Francisco  radio-telegraph 
terminal  has  its  sending  station  here  for  transmitting  short-wave  messages 
across  the  Pacific.  The  transmitting  equipment  includes  46  antennae — 
about  half  of  them  of  the  high-power  short-wave  directive  type. 

BOLINAS,  2.1  m.  (10  alt.,  125  pop.),  circles  the  base  of  the  headland. 
A  miniature  church,  parsonage,  and  houses  built  a  half  century  ago  are 
neighbors  of  the  shingled  summer  homes  of  San  Franciscans.  Low  tide 
brings  out  dozens  of  rubber-booted  clam  diggers.  First  settler  here  was 
Gregorio  Briones,  owner  of  the  8,9ii-acre  cattle  domain  of  Baulinas  Rancho, 


328        CALIFORNIA 

whose  daughter  Maria's  marriage  to  Francisco  Sebrean,  celebrated  May  20, 
1850,  with  feasting  on  a  barbecued  fat  bullock  and  dancing  on  a  floor  of 
whip-sawed  lumber,  was  Bolinas'  first. 

At  Bolinas  is  a  UNITED  STATES  COAST  GUARD  LIFE-SAVING  STATION.  The 
jagged  rocks  of  Duxbury  Reef,  stretching  seaward  100  feet  below  the  cliff- 
edged  tableland  of  Duxbury  Point,  west  of  the  town,  have  been  the  grave- 
yard of  many  ships.  The  Panama-San  Francisco  propeller  steamer  Lewis 
was  battered  to  pieces  here  April  9,  1853,  with  the  loss  of  all  its  freight  and 
baggage  and  the  narrow  escape  of  400  passengers. 

STINSON  BEACH  (accommodations;  boats,  tackle,  and  bait  for 
surf  fishing),  182.1  m.  (sea  level,  130  pop.),  a  family  resort  thronged 
on  holidays  by  vacationers,  fronts  a  3-mile  white  sand  beach  curving 
around  Bolinas  Bay;  the  surf  is  warm  enough  for  bathing  all  year. 
The  winters  are  so  mild  that  swarms  of  big  brown  Monarch  butterflies 
immigrate  from  the  high  Sierra.  The  settlement  has  evolved  from  a 
campground  beside  a  grove  of  willows  and  alders  near  the  beach  at  the 
end  of  the  Dipsea  (Lone  Tree)  Trail  ("Dipsea"  is  an  Indian  corrup- 
tion of  "deep  sea")  ;  from  the  slopes  of  Mount  Tamalpais  (see  TOUR 
2a)  to  the  beach,  the  trail  is  followed  every  year  by  cross-country  hikers 
in  the  Dipsea  Trail  Race  from  Mill  Valley  (see  TOUR  2a}. 

At  182.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  dirt  Mount  Tamalpais  Road 
(see  TOUR&a). 

State  I  twists  upward,  high  above  the  crashing  breakers.  At  187.1  m. 
it  winds  along  the  crest  of  a  knifelike  ridge  overlooking  the  timbered 
hollows  of  Muir  Woods  (see  TOUR  2a)  on  one  hand  and  ocean  ex- 
panses on  the  other. 

At  188.6  777.  is  the  junction  with  the  Muir  Woods  Road  (see  TOUR 
2a). 

At  188.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.7  m.  to  MUIR  BEACH  (swimming  and  fishing],  a 
sandy  strip  curving  around  the  shores  of  Big  Lagoon. 

At  194.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2a),  with 
which  State  I  unites  into  SAN  FRANCISCO,  205.4  m.  (18  alt.,  634,- 
394  pop.)  (see  SAN  FRANCISCO). 

Section  b.    SAN  FRANCISCO  to  MONTEREY;  133.1  m.    State  i 

The  rugged  flanks  of  the  Peninsula  ridge  south  of  San  Francisco 
crowd  State  I  to  the  edge  of  blunt-faced  mesas  battered  by  the  waves. 
The  highway  dips  to  wide,  sandy  beaches  and  climbs  to  tumbled  heights 
above  the  surf.  Swinging  inland  around  the  great  curve  of  Monterey 
Bay,  it  crosses  the  fertile  Pajaro  Valley's  apple  orchards.  Its  way  back 
to  the  shore  leads  through  low,  rolling  land,  fringed  with  sand  dunes. 
Along  the  whole  route  the  countryside — early,  but  thinly,  settled — has 
a  look  of  age  about  it,  except  where  seaside  resorts  have  replaced  the 
whaling  stations,  the  old  fishing  villages,  the  abandoned  schooner  land- 
ings. 

Along  this  forbidding  coast  line  in  the  autumn  of  1769  struggled  the 


TOUR     I        329 

first  white  men  to  come  by  land  into  California — "that  small  company 
of  persons,  or  rather  say  skeletons,  who  had  been  spared  by  scurvy, 
hunger  and  thirst,"  as  their  commander,  Don  Caspar  de  Portola,  de- 
scribed them.  They  were  searching  for  the  "fine  harbor  sheltered  from 
all  winds"  of  Monterey,  over  enthusiastically  and  misleadingly  described 
by  Sebastian  Vizcaino  in  1602 — there  to  found  a  military  port  and  a 
mission.  The  expedition  included  Portola's  aides,  Capt.  Don  Fernando 
de  Rivera  y  Moncada,  Lt.  Don  Pedro  Fages,  and  army  engineer  Ensign 
Miguel  Constanso;  the  two  Franciscan  friars,  Fray  Juan  Crespi  and 
Fray  Francisco  Gomez;  Sgt.  Jose  Francisco  de  Ortega,  with  his  27 
soldiers;  and  a  troop  of  servants  and  Christian  Indians  from  Lower 
California.  The  soldiers  wore  leather  jackets  fashioned  of  seven  thick- 
nesses of  deerskin  and  carried  bullhide  shields,  lances  and  broad-swords, 
and  short  muskets.  At  the  head  of  the  expedition,  with  its  four  pack- 
train  divisions  of  mules  each,  rode  Portola;  at  the  rear,  behind  the 
spare  horses  and  mules  and  their  guard,  Rivera. 

On  September  30,  two  and  a  half  months  after  leaving  San  Diego, 
they  came  to  the  coast  at  the  mouth  of  the  Salinas  River  on  Monterey 
Bay.  The  open  gulf  so  little  resembled  the  "fine  harbor  sheltered  from 
all  winds"  for  which  they  were  looking  that  they  went  on — now  with 
17  men  on  the  sick  list,  n  so  ill  that  they  had  to  be  carried  on  litters 
fastened  with  long  poles  to  the  mules.  As  they  continued  northward 
in  5-  and  lo-mile  stages,  toiling  up  steep  grades  and  across  deep  arroyos, 
often  cutting  their  way  through  brush,  they  had  to  ration  their  rapidly 
diminishing  store  of  food.  Finally  on  October  31  they  climbed  to  the 
heights  above  San  Pedro  Point  and  saw  the  Gulf  of  the  Farallones  and 
Point  Reyes  far  to  the  north.  Forced  to  the  unhappy  conclusion  that 
they  had  overshot  their  mark,  they  turned  eastward  and  then  southward 
down  the  Peninsula — having  in  the  meantime  discovered  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay — and  retraced  their  steps  to  Monterey  Bay.  Once  more  fail- 
ing to  recognize  the  object  of  their  search,  they  went  on  south  to  San 
Diego,  where  Portola  reported  his  expedition  a  failure. 

West  from  Van  Ness  Ave.  in  SAN  FRANCISCO,  0  m.,  on  Hayes 
St.  to  Franklin  St.;  R.  to  Fulton  St.;  L.  to  Funston  (i3th)  Ave.;  L. 
through  Golden  Gate  Park  into  Nineteenth  Ave.  and  south  into  Juni- 
pero  Sena  Blvd. 

At  6.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  Sloat  Blvd. 

Right  on  Sloat  Blvd.  to  the  junction  with  Sunset  Blvd.,  6.7  m.  and  L. 
around  Lake  Merced  to  the  SITE  OF  THE  TERRY-BRODERICK  DUEL,  9.6  m., 
at  the  southern  tip  of  the  lake,  marked  by  two  granite  shafts,  one  bearing 
the  name  "Broderick"  and  the  other  "Terry"  in  bronze  letters.  At  dawn  on 
September  13,  1859,  a  United  States  Senator  and  a  California  Supreme 
Court  Chief  Justice  took  their  positions  here  with  duelling  pistols,  30 
paces  apart.  They  represented  opposing  factions  in  the  struggle  on  the 
issue  of  slavery  which  was  tearing  the  Democratic  Party  in  California 
apart — Broderick  the  anti-  and  Terry  the  pro-slavery  side.  Broderick  was 
the  son  of  an  Irish  stone  mason,  schooled  in  politics  by  Tammany  Hall; 
Terry,  a  Kentucky-born  aristocrat,  aligned  with  the  "Chivalry"  Democrats. 

Terry  had  publicly  attacked  Broderick  and  the  Douglas  Democrats  for 
sailing  under  "the  banner  of  the  black  Douglass,  whose  name  is  Frederick, 


33°        CALIFORNIA 

not  Stephen."  When  Broderick  replied  in  kind,  Terry  resigned  from  the 
bench  and  demanded  a  retraction;  Broderick  refused.  Broderick  was  no 
match  for  his  opponent;  his  shot^  fired  first,  entered  the  ground  only  9  feet 
from  where  he  stood.  Terry's  shot  entered  his  breast.  He  died  three 
days  later.  A  crowd  of  30,000  people  gathered  at  Portsmouth  Square  in 
San  Francisco  to  hear  the  funeral  oration. 

State  I  turns  southwest  on  Alemany  Boulevard  through  neat  truck 
gardens  toward  the  ocean. 

At  9.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  Skyline  Boulevard  (State  5). 

Left  on  Skyline  Boulevard,  up  from  gently  rolling  hill  country  to  the 
crest  of  the  forested  Sierra  Morena  and  down  the  ridge  of  the  Peninsula. 
The  highway  skirts  the  western  shore  of  long,  narrow,  fingerlike  SAN 
ANDREAS  LAKE,  10.3  m.,  and  CRYSTAL  SPRINGS  LAKE,  14  m.,  along 
which  the  Portola  expedition  traveled  November  4  and  5,  1769  on  their 
way  southward. 

Near  the  northern  end  of  Crystal  Springs  Lake  is  the  JEPSON  LAUREL,  55 
feet  high  and  22  feet  4  inches  in  circumference.  It  is  called  the  Deathshead 
Tree  because  of  the  skull  and  crossbones  carved  in  its  fork  in  the  days 
when  the  Spanish  held  barbecues  beneath  its  branches. 

State  5  crosses  SKYLINE  DAM,  15.4  m.,  at  the  head  of  San  Mateo 
Creek,  and  strikes  westward  from  Crystal  Springs  Lake. 

At  25  m.  is  the  junction  with  King's  Mountain  Road;  L.  here  5  m.  to  the 
WOODSIDE  STORE,  the  first  opened  between  San  Francisco  and  Santa  Clara. 
It  was  built  in  1854  by  Dr.  R.  O.  Tripp.  It  is  a  two-story  structure  with  a 
peaked,  shingled  roof;  the  posts  upholding  the  wide  veranda,  where  horses 
were  once  hitched,  are  well-worn.  The  wooden  sign  over  the  porch  was 
put  up  before  the  Civil  War.  Inside  are  the  post  office  pigeon-holes,  the 
old-fashioned  counters,  the  oil  lamps  with  their  tin  reflectors,  the  tin  signs 
advertising  plug  chewing  tobacco.  As  many  as  a  thousand  lumberjacks 
from  the  dense  redwood  forests  roundabout — where  15  sawmills  operated 
in  a  radius  of  5  miles — called  here  for  mail,  food,  and  liquor. 

Skyline  Boulevard  continues  to  the  SKYLINE  METHUSELAH  REDWOOD  (L), 
26.2  m.,  a  lone  giant  dominating  the  countryside.  More  than  1,500  years 
old,  it  measures  55  feet  in  circumference.  Its  trunk  is  blackened  by  the 
repeated  fires  that  long  since  felled  its  neighbors. 

At  31.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  paved  La  Honda  (the  deep)  Canyon 
road;  R.  on  this  road  that  winds  down  the  slopes  in  a  flicker  of  sun  and 
shadow  through  clumps  of  redwoods  and  madrones  7  m.  to  LA  HONDA 
(403  alt.,  150  pop.),  a  mountain  resort  center  (cabins,  campgrounds]  in  the 
La  Honda  Grove  of  redwoods.  In  the  winter  of  1861-62,  John  L.  Sears 
settled  here  and  built  the  LA  HONDA  STORE,  employing  two  newcomers  to 
the  vicinity,  Jim  and  Bob  Younger.  Their  stay  was  brief,  for  they  left 
suddenly  to  rejoin  the  James  gang  in  the  Midwest  for  a  bank  robbery  at 
Northfield,  Minnesota,  that  landed  them  in  the  penitentiary. 

Left  from  La  Honda  on  a  paved  road  1  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  paved 
road;  R.  here  5  m.  to  the  SAN  MATEO  COUNTY  MEMORIAL  RED- 
WOOD PARK,  a  3io-acre  grove. 

At  38.4  m.  on  State  5  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  4  m.  and 
L.  to  ISLAM  SHRINE  PARK,  7  m.,  a  i,4OO-acre  redwood  grove. 

State  5  continues  down  the  east  slope  of  the  Sierra  Morena  to  its  junction 
with  State  9  (see  TOUR  2b)  45  m. 

State  I  skirts  hills  velvety  with  matted  chaparral  that  slope  steeply 
to  the  water's  edge,  where  flocks  of  sea  birds  perch  on  the  crags. 

SHARP  PARK,  14.7  m.,  a  resort  hamlet  facing  a  wide,  sandy 
beach,  clusters  near  the  northern  edge  of  SHARP  PARK  MUNICIPAL 


TOUR     I         331 

GOLF  COURSE,  15.2  m.,  part  of  the  48o-acre  park  given  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  by  Mrs.  Honora  Sharp.  The  smooth  green  links  on  either 
side  of  the  highway  are  indented  (R)  by  tule-grown  Laguna  Salada. 

ROCKAWAY  BEACH,  16.4  m.  (50  alt.),  lies  at  the  edge  of  a 
hill-sheltered  cove. 

The  road  cuts  across  the  mouth  of  Pedro  Valley  to  SAN  PEDRO 
CREEK,  17.8  m.,  guarded  by  lofty  SAN  PEDRO  POINT.  Near  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  by  an  Indian  village,  the  Portola  expedition  camped 
on  October  31,  1769  and  feasted  on  mussels  pried  from  the  rocks. 
After  mass  the  next  morning,  Portola  sent  Sgt.  Jose  Francisco  de 
Ortega  with  a  party  to  scout  eastward.  As  they  climbed  to  the  top 
of  the  ridge,  the  vast  expanse  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  never  before  seen 
by  white  men,  appeared  in  the  distance.  Before  they  could  report  their 
discovery,  however,  another  party  that  went  out  November  2  to  hunt 
and  returned  before  nightfall  had  brought  tidings  of  the  "great  arm  of 
the  sea,  extending  to  the  southeast  farther  than  the  eye  could  reach." 
On  the  morning  of  November  4,  the  expedition  broke  camp.  Aban- 
doning their  trek  in  search  of  Monterey  Bay,  they  climbed  the  ridge  to 
the  east,  looking  for  the  "port  and  a  ship  therein"  only  two  days  distant 
of  which  Indians  had  told  Ortega. 

The  ragged  leaves  and  green  globes  of  row  on  row  of  silvery-green 
artichoke  plants  carpet  fertile  Pedro  Valley,  thriving  here — and  near 
Half  Moon  Bay — as  nowhere  else.  Much  of  the  United  States  supply 
of  artichokes  is  grown  in  this  fog-moistened  coastal  strip,  where  the 
first  commercial  planting  was  made  in  1900.  The  plants  are  trimmed 
to  the  ground  in  the  spring  and  watered  and  cultivated  in  summer  to 
force  the  buds  to  mature  in  the  fall  and  winter,  although  they  mature 
naturally  in  June  and  July.  The  harvest  season,  beginning  in  August 
or  September,  reaches  its  peak  in  February,  March,  and  April.  About 
half  the  crop  is  hauled  to  market  in  California  by  truck  and  the  rest 
shipped  to  the  East  in  refrigerator  cars.  The  plants,  spaced  four  to  six 
feet  apart  in  rows,  produce  from  three  to  four  dozen  buds  apiece  by 
the  end  of  their  third  year,  and  up  to  twice  that  number  in  succeeding 
years,  until  their  sixth  year,  when  they  are  usually  replaced. 

On  the  south  bank  of  San  Pedro  Creek  is  the  junction  with  a 
graded  road. 

Left  on  this  road  1.3  m.  to  the  decaying  old  two-story  SANCHEZ  ADOBE,  the 
balconied  ranchhouse  of  Rancho  San  Pedro,  built  by  Don  Francisco  Sanchez 
in  1842.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  an  older  house,  which  is  said  to  have  been 
rebuilt  in  1817  with  timbers  from  a  ship  wrecked  on  San  Pedro  Point. 

State  i  climbs  over  the  hump  of  MONTARA  MOUNTAIN;  on 
the  summit  above  San  Pedro  Point,  Portola's  men  at  noon  of  October 
31,  1769,  sick  and  hungry  and  exhausted  from  the  tortuous  climb 
through  matted  brush  up  the  southern  slope,  looked  out  over  a  vast 
sweep  of  sea  and  land — Twin  Peaks  and  Mount  Tamalpais  rising  to 
the  north,  Point  Reyes  curving  out  to  sea  far  beyond,  and  the  rocky 
Farallon  Islands  jutting  from  the  misty  horizon.  The  road  dips  to 


332        CALIFORNIA 

the  spot  where  the  Portola  party  stopped  the  night  of  October  30,  1769, 
in  despair,  their  way  northward  blocked  by  the  steep  slopes. 

The  rolling  land  east  of  MONTARA,  22  m.  (300  pop.),  is  check- 
ered with  fields  that  supply  large  quantities  of  everlasting-flowers.  The 
blossoms  are  cut  from  their  stems,  mounted  on  fine  wire,  and  dried  for 
about  36  hours.  The  industry,  begun  in  1925,  has  achieved  a  produc- 
tion of  20,000,000  or  more  blossoms  in  recent  years. 

As  State  I  continues  past  plots  of  artichokes  and  brussels  sprouts, 
the  stout  tower  of  POINT  MONTARA  LIGHT  and  the  wire-webbed  steel 
masts  of  a  UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  RADIO  COMPASS  STATION  appear 
(R)  at  22.7  m.  on  Point  Montara,  near  a  half-submerged  circle  of  up- 
standing rocks. 

MOSS  BEACH,  23.3  m.  (75  alt.,  300  pop.),  is  a  tiny  cluster  of 
weather-beaten  houses  sheltered  by  wind-battered  cypresses.  From  the 
rocks  along  the  shore  delicate  sea  mosses  can  be  gathered.  The  strangely 
beautiful  marine  gardens  offshore  are  famous  for  their  flora. 

The  highway  rounds  gently  curving  HALF  MOON  BAY,  25.5  m., 
whose  blue  waters  stretch  southward,  breaking  in  hissing  foam  on  a 
long  white  beach  guarded  by  the  rocky  headland  of  PILLAR  POINT, 
which  navigator  Francisco  de  Gali  sighted  from  his  galleon  in  1585. 
He  reported :  ".  .  .  we  passed  by  a  very  high  and  fair  land  with  many 
trees,  wholly  without  snow;  there  likewise  we  found  great  store  of 
seals;  whereby  it  is  to  be  presumed  and  certainly  to  be  believed,  that 
there  are  many  rivers,  bays  and  havens  along  by  those  coasts  .  .  ."  The 
harbor,  protected  by  a  submerged  reef  off  the  point,  became  a  port  of 
call  for  whalers  and  traders — and,  more  recently,  for  rum  runners. 

The  town  of  HALF  MOON  BAY,  30.3  m.  (10  alt.,  1,000  pop.), 
now  populated  largely  by  Italians  and  Portuguese,  is  a  quiet  farm  vil- 
lage surrounded  by  neatly  laid  out  fields  of  artichokes  and  brussels 
sprouts.  The  weary  men  of  the  Portola  expedition  pitched  camp  near 
the  mouth  of  Pilarcitos  Creek,  at  the  northern  edge  of  town,  on  the 
rainy  night  of  October  28,  1769,  and  spent  a  wet  and  miserable  week- 
end— their  medicine  gone  and  their  food  running  low — before  they 
could  gather  enough  strength  to  move  on.  The  creek,  extending  up 
Pilarcitos  Valley,  was  later  the  boundary  between  Tiburcio  Vasquez' 
(no  relative  of  the  bandit)  part  of  Rancho  El  Corral  de  Tierra  (the 
enclosure  of  earth)  and  Candelario  Miramontes'  Rancho  Miramontes. 
The  two  rancheros  built  their  low-roofed,  rambling  adobe  houses  on 
opposite  banks  of  the  creek  in  the  1 840*5,  affording  each  other  company 
at  a  time  when  the  region  was  a  wilderness  roamed  by  grizzly  bears. 
Around  their  houses  grew  up  a  settlement  that  went  by  the  name 
Spanishtown  for  40  years  or  more  after  it  was  platted  in  1863. 

State  i  continues  past  small  farms  where  large  whitewashed  barns 
and  small  weather-beaten  farmhouses  are  sheltered  from  the  wind  by 
lines  of  dark,  ragged  cypresses.  The  rising  hills  curve  gently,  splotched 
in  the  hollows  with  dusky  chaparral. 

The  village  of  PURISIMA  (purest),  34.5  m.  (46  alt.),  once  a 
lively  town  on  Jose  Maria  Alviso's  Rancho  Canada  de  Verde  y  Arroyo 


TOUR    i      333 

de  la  Purisima,  is  ghostly  and  deserted  now.  Its  weathered  gray  build- 
ings stand  among  mosshung  cypresses  and  eucalyptus  trees,  their  win- 
dows broken,  their  stairs  falling  in,  their  facades  rudely  stuck  with  gay 
circus  posters. 

From  a  VIEWPOINT  at  38.6  m.,  tawny  bluffs  bordered  by  surf 
stretch  south.  The  highway  descends  to  the  beach  at  TUNITAS 
GLEN,  38.8  m.  (25$  a  car  for  camping}. 

The  farm  hamlet  of  SAN  GREGORIO  (St.  Gregory),  42.1  m. 
(100  alt.,  107  pop.),  in  a  valley  where  suave  hills  sweep  up  to  the 
Sierra  Morena  crest,  is  near  the  mouth  of  San  Gregorio  Creek.  The 
place  so  enchanted  Fray  Crespi  of  the  Portola  expedition  that  he  pro- 
posed it  for  a  mission  site,  naming  it  Santo  Domingo — but  others  called 
it  the  Valley  of  the  Curses  of  the  Soldiers,  for  "they  were  sick  and  tired 
and  hungry,"  as  diarist  Miguel  Costanso  wrote.  They  stayed  two  days 
to  rest. 

Although  PESCADERO  (fishing  place),  49.5  m.  (56  alt.,  979 
pop.),  was  named  for  Pescadero  Creek's  once  plentiful  supply  of  spec- 
kled trout,  the  town's  predominantly  Portuguese  inhabitants  neither 
catch  nor  sell  fish.  Pescadero's  cluster  of  prim  white  buildings  give  it 
the  appearance  of  a  New  England  village.  It  was  long  the  whitest 
town  in  the  State;  when  the  S.S.  Columbia  was  wrecked  near  Pigeon 
Point,  most  of  her  cargo  of  white  paint  drifted  ashore  and,  salvaged 
by  the  inhabitants,  was  used  lavishly. 

At  50.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  here  2  m.  to  PEBBLE  BEACH,  famous  for  its  polished  pebbles- 
small  agates,  jaspers,  opals,  moonstones,  moss  agates,  and  water-drops 
(white  pebbles  with  drops  of  water  in  their  centers). 

South  of  Pescadero  State  I  crosses  low  mesas  that  break  off  abruptly 
in  bluffs,  jagged  with  deep  caves  and  gulches  created  by  the  waves. 
The  PIGEON  POINT  LIGHTHOUSE,  55.8  m.  (open  2-4  Tues.,  Fri.,  Sat.), 
overlooks  a  rock-bound  coast,  on  whose  headland  the  Boston  clipper 
Carrier  Pigeon  was  wrecked  May  6,  1853.  The  tower  was  built  in 
1872.  The  powerful  lens  was  used  first  on  the  New  England  and  later 
on  the  South  Atlantic  coast,  where  it  was  buried  in  the  sand  during  the 
Civil  War — according  to  one  story,  to  keep  it  from  falling  into  Con- 
federate hands. 

The  road  curves  inland  from  PUNTA  DEL  ANO  NUEVO 
(New  Year's  Point),  stretching  out  to  sea  at  63.5  ra.,  the  NEW  YEAR'S 
POINT  LIGHTHOUSE  at  its  tip.  This  was  the  first  important  spot 
sighted  by  Sebastian  Vizcaino's  crew  when  they  sailed  from  Monterey 
January  3,  1602;  they  named  it  for  the  season  of  the  year. 

The  pine-forested  mountainsides  slope  steeply  to  the  sea,  crowding 
the  highway  to  the  edge  of  a  narrow  bench.  Then  State  I  drops  to  a 
cove  to  travel  along  a  roadway  carved  from  the  cliffs.  The  wide  beach 
here,  where  the  long  rollers  arch  in  transparent  blue-green  hues  and 
crash  in  a  welter  of  foam,  was  once  the  greatest  hazard  on  the  Santa 
Cruz  to  Pescadero  stage  line.  Since  the  coaches  could  travel  along 


334        CALIFORNIA 

the  hard-packed,  sandy  strip  only  at  low  tide,  a  delay  in  schedule  was 
apt  to  prove  disastrous.  The  more  adventurous  drivers  enjoyed  timing 
the  trip  down  to  the  last  second  so  that  they  could  race  the  tide  to 
safety,  much  to  the  consternation  of  their  passengers. 

At  the  mouth  of  Waddell  Creek,  65.5  ra.,  "a  very  deep  stream  that 
flowed  out  from  between  very  high  hills  of  the  mountain  chain,"  the 
Portola  expedition  camped  for  three  nights,  beginning  October  20, 
1769.  On  October  22  "the  day  dawned,  overcast  and  gloomy;  the 
men  were  wet  and  wearied  for  want  of  sleep,  as  they  had  no  tents, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  let  them  rest.  .  .  .  What  excited  our  wonder 
on  this  occasion  was  that  all  the  sick,  for  whom  we  feared  the  wetting 
might  prove  exceedingly  harmful,  suddenly  found  their  pains  very  much 
relieved.  This  was  the  reason  for  giving  the  canyon  the  name  of  La 
Salud"  (health). 

The  highway  swings  inland,  climbing  in  hairpin  twists  up  a  moun- 
tain spur,  with  excellent  views  of  the  coast  to  north  and  south.  From 
the  heights  it  descends  to  a  forested  canyon,  traverses  a  narrow,  logged- 
over  valley,  reaches  seaside  terraces  once  more,  and  cuts  through  alter- 
nating dairy  farms  and  fields  of  artichokes  and  brussels  sprouts. 

The  countryside  around  DAVENPORT,  75.5  m.  (90  alt.,  600 
pop.),  a  company  town  near  a  large  cement  plant,  is  liberally  pow- 
dered with  lime  dust.  In  the  1850*8  Davenport  Landing  was  the  site 
of  whaling  operations,  directed  by  Capt.  John  P.  Davenport,  who  de- 
vised a  stay-at-home  method  of  hunting.  The  whalers  lived  in  cabins 
on  the  shore,  from  which  they  sallied  forth  in  whaling  boats  when  a 
whale  was  sighted.  They  towed  their  catch  to  the  beach  and  there 
tried  the  blubber  in  huge  pots.  The  Portuguese  who  came  from  the 
Azores  to  settle  hereabout  built  lookouts  with  bells  and  stationed 
watchmen  there  to  sound  a  warning  when  they  sighted  whales  to  sum- 
mon the  others  from  their  farms  to  their  boats.  The  heyday  of  whaling 
lasted  until  the  i88o's,  when  the  mammals  began  to  disappear. 

State  i  continues  along  the  coast,  crossing  the  mouths  of  one  stream- 
hollowed  gully  after  another,  which  the  Portola  expedition  crossed  with 
infinite  difficulty  in  October,  1769.  At  the  mouth  of  Coja  Creek, 
79  m.,  their  camp  site  on  the  i8th,  they  had  to  build  a  bridge  of  poles 
and  earth.  The  next  day  they  encountered  seven  ravines  in  all,  clam- 
bering down  one  side  and  up  another.  One  had  such  steep  sides  that 
the  mule  bearing  the  olla  (cooking  pot)  fell  to  the  bottom. 

SANTA  CRUZ,  86.8  m.  (15  alt.,  14,395  pop.),  faces  south  across 
Monterey  Bay  from  its  perch  beside  a  broad,  curving  beach  at  the  edge 
of  the  timbered  Santa  Cruz  Mountains.  When  the  Portola  party 
planted  a  cross  on  the  bank  of  the  river  which  they  named  the  San 
Lorenzo,  on  October  17,  1769,  they  noticed  redwoods  and  "roses  of 
Castille"  but — to  Fray  Crespi's  disappointment — no  Indians.  Only  22 
years  later,  however,  a  fellow  Franciscan,  Fray  Fermin  Francisco  de 
Lasuen,  said  mass  in  the  presence  of  a  great  gathering  of  Indians  and 
raised  another  cross  to  consecrate  the  site  of  a  mission.  Mision  la 
Exaltacion  de  la  Santa  Cruz  (the  elevation  of  the  holy  cross)  was 


TOUR    i      335 

formally  founded  two  months  later,  September  25,  1791,  when  Don 
Hermenegildo  Sal,  comandante  of  the  Presidio  of  San  Francisco,  took 
the  name  of  King  Carlos  IV.  Fathers  Alonzo  Salazar  and  Baldomero 
Lopez  began  their  work,  equipped  with  an  image  of  Our  Father  Saint 
Francis,  a  painting  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  and  gifts  from  nearby 
missions — including  barley  for  seed,  cows,  sheep,  oxen,  horses  and  mules. 
For  more  than  two  years  they  baptized  the  heathen  without  even  the 
roof  of  a  church  above  their  heads,  for  the  first  church  was  not  com- 
pleted and  dedicated  until  March  10,  1794. 

On  May  12,  1797,  the  schooner  Conception  anchored  in  the  bay 
with  a  boatload  of  colonists  for  the  Villa  de  Branciforte,  the  Spanish 
Government's  third,  last,  and  least  successful  experiment  in  pueblo 
founding.  The  instructions  of  Governor  Diego  de  Borica  for  the 
pueblo,  named  in  honor  of  the  Mexican  Viceroy,  the  Marquis  de  Bran- 
ciforte, had  been  sensible  and  to  the  point:  "An  adobe  house  to  be  built 
for  each  settler  so  that  the  prevalent  state  of  things  at  San  Jose  and 
Los  Angeles,  where  the  settlers  still  live  in  tule  huts,  being  unable  to 
build  better  buildings  without  neglecting  their  fields,  may  be  avoided; 
the  houses  not  to  cost  over  $200."  The  government  had  promised  each 
colonist  a  musket,  a  plow,  a  few  animals,  and  a  loan  of  116  pesos. 
Unfortunately,  the  farmers,  mechanics,  artisans,  and  sailors  for  whom 
Borica  had  called  proved  to  be  a  tatterdemalion  crew  of  vagabonds  and 
ex-convicts.  Futhermore,  none  of  the  houses  was  ready  when  they  ar- 
rived. Don  Alberto  Cordoba,  a  Spanish  Army  engineer,  arrived  in 
August  to  supervise  digging  an  irrigation  canal,  erecting  public  build- 
ings, and  building  houses — all  according  to  plans  laid  out  in  Mexico — 
but  he  got  little  further  than  submitting  estimates  for  the  work,  since 
funds  failed  to  arrive. 

The  model  village  across  the  river  was  a  sore  trial  for  the  mission 
padres,  who  regarded  it  with  suspicious  anxiety — justifiably,  as  it  turned 
out.  When  the  Buenos  Aires  privateersman  Hippolyte  de  Bouchard 
sacked  Monterey  in  November,  1818,  the  padres  retired  in  haste  to 
Mission  Santa  Clara,  leaving  the  mission  in  the  hands  of  Branciforte's 
inhabitants  for  safekeeping.  The  protectors  found  the  stock  of  aguar- 
diente in  the  padres'  cellar  pleasantly  useful  for  bolstering  their  morale. 
The  damage  to  the  church  and  its  furnishings  was  considerable.  Un- 
fortunately, since  Bouchard  never  appeared  for  his  scheduled  raid,  they 
could  not  blame  him  for  the  depredations  as  they  had  planned. 

The  mission,  secularized  in  1834,  fell  mto  decay,  while  Branciforte 
survived.  By  1840,  when  twenty  ranchos  had  been  granted  in  the 
vicinity,  whalers  were  finding  it  a  good  place  to  buy  fresh  vegetables  for 
scurvy-ridden  crews.  A  new  town  grew  up  around  the  mission  plaza, 
borrowing  the  mission's  name.  Under  the  Yankee  regime  it  developed 
a  fine  trade,  shipping  lumber  from  the  redwood-forested  hinterland. 
One  of  its  first  industrial  plants  was  Elihu  Anthony's  foundry,  which 
in  1848  was  turning  out  light-weight  iron  picks  for  the  mines  and  cast- 
iron  plows,  the  first  made  in  California.  In  1866  the  city  of  Santa  Cruz 
was  granted  a  charter  by  the  State.  Meanwhile  neighboring  Bran- 


336        CALIFORNIA 

ciforte  preserved  the  easy-going  ways  of  old.  As  late  as  July,  1867,  the 
bull  ring  was  gay  with  red  flags  and  noisy  with  firecrackers  on  bull 
fight  days — "Admission  and  seats — $1.00.  Standing  room  on  the  sunny 
side — 50  cents."  Finally  in  1907  Branciforte,  now  a  mere  suburb  of 
its  former  rival,  was  incorporated  in  Santa  Cruz. 

A  reproduction  of  MISSION  SANTA  CRUZ  (adm.  25$),  on  Emmet 
St.  facing  the  Upper  Plaza,  was  built  in  1931  about  75  yards  from  the 
old  site.  The  original  structure  built  in  1793  suddenly  collapsed  with 
a  loud  crash  a  month  after  an  earthquake  had  weakened  its  walls  on 
January  9,  1857.  About  one-half  the  size  of  the  original  but  identical 
in  proportions,  the  mission  has  a  square  bell-tower  topped  with  a  dome, 
overlooking  one-story  porticoed  living  quarters  at  one  side  and  a  rear 
garden  court.  It  houses  old  relics — richly  ornamented  vestments,  a 
candle  chandelier,  and  a  statue  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows  brought  from 
Monterey  on  muleback.  The  brick  CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  CROSS, 
facing  the  Plaza,  was  built  in  1858  and  rebuilt  in  1889.  Back  of  the 
mission,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  the  ancient  headstones  of  the  euca- 
lyptus-shaded graveyard  are  half  hidden  by  tangled  myrtles.  The  adobe 
NEARY  HOUSE,  R.  from  the  mission  on  School  St.,  was  formerly  the 
headquarters  of  the  corporal  of  the  mission  guard.  The  adobe  ROD- 
RIGUEZ HOUSE,  joined  to  it  by  a  5-foot  adobe  wall,  has  been  in  the 
possession  of  descendants  of  Jose  Antonio  Rodriguez  ever  since  1838. 

The  SANTA  CRUZ  MUNICIPAL  PIER,  at  the  foot  of  Pacific  Ave., 
projects  into  the  surf  from  the  half-mile  strip  of  smooth  white  sand 
bordering  the  bay.  At  the  western  end  of  the  boardwalk  is  the  Casino, 
and  nearby  are  a  bathing  pavilion  and  pleasure  pier. 

Right  from  Pacific  Ave.  into  2.8-mile  West  Cliff  Dr.  On  the 
drive  are  the  SANTA  CRUZ  LIGHT  STATION  (open  2-4  Tues.,  Thurs.)  ; 
the  565-acre  expanse  of  the  municipal  recreation  ground,  LAVEAGA 
PARK,  still  in  its  natural  state;  and  SWANTON  NATURAL  BRIDGES 
BEACH  STATE  PARK,  in  a  sandy,  cliff-edged  cove  where  jutting  rocks 
have  been  carved  into  natural  bridges  by  the  waves. 

Santa  Cruz  is  at  the  junctions  with  State  9  (see  TOUR  2b]  and 
State  17  (see  TOUR  2b). 

East  of  Santa  Cruz  State  I  passes  through  farms  and  nurseries  to 
SOQUEL,  91.1  m.f  in  a  canyon  on  Soquel  Creek,  now  among  bulb 
gardens,  orchards,  and  vineyards,  but  a  booming  lumber  town  in  the 
days  when  the  hills  roundabout  were  forested  with  redwoods.  March- 
ing toward  Soquel  Creek  October  10,  1769,  Portola  and  his  men  saw 
"low  hills  well  forested  with  high  trees  of  a  red  color,  not  known  to 
us.  They  have  a  very  different  leaf  from  cedars,  and  although  the 
wood  resembles  cedar  somewhat  in  color,  it  is  very  different,  and  has  not 
the  same  odor;  moreover,  the  wood  of  the  trees  that  we  found  is  very 
brittle.  In  this  region  there  is  a  great  abundance  of  these  trees  and 
because  none  of  the  expedition  recognizes  them,  they  are  named  red- 
woods from  their  color."  Awe-struck  Pedro  Fages  wrote:  "Here  are 
trees  of  girth  so  great  that  eight  men  placed  side  by  side  with  extended 
arms  are  unable  to  embrace  them." 


TOUR    i      337 

Right  from  Soquel  on  a  paved  road  to  CAPITOLA,  1.5  m.,  a  long-estab- 
lished resort  facing  NEW  BRIGHTON  BEACH  STATE  PARK  in 
sheltered  Soquel  Cove. 

Over  the  route  of  State  I  on  their  way  to  Santa  Cruz  by  way  of 
San  Juan  (see  TOUR  2b}  ran  the  mail  stages  from  San  Jose.  The 
most  daring  driver  on  the  line  in  the  i86o's  was  swaggering  "Cock- 
eyed Charley"  Parkhurst,  outstanding  even  among  teamsters  for  his 
profanity.  A  naturally  truculent  expression,  enhanced  by  a  black  patch 
over  a  missing  eye  and  tobacco-juice  stains  on  mouth  and  chin,  made 
Charley  the  toughest  looking  fellow  in  the  region.  Not  until  Charley's 
death  in  1879  was  it  discovered  that  "he"  was  a  woman.  Born  Char- 
lotte Parkhurst  in  New  Hampshire  in  1806,  "Charley"  had  turned  up 
in  California  in  1848.  More  than  50  years  before  introduction  of 
woman  suffrage,  this  enterprising  Amazon  had  voted,  "his"  name  ap- 
pearing on  the  Santa  Cruz  Great  Register  for  1866. 

At  94.2  m.  on  State  I  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.5  m.  to  SEACLIFF  STATE  PARK,  where  the  beach 
affords  fine  surf  bathing  and  clamming.  At  the  end  of  a  pier  stands  an 
old  hulk,  one  of  the  concrete  ships  built  during  the  World  War,  anchored 
here  by  an  enterprising  night  club  owner  as  a  dance  hall.  Although  a 
large  crack  yawns  in  the  hull — and  signs  reading  "DANGER"  are  numer- 
ous— fishermen  cast  their  lines  from  the  prow  (lo$  charge)  in  serene 
indifference. 

APTOS  (Ind.,  the  meeting  of  the  streams),  94.6  m.  (100  pop.), 
at  the  base  of  oak-  and  chaparral-clad  hills,  was  long  a  fashionable 
resort,  but  its  OCEAN  VIEW  HOTEL  (L)  is  deserted  today.  Late  in  the 
nineteenth  century  Claus  Spreckels,  founder  of  the  State's  first  sugar 
dynasty,  who  built  a  great  sugar  beet  refinery  near  Watsonville,  bought 
up  most  of  Don  Rafael  Castro's  Rancho  Aptos.  His  estate — with  its 
race  track  and  its  mansion  containing  an  elevator,  the  first  south  of  San 
Francisco — became  the  wonder  of  the  countryside,  especially  when 
Spreckels  welcomed  as  a  visitor  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

From  the  hill  country  east  of  Aptos,  State  I  descends  across  the 
broad,  level  Pajaro  Valley,  watered  by  the  river  that  the  Portola  ex- 
pedition named  the  Rio  del  Pajaro  (river  of  the  bird)  because  they 
found  on  its  banks  a  great  eagle  stuffed  with  straw  by  the  Indians. 
The  Pajaro  Valley  is  a  vast  sweep  of  apple  orchards — in  springtime 
snowy  with  blossoms,  whose  petals  eddy  in  fragrant  showers  on  the 
breeze.  In  the  summer,  when  the  orchards  are  luxuriantly  green,  the 
trees — bellflowers  and  pippins — drooping  under  their  burden  of  fruit, 
are  propped  up  to  prevent  their  branches  breaking.  Along  the  way  are 
stands  selling  cold  cider. 

The  orchard  hamlet  of  FREEDOM,  104.4  m.  (115  alt.,  350  pop.), 
went  by  the  name  of  Whiskey  Hill — up  until  the  era  of  sobriety  in- 
augurated by  prohibition. 

The  brisk  modern  trade  center  of  the  apple  country,  WATSON- 
VILLE, 106.4  m.  (25  alt.,  8,344  P°P-)>  °n  both  sides  of  the  Pajaro 
River  (which  has  often  overflowed  its  banks  and  flooded  the  town), 


338        CALIFORNIA 

was  laid  out  in  1852  by  Judge  John  H.  Watson  and  D.  S.  Gregory  on 
land  purchased  from  Don  Sebastian  Rodriguez'  Rancho  Bolsa  del 
Pajaro.  Many  other  settlers  dispensed  with  the  formality  of  purchase, 
squatting  on  the  rest  of  Rodriguez'  land  before  his  numerous  heirs 
could  claim  it  after  his  death  in  1855.  Jesse  D.  Carr's  success  with 
his  apple  orchard  in  1853  led  others  to  plant  trees.  Today  Watsonville 
ships  as  many  as  6,500,000  boxes  of  apples  in  a  year — as  well  as  vast 
quantities  of  strawberries,  apricots,  lettuce,  and  garden  crops.  The 
town  has  more  than  75  packing  houses  and  numerous  evaporating  plants, 
canneries,  and  cider  and  vinegar  factories. 

Watsonville's  Plaza,  in  the  center  of  town  was  the  scene  of  bull 
and  bear  fights  and  horse  races  were  held  on  its  main  street  in  the  days 
when  the  townsmen  spent  their  Sundays — after  dutiful  attendance  at 
early  mass — gambling,  dancing,  and  racing.  The  small  cannon  in  the 
square  is  the  one  fired  from  the  Pacific  Mail  steamship  Oregon  as  it 
steamed  into  San  Francisco  Bay  in  October,  1850,  announcing  Cali- 
fornia's admission  into  the  Union. 

Watsonville  is  at  the  junction  with  State  152  (see  TOUR  2b) . 

Right  from  Watsonville  on  paved  Beach  Road  5  m.  to  SUNSET  BEACH 
STATE  PARK,  a  broad  sandy  strip  bordering  Monterey  Bay. 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  the  stretch  of  road  south  of  Watsonville 
the  stages  from  Natividad  and  Monterey  used  to  meet  and  race  into 
town — the  drivers  hunched  forward,  whipping  their  four-horse  teams 
to  a  gallop,  the  lumbering  coaches  swaying  and  careening  while  the 
cheering  male  passengers  made  bets  and  the  ladies  fainted  quietly  away. 

On  the  edge  of  a  bluff  overlooking  the  Pajaro  Valley  (R),  109.3  m., 
stands  the  rapidly  disintegrating  HOUSE  OF  GLASS,  the  Casa  Materna 
(mother  house)  of  the  history-making  Vallejo  family,  once  the  wonder 
and  envy  of  the  countryside  because  of  its  glass  windows.  The  mansion 
was  built,  supposedly  about  1824,  by  Don  Ignacio  Vincente  Ferrer 
Vallejo,  on  the  Rancho  Bolsa  de  San  Cayetano  (pocket  of  St.  Gaetan). 
The  two-story  structure  has  walls  20  inches  thick,  joists  and  window 
frames  of  hewn  redwood,  and  a  shingle  roof  upheld  by  a  single  beam; 
the  floor  of  its  two  downstairs  rooms  is  of  hard-packed  earth.  Accord- 
ing to  legend,  the  upper  veranda  was  glassed-in — at  a  time  when  glass 
windows  were  all  but  unknown  in  California — because  Vallejo  received 
a  shipment  of  twelve  dozen  windows  instead  of  the  one  dozen  he  had 
ordered.  The  Vallejo  family  consisted  of  eight  daughters  and  five 
sons — of  whom  the  most  distinguished  was  Mariano,  the  founder  of 
Sonoma. 

From  the  Vallejo  ranch  the  young  rebels,  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado 
and  Jose  Castro,  led  an  army  of  75  armed  with  antiquated  muskets  on 
Monterey  in  November,  1835,  bound  to  overthrow  Gov.  Nicolas  Gu- 
tierrez and  proclaim  the  "free  and  sovereign  State"  of  Alta  California. 
The  army  set  out  to  the  martial  strains  of  a  fife  and  drum  corps  re- 
cruited from  San  Juan.  On  the  way  they  were  joined  by  50  daredevil 
Yankee  riflemen,  led  by  the  reckless  Tennesseean,  Isaac  Graham,  who 


TOUR    i      339 

had  turned  from  trapping  and  hunting  to  the  more  profitable  business 
of  operating  a  whisky  distillery  in  the  Pajaro  Valley.  A  single  shot  was 
enough  to  capture  Monterey — one  cannon  ball,  fired  by  a  lawyer  who 
had  to  consult  a  book  to  learn  how  to  fire  it;  it  struck  the  Governor's 
house,  reducing  him  to  such  abject  terror  that  he  surrendered  forth- 
with. Young  Alvarado  wrote  to  Vallejo:  "It  is  wonderful,  Uncle, 
with  what  order  our  expedition  has  been  conducted.  Everybody  shouts 
vivas,  for  California  is  free." 

The  rancho  of  1847  was  described  by  young  Lt.  William  T.  Sher- 
man, who  called  early  one  morning  on  one  of  the  sons,  Juan  Antonio: 
"It  was  on  a  high  point  of  the  plateau,  overlooking  the  plain  of  the 
Pajaro,  on  which  were  grazing  numbers  of  horses  and  cattle.  The 
house  was  of  adobe,  with  a  long  range  of  adobe  huts  occupied  by  semi- 
civilized  Indians,  who  at  that  time  did  all  the  labor  of  a  ranch,  the 
herding  and  marking  of  cattle,  the  breaking  of  horses,  and  cultivating 
the  little  patches  of  wheat  and  vegetables  which  constituted  all  the 
farming  of  that  day.  Everything  about  the  house  looked  deserted,  and, 
seeing  a  small  Indian  boy  leaning  up  against  a  post,  I  approached  him 
and  asked  him  in  Spanish,  'Where  is  the  master?'  'Gone  to  the  Pre- 
sidio.' 'Is  anybody  in  the  house?'  'No.'  'Is  it  locked  up?'  'Yes.' 
'Is  no  one  about  who  can  get  in?'  'No.'  'Have  you  any  meat?'  'No.' 
'Any  flour  or  grain?'  'No.'  'Any  chickens?'  'No.'  'Any  eggs?'  'No.' 
'What  do  you  live  on?'  "Nada'  (nothing)." 

As  the  forested  hills  retreat  to  the  foot  of  distant  mountains,  the 
way  lies  through  rolling  fields  and  pastures  where  white-faced  cattle 
graze. 

The  warm-colored  marsh  grasses  of  ELKHORN  SLOUGH, 
114.6  m.,  crossed  by  a  concrete  bridge  usually  lined  with  fishermen 
(tackle,  bait,  boats  for  rent),  are  the  haunt  of  wild  fowl.  A  peculiar 
form  of  marine  algae  colors  the  water  red. 

At  115.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  MOSS  LANDING,  0.1  m.  (10  alt.,  100  pop.),  a 
whaling  station  and  schooner  landing  established  about  1865  by  Capt. 
Charles  Moss.  So  large  was  its  shipping  business  that  at  times  wagons 
from  the  Salinas  Valley  farms  were  lined  up  for  5  miles,  waiting  their 
turn  to  unload.  Up  until  1920  as  many  as  five  whales  a  week  were 
handled  here,  despite  the  complaints  of  inhabitants  for  miles  around  when 
the  wind  blew  its  odors  inland;  the  Board  of  Health  finally  declared  it  a 
public  menace.  The  fish  reduction  plant  that  took  its  place  was  scarcely  an 
improvement  in  an  olfactory  sense. 

CASTROVILLE,  117.7  m.  (819  pop.),  was  founded  in  1864  by 
Juan  B.  Castro  on  his  father's  rancho,  which  bore  the  curious  name  of 
Bolsa  Nueva  y  Morro  Coyo  (new  pocket  and  lame  Moor) — in  ref- 
erence, according  to  one  conjecture,  to  a  lame  black  horse,  and  accord- 
ing to  another,  to  the  black  soil  (since  the  Spaniards  used  the  word 
morro  to  mean  anything  black).  Once  predominantly  Portuguese  in 
population,  it  is  today  mostly  Swiss-Italian. 

State  i,  turning  seaward,  crosses  the  SALINAS  RIVER,  120.7  m., 
which  the  Portola  expedition  followed  to  the  coast  in  its  search  for 


34°        CALIFORNIA 

Monterey  Bay.  Arriving  near  its  mouth  on  September  30,  the  men 
spent  a  week  exploring  the  shores  of  the  bay,  but — as  Sgt.  Ortega  wrote 
— "not  rinding  the  shelter  and  protection  ascribed  ...  to  the  port 
caused  us  doubt,  since  we  saw  a  gulf  .  .  .  large  enough  to  hold  thou- 
sands of  vessels,  but  with  little  protection  from  some  winds."  After 
consultation,  they  resumed  their  weary  journey  northward.  As  the 
highway  skirts  sand  dunes  along  the  shore,  the  hazy  blue  Santa  Lucia 
Mountains  loom  ahead  above  Monterey  on  its  curved  sweep  of  bay, 
gleaming  in  the  sun. 

The  entrance  to  HOTEL  DEL  MONTE,  132.1  m.,  leads  to  a  woodland 
maze  of  terraces,  courts,  gardens,  promenades  and  road  ways,  surround- 
ing the  large  white  hostelry.  The  hotel  is  faintly  reminiscent  of  the 
Spanish  Colonial  regime.  It  is  California's  oldest  large  resort  hotel; 
it  plays  such  a  part  in  the  life  of  the  region  that  it  has  come  to  be 
regarded  almost  as  a  public  institution.  Its  prestige  value  makes  it 
particularly  popular  with  honeymooners  who  yearn  to  have  a  glimpse 
of  the  haute  monde.  It  is  also  popular  with  businessmen  who  like  to 
temper  the  rigor  of  their  conventions  with  luxurious  comfort.  In  the 
surrounding  forest  are  bridle  trails,  a  racetrack,  steeplechasing  and  cross- 
country racing  courses,  skeet  and  trapshooting  grounds,  archery  and 
badminton  courts,  and  swimming  pools,  golf  courses,  and  polo  fields 
where  championship  matches  are  played.  The  first  hotel  was  erected 
in  1880;  the  second  in  1887;  the  present  one  in  1924.  The  Art  Gal- 
lery (open  2-5)  exhibits  works  of  local  artists. 

MONTEREY,  133.1  m.  (0-600  alt.,  9,141  pop.)  (see  MON- 
TEREY). 

Section  c.  MONTEREY  to  LAS  CRUCES,  217  m.  State  1. 

In  1897  young  Dr.  John  Roberts  tended  the  sick  on  the  isolated 
ranches  south  of  Monterey,  riding  long,  slow  miles  on  horseback  over 
the  narrow  wagon  road  that  twisted  in  and  out  of  the  -foothills  and 
canyons  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Range.  Later  he  traveled  along  the  coast 
from  San  Luis  Obispo  to  Monterey  on  foot,  sketching — planning  the 
road  in  which  he  tried  for  years  to  arouse  interest.  Roberts  estimated 
that  $50,000  would  pay  for  its  construction.  When  he  could  raise 
only  half  that  sum,  he  carried  his  fight  to  the  State  Legislature.  One 
ardent  legislator — Senator  James  Rigdon — was  largely  responsible  for 
the  passage  of  the  bill  in  1919  that  authorized  construction  of  the  road. 
In  1920  the  first  surveys  were  made  and  the  work  was  begun.  Hun- 
dreds of  men — free  and  convict — labored  for  18  years;  not  $50,000  but 
$10,000,000  was  spent;  lives  and  equipment  were  lost  in  the  sea;  and 
in  June  1937,  tne  section  of  State  I,  known  as  the  Carmel-San  Simeon 
Highway,  was  opened  to  the  public. 

In  MONTEREY,  0  m.  is  the  junction  of  Del  Monte  Avenue  and 
Washington  St. 

Right  from  Monterey  on  Washington  St.;  R.  on  Lighthouse  Avenue;  R. 
on  First  Street;  and  L.  on  Ocean  View  Avenue  along  the  shore  to  HOPKINS 


TOUR     I         341 

MARINE  STATION  OF  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY  (R),  1.7  m.,  on  Cabrillo  Point, 
founded  by  Timothy  Hopkins  in  1892.  Its  studies  of  oceanic  biology  include 
a  hydrobiological  survey  of  Monterey  Bay.  It  has  a  collection  of  marine 
life  for  the  observation  of  students  and  visitors. 

In  a  .pine  forest  by  Monterey  Bay  is  PACIFIC  GROVE,  2.3  m.  (47  alt., 
5>558  pop.),  a  family  recreation  and  residential  community.  The  site  of 
the  first  Chautauqua  in  the  West,  it  was  founded  by  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  members  in  1874,  as  a  center  for  conferences,  meetings,  and  out- 
ings; it  still,  by  deed  restriction,  forbids  the  sale  of  liquor  within  its  boun- 
daries. The  MUNICIPAL  MUSEUM  (open  2-5  daily  except  Mon.;  free],  on 
Forest  Ave.,  displays  collections  of  California  butterflies  and  Monterey  Bay 
marine  life  among  other  exhibits.  The  salt-water  MUNICIPAL  PLUNGE 
(adm.  children  15$,  adults  30$;  suit  rental  15$)  is  near  the  bathing  beach, 
fishing  pier,  and  bath  house.  Glass-bottom  boats  (10-4  daily;  fare  25$} 
afford  a  view  of  underwater  plant  and  animal  life  in  the  MARINE  GARDENS 
offshore. 

Left  from  Pacific  Grove  on  Asilomar  Boulevard  0.5  m.  to  the  BUTTERFLY 
TREES,  two  pines  that  serve  as  the  refuge  every  fall  for  thousands  of 
huge  brown,  red,  and  white  butterflies  (amosiae  plexippus)  from  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  One  year  they  settle  on  one  tree,  the  next  year  on 
the  other — to  the  amazement  of  scientists. 

As  the  road  continues  westward  round  POINT  PINOS  at  the  south- 
western extremity  of  Monterey  Bay,  the  rocky  coastline,  lashed  by  foaming 
breakers,  grows  more  and  more  rugged. 

At  3.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  L.  here  0.3  m.  to  POINT 
PINOS  LIGHTHOUSE  (open  1-4.  Tues.,  Thurs.),  built  in  1872,  which  guards  the 
coast  with  a  white  oscillating  light  and  an  electric  fog  siren. 

The  snowy  crests  of  sand  dunes  fringe  the  beach  at  ASILOMAR  (Ind., 
a  place  of  retreat),  62  m.,  the  6o-acre  resort  opened  by  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  when  the  growth  of  Pacific  Grove  crowded  religious 
conventions  out  of  the  city. 

The  toll  gate  to  the  Seventeen-Mile  Drive,  6.4  m.  (50^  per  car]  opens  on 
a  dirt  road  winding  through  Monterey  pines  and  scrub  oaks,  their  branches 
hung  with  long  streamers  of  Spanish  moss.  In  a  filled-in  lake  bed  (R) 
at  6.9  m.  is  the  SAND  PLANT  of  the  Del  Monte  Properties  Company,  only  one 
of  its  kind  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  which  washes  and  dries  sand  for  bathing 
beaches.  The  Seventeen-Mile  Drive  skirts  MOSS  BEACH,  running  along 
a  wide  mesa  between  dazzling  white  sand  dunes,  to  POINT  JOE  8.6  m., 
named  for  a  Japanese  squatter  who  lived  here  many  years.  It  overlooks 
the  surging  deep  indigo  currents  of  the  RESTLESS  SEA,  where  three  large 
vessels  have  foundered. 

At  11.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  0.1  m.  to  CYPRESS 
POINT,  commanding  crescent-shaped  CARMEL  BAY.  Along  the  cliffs 
grow  Monterey  cypresses.  Once  widely  distributed  over  this  section  of  the 
coast,  they  now  make  their  last  stand  in  the  limited  area  between  Cypress 
Point  and  Point  Lobos  (see  below).  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  compared 
them  to  "ghosts  fleeing  before  the  wind."  Clutching  at  precarious  footholds 
in  the  face  of  ocean  gales,  they  lift  their  gnarled  and  twisted  branches, 
hung  with  rags  of  yellow  moss,  in  grotesque  postures. 

A  lone  cypress,  the  most  painted  and  photographed  in  the  forest,  crowns 
MIDWAY  POINT  (R),  12.4  m.  The  strangely  contorted  GHOST  TREE, 
13.1  m.,  worn  white  by  spray  and  wind,  appears  as  the  road  rounds  PES- 
CADERO  POINT. 

The  Seventeen-Mile  Drive  curves  through  the  spacious  homes  and  gar- 
dens of  PEBBLE  BEACH,  13.8  m.,  a  socially  exclusive  playground  with  its 
Del  Monte  Lodge,  sport  field,  and  golf  course. 

At  14  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  0.3  m.  to  STILLWATER 
COVE,  with  its  arch  rock  offshore,  its  fishing  club  and  bathing  beach,  yacht 
harbor  and  marine  gardens  (glass-bottom  boats,  50$). 

At  15.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;   L.  here,  past  the  forest 


342        CALIFORNIA 

sheltered  homes  of  CARMEL  WOODS,  to  another  toll  gate  at  the  junction 
with  State  i,  17.4  m. 

From  Del  Monte  Ave.  and  Washington  St.  in  Monterey,  0  m., 
State  I  follows  Washington  St.,  turns  L.  on  Abrego  St.,  and  cuts  across 
the  Monterey  Peninsula  to  the  junction  with  Seventeen-Mile  Drive  (see 
above),  2.3  m.  At  2.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  Carmel  Road. 

Right  on  Carmel  Rd.  is  CARMEL,  1  m.  (220  alt.,  3,000  pop.),  art  center 
of  the  Monterey  Peninsula,  affectionately  termed  "The  Village,"  facing  the 
dazzling  white  beach  of  Carmel  Bay  from  pine-  and  oak-forested  slopes. 
The  village  dates  from  about  1904,  when  Mary  Austin,  James  Hopper, 
George  Sterling  and  other  young  writers  and  artists  built  small  shacks  in 
the  woods.  Determined  to  keep  out  modern  inventions,  they  fought  intro- 
duction of  paved  streets,  gas  and  electricity,  and  jails.  As  dilettantes, 
charlatans,  and  idlers  flocked  in  after  them,  the  town  grew.  The  diverg- 
ence of  point  of  view  between  artists  and  non-artists  led  to  sharp  local 
battles.  By  and  large  the  "artists"  have  won,  for  Carmel  still  has  no  public 
utilities  of  its  own,  no  house  numbers,  no  mail  delivery;  and  it  forbids  cut- 
ting down  of  trees  without  a  police  permit.  The  business  buildings  bor- 
dering the  main  street  with  its  pine-dotted  parkway  and  the  dwellings 
along  the  residence  streets  meandering  through  untidy  flower  patches  are 
a  weird  conglomerate  of  Spanish,  Italian,  French,  and  English  styles,  built 
according  to  the  individual  taste  of  each  owner.  The  community  supports 
a  little  theater,  a  small  art  gallery,  a  forum  for  visiting  lecturers,  a  music 
society  that  presents  winter  concerts  and  an  annual  Bach  festival.  Among 
the  better-known  residents  have  been  the  scientist  David  Starr  Jordan; 
photographers  Arnold  Genthe  and  Edward  Weston;  artists  Maynard 
Dixon,  Jo  Mora,  Armin  Hansen,  Rollo  Peters,  William  Ritchel;  writers 
Ambrose  Bierce,  Don  Blanding,  Martin  Flavin,  Lincoln  Steffens,  Jesse 
Lynch  Williams,  Rhys  Williams,  and  Harry  Leon  Wilson.  The  FOREST 
THEATER,  in  a  grove  of  trees  on  Mountain  View  Ave.,  founded  in  1919,  is 
said  to  have  been  California's  first  open-air  community  theater.  A  village 
showplace  is  TOR  HOUSE  with  its  tower  rising  from  Carmel  Point,  the  home 
and  workshop  of  the  poet  Robinson  Jeffers,  built  by  his  own  hand  from 
natural  rock. 

At  4.2  m.  on  State  I  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  on  this  road  through  the  farms,  orchards  and  pastures  of  CARMEL 
VALLEY,  along  the  Carmel  River  between  the  chaparral-clad  Santa  Lucia 
Mountains.  The  valley  was  the  setting  for  Mary  Austin's  Ysidro,  an  idyll 
of  mission  days.  Beyond  the  SAN  CLEMENTE  DAM  (R),  15.5  m.,  built 
(1921)  to  impound  the  Carmel  River,  the  road  climbs  through  lonely  cattle 
ranches  into  more  rugged  country. 

At  24  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  on  this  road  is  JAMES- 
BURG,  27.1  m.  (cabins  available),  founded  in  1867  by  John  James,  but  now 
little  more  than  a  country  store. 

The  road  climbs  up  jagged  forested  mountain  slopes  to  MADRONE 
FLATS,  31  m.,  which  provides  a  splendid  view.  It  drops  sharply  down- 
ward through  chaparral  dotted  with  yucca  trees,  sycamores,  and  maples. 

In  a  heavily  wooded  canyon  is  TASSAJARA  (Ind.,  meat  curing  place) 
SPRINGS,  41.3  m.  (1,700  alt.),  hot  mineral  springs  (160°  F)  flowing  from 
boulders  beside  a  rushing  stream.  Under  one  of  the  present  bath  houses  is 
a  crude  tub  hollowed  out  of  a  large  rock  by  Indians,  who  believed  the 
waters  to  have  magic  qualities.  The  resort  has  a  large  hotel,  built  in  the 
1890*8  of  sandstone  quarried  nearby;  two  large  sanitary  bath  houses,  14 
private  bathrooms,  tubs  and  showers,  and  natural  vapor  baths;  two 
plunges,  a  swimming  pool,  an  outdoor  dance  floor,  and  stables. 


TOUR    i      343 

At  4.5  m.  on  State  I  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.6  m.  to  MISION  SAN  CARLOS  BORROMEO  DEL  Rio 
CARMELO  (Mission  St.  Charles  Borromeo  of  the  Carmel  River),  on  the 
cypress-dotted  slopes  overlooking  Carmel  Bay.  To  the  three  Carmelite 
priests  of  Sebastian  Vizcaino's  expedition  who  visited  the  site  in  1602,  it  so 
closely  resembled  the  landscape  around  Mount  Carmel  in  Palestine  that 
they  named  it  for  the  birthplace  of  their  order.  The  mission,  second  in 
California,  was  founded  in  1770  by  Junipero  Serra  at  Monterey  and  moved 
to  its  present  site  the  following  year.  It  remained  the  home  of  Serra,  who 
was  buried  here  beside  his  devoted  co-worker,  Padre  Juan  Crespi,  at  his 
death  in  1784.  The  present  church  was  founded  July  7,  1793  by  Serra's 
successor  as  Padre-presidente  of  the  missions,  Fermin  Francisco  de  Lasuen. 
The  mission  reached  the  height  of  its  prosperity  in  1794,  when  its  Indian 
population  numbered  927.  After  its  secularization  it  fell  rapidly  into  ruin, 
overrun  by  birds  and  squirrels.  The  restoration  of  the  mission  was  begun 
in  the  i88o's,  when  the  ruins  of  the  fallen  roof  were  cleared  off  the  graves 
of  Serra  and  Crespi.  The  roof,  shingled  at  that  time,  was  later  replaced 
by  one  of  tile.  The  walls  of  the  church,  five  feet  thick,  built  of  sandstone 
blocks  cemented  with  lime  made  by  the  Indians  from  abalone  shells,  re- 
main standing  on  their  granite  foundation;  they  curve  in  a  parabolic  arch 
to  the  ceiling,  which  is  supported  by  stone  and  wooden  pillars.  To  the  left 
of  the  main  entrance  are  the  baptistry  and  font,  carved  by  neophytes,  and 
the  modern  mortuary  chapel  (1924)  with  its  beams  and  murals  reproducing 
the  original  decorations  and  its  monument  to  Serra  (Jo  Mora,  sculptor). 
To  the  right  of  the  entrance,  hollowed  sandstone  steps  lead  to  the  balcony, 
lighted  by  an  irregular  star-shaped  window.  The  interior  has  many  of  its 
original  paintings  and  statues.  In  the  sanctuary  are  buried  Serra,  Crespi, 
Lasuen,  and  Lopez.  Serra's  grave  is  marked  by  the  simple  wooden  cross 
placed  on  it  at  the  time  of  his  death  by  an  Indian  convert.  The  mission  is 
the  setting  today  of  the  annual  Serra  Pageant  in  August. 

From  its  crossing  of  the  CARMEL  RIVER,  5.1  m.t  State  I  climbs 
out  of  the  valley,  past  the  CARMELITE  MONASTERY  (L),  6.2  m., 
where  the  Discalced  Nuns  of  Our  Lady  and  Saint  Therese  live  in  ab- 
solute seclusion. 

Just  beyond  the  boundary  of  POINT  LOBOS  STATE  PARK  is 
the  entrance  (R)  to  POINT  LOBOS  RESERVE,  7  m.  (adm.  $0$ 
per  car;  picnicking,  no  camping},  a  wildly  rocky  promontory  fringed 
with  wind-blown  trees.  The  sea  lions  that  congregate  on  the  rocks  gave 
rise  to  the  Spanish  name,  Punta  de  los  Lobos  Marinos  (point  of  the  sea 
wolves).  The  point  is  the  northernmost  habitat  of  the  brown  pelican 
and  the  southernmost  of  the  Monterey  Cypress.  The  visits  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  in  1879  have  given  rise  to  the  legend  that  Point  Lobos 
was  the  inspiration  for  Spyglass  Hill  in  Treasure  Island.  The  somber 
battle  of  the  elements  waged  here  inspired  Robinson  Jefrers  to  make  it 
the  setting  for  his  poem  Tamar. 

State  i  follows  the  coast,  alternately  dipping  to  the  mouths  of 
creeks  and  climbing  over  promontory  ridges,  to  the  ruins  of  NOTLEY'S 
LANDING  (R),  16.2  m.,  where  timber  and  tanbark  brought  by  mule- 
back  from  the  canyons  were  once  loaded  by  cable  on  waiting  vessels. 

Above  the  surf-beaten  cove  at  the  mouth  of  Bixby  Creek  arches  the 
single  concrete  span  of  RAINBOW  BRIDGE,  17.8  m.,  718  feet  long  and 
260  feet  high.  On  the  cliff  edge  (R)  are  the  ruins  of  BIXBY'S  LAND- 
ING, the  setting  for  Robinson  Jeffer's  poem  Thurso's  Landing,  where 


344        CALIFORNIA 

in   the  early    I  goo's   lime   from  inland   quarries  was  carried   in   great 
buckets  over  a  3-mile  aerial  tramway  down  the  canyon  to  the  pier. 
At  23.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  narrow,  winding  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.5  m.,  scaling  a  great  rock,  to  the  POINT  SUR  LIGHT- 
HOUSE (open  1-4.  Mon.,  Wed.,  Fri.),  perched  270  feet  above  the  surf  at 
the  tip  of  POINT  SUR.  When  the  S.  S.  Los  Angeles  ran  aground  here 
in  1873,  young  Dr.  John  Roberts  rode  the  30  miles  from  Monterey  in  3^2 
hours  to  find  150  victims,  alive  and  dead,  clinging  to  the  shore  or  washed 
up  on  the  beach.  From  miles  around  came  the  ranchers  in  1879,  when 
the  Ventura  went  down,  to  salvage  its  cargo  of  fine  linens  and  knock- 
down wagons.  Old  men  on  the  lonely  ranches  still  boast  to  their  grand- 
children of  having  helped  build  in  1889  the  lighthouse  and  its  buildings, 
the  former  stairway  with  its  395  wooden  steps,  and  the  water  system. 
When  the  light  intended  for  Pigeon  Point,  brought  from  France  and 
shipped  around  the  Horn,  was  delivered  here  instead,  there  was  mighty 
rejoicing  among  the  mountain  folk.  Only  dissenter  was  old  Choppy  Casuse, 
who  commented:  "Good  light,  but  she  no  work.  Go  all  the  time  sad, 
'Boo-Boo,'  but  the  fog,  she  creep  in  just  the  same."  Off  Point  Sur  in 
1935  the  United  States  Navy  dirigible  Macon  went  down  in  a  dense  fog, 
with  the  loss  of  two  lives. 

State  I  turns  inland  up  the  valley  of  the  BIG  SUR  RIVER,  past 
the  white  buildings  and  orchards  of  Rancho  El  Sur  (R),  26.3  m., 
claimed  in  1852  by  the  region's  first  settler,  sea  captain  Juan  Bautista 
Roger  Cooper,  a  Yankee  trader  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  landing 
cargoes  here  to  evade  customs  duties  at  Monterey.  The  bleak  Big  Sur 
Country  provided  a  meager  living  to  the  homesteaders  who  settled  it 
in  the  iSyo's.  The  few  who  have  remained  live  far  off  the  road  in 
isolated  ranches.  The  inbreeding,  passion,  moroseness,  and  suspicion 
engendered  by  their  primitive,  lonely  lives  have  been  well  interpreted 
by  Robinson  Jeffers,  who  has  made  this  country  the  background  of  many 
of  his  poems. 

The  highway  continues  along  the  river  bank,  fringed  with  oaks, 
sycamores,  and  young  redwoods,  into  PFEIFFER  REDWOOD 
STATE  PARK,  30  m.  {picnic  grounds,  swimming  pools),  a  resort 
where  CCC  boys  have  constructed  an  outdoor  theater  and  winding 
lagoons.  It  is  named  for  Michael  Pfeifrer,  who  settled  here  in  No- 
vember, 1869,  and  brought  up  a  family  whose  descendants  homesteaded 
roundabout.  In  the  park  is  BIG  SUR,  30.5  m.  (post  office,  cabins, 
lodge,  restaurant;  saddle  horses). 

Climbing  abruptly  from  the  canyon,  State  I  emerges  on  high  bluffs 
above  the  ocean  at  32.9  m.  Soon  it  gains  spectacular  heights,  cut  from 
sheer  cliffs.  Ahead  rise  hills,  rumpled  and  scarred — some  smooth  and 
brown,  some  mantled  in  green,  some  mottled  with  the  hues  of  red  clay 
and  white  granite.  The  road  twists  in  around  creek  mouths,  out 
around  headlands,  rising  and  falling.  The  almost  ever-present  fog 
drifts  in  and  out,  drawn  up  the  funnel-like  canyons,  swept  back  to  reveal 
long  vistas  of  coastline.  Off-shore  the  crags  are  girdled  by  floating 
forests  of  seaweed,  greenish-brown,  red-purple,  and  black. 

ANDERSON'S  CANYON,  41.7  m.f  is  the  site  of  the  road-con- 
struction convict  camp  maintained  here  (1932-37)  with  few  safeguards 


TOUR    i      345 

against  the  escape  of  prisoners  beyond  the  offer  of  a  $200  reward, 
chargeable  against  the  wages  of  the  convicts,  for  the  capture  of  a  runa- 
way. One  of  many  stories  about  the  convicts  tells  how,  one  winter 
night  when  slides  had  blocked  the  road,  the  word  spread  that  the  wife 
of  a  man  in  the  freemen's  camp,  about  to  give  birth  to  a  child,  needed 
a  doctor;  of  their  own  free  will,  men  from  both  camps  poured  out  to 
work  in  pouring  rain  and  pitch  darkness,  blasting  open  with  dynamite 
a  road  to  the  Community  Hospital. 

The  DOLAN  CREEK  BRIDGE,  45.8  m.f  largest  timber-arch  bridge  in 
the  State,  carries  the  highway  150  feet  above  the  canyon.  Its  carefully 
fitted  redwood  sections  are  held  together  by  hinges. 

At  wide  intervals  are  schoolhouses,  small  farm  clearings,  or  the 
buildings  of  cattle  ranches,  isolated  in  the  midst  of  almost  unsettled 
wastes.  The  one-building  hamlet  of  LUCIA,  54  m.  (hotel,  restaurant, 
gasoline)  is  the  first  place  south  of  Big  Sur  where  gasoline  is  available. 
The  mountainsides  are  too  steep  in  most  places  for  human  habitations 
— so  steep  at  some  spots,  in  fact,  that  it  was  literally  necessary  to  move 
mountains  to  make  room  for  the  road.  At  the  curve  around  LIME 
KILN  POINT,  56  m.,  163,000  yards  of  solid  rock  had  to  be  excavated 
in  1,000  feet;  one  blast  of  70,000  pounds  of  dynamite  moved  95,000 
yards,  blowing  75,000  yards  into  the  sea  300  feet  below.  Southward 
State  i  continues  over  a  cliff-edged  tableland  to  the  house  and  gas 
station  comprising  GORDA,  66.8  m.  The  canyon  below  SALMON 
CREEK  BRIDGE,  74.7  m.,  which  affords  a  glimpse  of  a  waterfall  (L),  is 
the  southernmost  stand  of  the  redwood  tree. 

From  sharp  windings  high  above  the  sea,  the  highway  descends  to 
SAN  CARPOJO  CREEK,  79.8  m.,  where  the  mountains  retreat  in- 
land from  meadows  dotted  with  grazing  cattle.  Over  a  difficult  trail 
up  the  creek,  Caspar  de  Portola  and  his  expedition  (see  TOUR  Ib) 
turned  inland  on  their  march  north  September  16,  1769,  when  they 
found  the  way  up  the  coast  blocked  by  precipices.  Southward  State  I 
skirts  Rancho  Piedra  Blanca  (Sp.,  white  rock),  first  of  the  three 
ranchos  that  comprise  William  Randolph  Hearst's  24O,ooo-acre  San 
Simeon  Ranch,  stretching  for  50  miles  southward.  Rancho  Piedra 
Blanca,  nucleus  of  the  estate,  was  acquired  by  his  father,  Senator  George 
Hearst,  for  70^  an  acre  and  stocked  with  prize  cattle. 

At  87.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.2  m.  to  the  PIEDRAS  BLANCAS  LIGHTHOUSE  (open  2-4. 
Mon.,  Wed.,  Fri.),  rising  from  a  low  point  guarded  by  two  large  white 
rocks  offshore,  its  conical  tower  and  white,  red-roofed  buildings  neatly 
silhouetted  against  the  sea. 

At  92.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

i.  Right  on  this  road  is  the  village  of  SAN  SIMEON,  2  m.  (20  alt., 
50  pop.),  overlooking  a  wide  bay  from  San  Simeon  Point,  where  Portu- 
guese whalers  made  their  home  between  1865  and  1890.  A  handful  of  the 
old  frame  buildings  remain.  Back  of  the  town  Senator  George  Hearst 
built  his  great  frame  ranch  house.  His  son  now  owns  all  but  two  lots  in 
the  village,  where  several  large  warehouses  are  crammed  with  still-un- 
packed art  treasures  from  all  over  the  world. 


CALIFORNIA 

2.  Left  on  this  road  (private]  about  6  m.  to  the  WILLIAM  RANDOLPH 
HEARST  "CASTLE"  (no  admission]  on  the  summit  of  La  Cuesta  Encantada 
(Sp.,  the  enchanted  hill),  resembling  as  closely  as  possible  a  castle  domi- 
nating a  fortified  hilltop  village  (although  the  big  house,  La  Casa  Grande, 
has  also  been  compared  to  a  Spanish  mission  and  the  four  guest  houses 
to  French  chateaux).  The  estate  has  its  own  flying  field,  tennis  courts, 
and  swimming  pool.  The  zoo  is  stocked  with  whole  herds  of  bison,  giraffes, 
kangaroos  and  with  other  more  exotic  beasts ;  the  house  with  paintings, 
statuary,  and  other  treasures  of  antiquity.  Entire  shiploads  of  castle  ruins 
from  abroad  have  been  delivered  here  and  reassembled.  The  guests  at 
the  estate,  sometimes  brought  from  Los  Angeles  in  the  owner's  private 
plane,  are  said  to  be  bound  by  four  rules:  they  are  obliged  to  come  to 
the  great  hall  of  La  Casa  Grande  every  evening  and  to  attend  the  nightly 
moving  picture  performance  in  the  private  theater,  and  they  are  for- 
bidden to  drink  liquor  in  the  guests'  suites  or  to  mention  the  word  "death" 
in  the  presence  of  their  host. 

From  the  moss-draped  pine  forest  surrounding  the  resort  of  CAM- 
BRIA PINES,  100.2  m.f  State  i  turns  inland  through  dairy  farm  pas- 
tures to  CAMBRIA,  101.2  m.  (59  alt.,  500  pop.),  a  farming  and 
dairying  center,  continues  down  a  narrow  valley  edged  by  brown  hills, 
past  HARMONY,  106.3  m.  (180  alt.,  75  pop.),  another  dairy  center, 
and  returns  to  the  coast. 

Sprawling  along  ESTEROS  BAY  is  the  weatherbeaten  fishing 
village  of  CAYUCOS,  115.9  m.  (34  alt.,  260  pop.),  named  for  the 
canoes  paddled  by  the  Indians  who  dwelt  here  when  Juan  Rodriguez 
Cabrillo  named  the  bay  in  1542.  A  small  pleasure  pier  replaces  the 
wharf  built  in  1870  by  James  Cass,  who  laid  out  the  town  in  1875. 

At  120.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  466  (see  TOUR  12b). 

On  a  bluff  commanding  land-locked  MORRO  BAY  are  the  sum- 
mer cottages  of  MORRO,  122.4  m.  (72  alt.,  800  pop.),  named  for 
immense  MORRO  (Sp.,  headland)  ROCK,  sometimes  called  the  "Gib- 
raltar of  the  Pacific,"  which  rises  576  feet  above  a  shallow  lagoon  im- 
pounded by  sand  dunes.  From  the  rock,  a  great  pile  of  trachyte  (vol- 
canic rock)  covering  40  acres,  thousands  of  tons  of  building  material 
have  been  blasted. 

Right  from  Morro  on  an  oiled  road  1.5  m.  to  MORRO  BEACH  STATE 
PARK  (adm.  50$  per  car  for  camping,  25$  for  picknicking ;  clubhouse,  ten- 
nis, golf),  bordering  Morro  Bay. 

State  I  turns  sharply  inland,  passing  (R)  the  chain  of  volcanic 
cones  to  which  Morro  Rock  belongs — CERRO  ALTO  (1,415  alt.),  CERRO 
ROMUALDO  (1,310  alt.),  and  BISHOPS  PEAK  (1,510  alt.),  for  which 
San  Luis  Obispo  is  named. 

SAN  LUIS  OBISPO  (see  TOUR  8b),  135.8  m.,  is  at  the  junction 
with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2b),  with  which  State  I  is  united  southward 
for  12.2  miles. 

Branching  southward  from  US  101  at  PISMO  BEACH  (see 
TOUR  8b),  148  m.  State  i  crosses  vegetable  and  flower-seed  farms  to 
their  shipping  center,  OCEANO,  151.6  m.  (19  alt.,  600  pop.).  Its 
beach,  fringed  by  sand  dunes,  invites  vacationers  with  a  preference  for 
seclusion.  The  dunes,  piling  up  to  surprising  heights,  are  at  their  best 


TOUR    i       347 

in  the  late  afternoon  when  the  sun  casts  long  shadows  accenting  their 
undulating  lines.  Here  at  one  time  was  a  group  of  shacks  and  tents 
inhabited  by  artists  and  others  escaping  high  rents.  When  the  tide  is 
out,  the  sandy  beach  in  this  region  is  hard-packed,  a  natural  race  track 
often  used  by  automobiles. 

Across  a  broad  mesa  checkered  with  fields  and  flower  beds,  State  I 
continues  to  GUADALUPE,  163.8  m.  (80  alt.,  1,250  pop.),  an  an- 
cient community  whose  population  is  as  jumbled  as  its  streets  and 
houses.  The  inhabitants  are  a  conglomerate  mixture  of  Japanese,  Chi- 
nese, Filipinos  and  Mexicans,  a  few  Swiss,  and  a  sprinkling  of  native- 
born  whites — mainly  farm  and  dairy  hands  employed  on  the  ranches 
for  which  Guadalupe  serves  as  shipping  center.  The  two-story  AREL- 
LANTES  ADOBE  and  the  one-story  OLIVERA  ADOBE,  Third  St.  near 
State  I,  built  in  1843  by  the  grantees  of  3O,O48-acre  Rancho  Guadalupe, 
Teodoro  Arellantes  and  Diego  Olivera,  now  house  Mexican  workers 
and  their  families. 

At  164.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  hard-surfaced  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  junction  with  a  hard-surfaced  road,  1  m.;  R. 
here  and  L.  at  2.7  m.  to  BETTERAVIA,  5  m.  (185  alt.,  125  pop.),  a 
settlement  dominated  by  the  7-acre,  sprawling,  red-brick  plant  of  the  Union 
Sugar  refinery.  In  1938,  16,000  acres  of  surrounding  beet  field  contributed 
the  raw  material  for  512,000  hundred-pound  bags  of  sugar  produced  here. 

ORCUTT,  173.4  m.  (314  alt.,  500  pop.),  born  with  the  discovery 
of  oil  in  the  hills  (R)  in  1903,  is  still  exclusively  a  petroleum  produc- 
ing and  shipping  point. 

Through  rolling  hills  State  I  winds  erratically  southward  into  broad 
LOMPOC  VALLEY,  184.5  m.}  said  by  local  boosters  to  be  the  world's 
largest  commercial  flower  seed-growing  center.  Among  fields  of  mus- 
tard, beets,  beans,  and  potatoes  are  interspersed  beds  of  nasturtium, 
delphinium,  larkspur,  poppy,  and  marigold,  in  summer  time  vividly 
ablaze  with  color. 

The  bustling,  modern  valley  trade  center  of  LOMPOC  (Ind.,  shell 
mounds),  194.9  m.  (95  alt.,  2,845  pop«)>  originated  as  California's  first 
successful  land  colonization  project  in  October,  1874,  when  the  Cali- 
fornia Immigrant  Union  purchased  and  subdivided  Ranches  Lompoc 
and  Mision  Vieja.  So  successful  was  the  venture  that  one  week's  sale 
of  land  aggregated  $700,000,  including  $70,000  in  town  lots.  The 
deeds  of  sale,  forbidding  sale  of  liquor  on  the  land,  lend  documentary 
support  to  Lompoc's  claim  of  pioneering  prohibition  in  California.  In 
the  i88o's,  irate  citizens  destroyed  every  bottle  and  keg  of  liquor  in 
the  drugstore  of  a  would-be  violator.  The  store  of  another  violator  blew 
up  one  night  in  an  explosion  which  the  next  day's  newspaper  reported 
as  an  earthquake  that  had  conveniently  spared  every  other  building  in 
town. 

At  196.1  m.  on  State  I  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  2.6  m.  to  MISION  LA  PURISIMA  CONCEPCION  (Sp.,  the 
immaculate  conception),  eleventh  of  the  21  missions,  founded  December  8, 


34^        CALIFORNIA 

1787  by  Padre  Fermin  de  Lasuen.  Following  destruction  of  the  first  church 
by  earthquake  in  1812,  the  present  one  was  built.  Between  1815  and  1823 
it  was  the  seat  of  mission  government  in  California.  In  1824  the  Indian 
neophytes  seized  the  mission  and  held  it  for  nearly  a  month  before  soldiers 
came  to  disperse  them.  La  Purisima,  with  all  its  lands  and  buildings, 
was  sold  in  1845,  n  years  after  its  secularization,  to  Don  Juan  Temple 
for  $1,100.  Acquired  by  an  oil  company  in  1903,  it  was  donated  to  Santa 
Barbara  County.  The  present  buildings,  with  their  mellow  cream-colored 
walls  and  red-tile  roofs,  have  been  restored  by  the  Civilian  Conservation 
Corps  under  direction  of  the  National  Park  Service.  The  RESIDENCE  BUILD- 
ING, 318  feet  long  and  65  feet  wide,  with  walls  tf/y  feet  thick,  has  a 
cloister  with  a  colonnade  of  20  fluted  columns,  notable  for  their  design, 
supporting  a  low,  red-tile  roof.  The  church,  yet  to  be  restored  (1939), 
which  was  once  connected  to  the  Residence  Building  by  work  rooms  and 
neophytes'  quarters,  still  has  part  of  its  original  tile  flooring.  Under  the 
floor,  before  the  altar,  is  the  grave  of  Padre  Mariano  Payeras,  under 
whose  direction  it  was  built.  The  CAMPANARIO  (Sp.,  bell  tower)  at  its 
southeast  corner  is  also  to  be  restored,  under  present  plans  (1939). 

State  I  winds  upward  through  foothills  of  the  Santa  Ynez.  Moun- 
tains, a  sparsely  settled  region  ranged  by  great  herds  of  cattle,  to  its 
junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2c)  at  LAS  CRUCES  (see  TOUR 
m. 


Tour  2 


(Brookings,  Ore.) — Crescent  City — Eureka — Santa  Rosa — San  Fran- 
cisco— San     Jose — Santa     Barbara — Los     Angeles — San     Diego — San 
Ysidro   (Mexican  border)  ;  US  101. 
Oregon  Line  to  Mexican  Border,  980.8  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout;   open   all   seasons;    small   landslides   during  heavy 

rains ;  snow  in  higher  elevations  during  winter  months. 

Excellent  route  for  trailers. 

Route  paralleled  by  Northwestern  Pacific  R.R.  between  Eureka  and  Sausalito, 

by  Southern  Pacific  between  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles,  and  by  Santa  Fe 

between  Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego. 

Accommodations  plentiful ;  many  camps  and  resort  hotels. 

Section  a.    OREGON  LINE  to  SAN  FRANCISCO;  392.5  m. 

US  101. 

This  section  of  US  101  in  natural  beauty  is  one  of  the  most  diversi- 
fied routes  in  the  State.  In  the  north,  where  it  parallels  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  the  highway  traverses  farm  and  forest,  climbing  from  surf- 
bordered  meadows  to  skirt  high  crags  overlooking  the  sea.  South  of 
Crescent  City  the  road  is  called  the  Redwood  Highway,  taking  its  name 


TOUR    2      349 

from  the  giant  redwoods  through  which  it  passes.  It  gradually  ascends 
to  a  high  plateau  cut  by  numerous  fertile  valleys;  descending,  it  trav- 
erses a  wine-grape  and  orchard  area — a  region  converted  each  spring 
into  a  wonderland  of  white  blossoms.  Nearing  sea  level  once  more, 
the  road  reaches  into  the  heart  of  the  State's  poultry-raising  district ;  but 
even  here  fringes  of  the  blue  Coast  Range  are  always  in  sight. 

US  101  crosses  the  State  Line,  0  m.,  6.5  miles  south  of  Brookings, 
Ore.,  and  follows  the  coast  of  Pelican  Bay  to  PARADISE  VALLEY, 
1  m.,  where  sheep  and  cattle  graze  on  broad  terraced  meadows  that 
slope  from  forested  hills  to  foam-bathed  rocky  promontories.  Isolated 
farm  buildings  and  an  occasional  white-steepled  country  schoolhouse 
blend  into  the  farmland  and  forest. 

SMITH  RIVER,  7.6  m.  (50  alt.,  300  pop.),  on  Rowdy  Creek,  is 
a  trading  center  for  a  small  dairying  country  and  headquarters  for 
sportsmen  during  the  fishing  and  hunting  season  (auto  and  trailer 
camps). 

Salmon  and  steelhead  trout  are  plentiful  in  the  wide,  green  waters 
of  SMITH  RIVER,  11  m.,  named  for  Jedediah  Smith,  adventurer 
and  trapper,  who  explored  the  region  in  1828. 

South  of  FORT  DICK,  13  m.  (46  alt.,  75  pop.),  the  broad  grazing 
lands  are  interspersed  increasingly  with  wooded  areas,  until  at  13.4  m. 
the  highway  enters  the  WEBBER  GROVE,  northernmost  of  the  red- 
wood groves.  Here,  on  a  thick  carpet  of  green  clover  and  luxuriant 
fern,  these  coast  redwoods  (Sequoia  sempervirens)  stand  straight  and 
tall,  dwarfing  the  lesser  trees  that  grow  beneath  their  heavy  shade. 

At  21.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  199. 

Left  on  US  199  to  HIOUCHI  STATE  PARK  (picnic  facilities),  8  m., 
a  redwood  forest.  The  highway  continues  through  undeveloped  country 
and  crosses  the  Oregon  Line,  43.6  m.,  at  a  point  35  miles  south  of  Grants 
Pass,  Ore. 

CRESCENT  CITY,  21.9  m.  (7-35  alt.,  1,720  pop.),  seat  of  Del 
Norte  County,  facing  a  shallow  harbor  edged  by  arc-shaped  Crescent 
Beach,  ships  lumber  and  shingles,  dairy  products,  and  fish  by  boat  and 
truck.  It  was  laid  out  in  1852,  the  year  after  discovery  of  the  harbor 
by  a  party  of  treasure-seekers  hunting  gold  hidden  by  a  legendary  pros- 
pector. A  town  of  800,  with  its  own  newspaper  by  1854,  it  grew  so 
fast  that  by  1856  it  was  enjoying  its  first  drama — a  presentation  of 
The  Toadies  and  Paddy  Miles,  the  Limerick  Boy  by  the  Crescentonian 
Club.  Crescent  City  was  at  first  the  seat  of  the  former  Klamath 
County,  and  so  jealous  were  Crescentonians  of  the  honor,  that  when 
the  seat  was  moved  to  Orleans  Bar,  they  angrily  forced  formation  of 
a  new  county,  Del  Norte,  in  order  to  make  their  city  its  seat.  Before 
construction  of  the  pier  in  the  i86o's,  passengers  arriving  on  the  Oregon 
were  transferred  to  surf  boats  and  then  to  horse-drawn  carts — to  be 
hauled  ashore  over  the  shallow  tidal  flats — for  a  $2  fee. 

Just  north  of  the  beach  is  POINT  ST.  GEORGE,  which  protects 
the  city  from  heavy  north  winds.  It  was  on  St.  George  Reef  that  the 
sidewheeler,  Brother  Jonathan,  was  wrecked  in  the  i86o's.  A  LIGHT- 


35°        CALIFORNIA 

HOUSE  and  RADIO  STATION  are  maintained  on  BATTERY  POINT, 
on  the  north  arm  of  the  bay.  A  light  and  fog  signal  station,  SEAL 
ROCK  LIGHT,  on  a  small  reef  about  7  miles  off-shore,  was  completed  in 
1891  after  four  years  of  labor. 

At  24.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  narrow  road. 

Left  on  this  road  into  the  HIOUCHI  REDWOOD  STATE  PARK  (141 
acres),  0.3  m.,  to  the  FRANK  A.  STOUT  MEMORIAL  GROVE  of  44  acres,  8  m. 
Here  giant  Woodwardia  ferns  grow  shoulder  high,  and  in  the  spring 
scores  of  vivid-hued  flowers  enhance  the  loveliness  of  the  rich  vegetation. 

US  101  begins  the  slow  ascent  of  low  foothills,  26  m.,  to  climb  high 
above  the  sea.  There  is  evidence  of  the  work  of  lumber  companies  that 
chose  only  the  best  of  the  trees  and  burned  off  the  rest ;  denuded,  black- 
ened hillsides  alternate  with  thinly  wooded  slopes.  The  road  follows 
a  high  ridge,  through  whose  trees  the  ocean  (R)  intermittently  appears 
in  the  distance.  To  the  left  are  miles  of  blue-green  treetops,  a  section 
of  DEL  NORTE  COAST  PARK.  From  KNAPP  POINT,  35  m.,  over- 
looking the  Pacific,  the  highway  descends  almost  to  the  surf,  shortly  to 
enter  another  of  the  small  valleys  whose  meadows  stretch  from  forest 
to  sea. 

At  41  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  graded  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  REQUA  (Ind.,  rek-woi:  mouth  of  the  river), 
0.5  m.  (sea  level,  108  pop.),  on  the  north  bank  of  KLAMATH  RIVER, 
near  its  mouth,  where  a  schooner  arrived  in  1851  with  prospectors  who 
founded  Klamath  City.  The  camp  grew  rapidly.  Frames  of  houses,  ready 
to  assemble,  arrived  in  sailing  vessels  from  San  Francisco,  and  a  small 
iron  building  was  erected,  probably  as  a  guard  house  for  gold  and  pro- 
tection against  Indians.  But  the  town  declined  as  rapidly  as  it  had  grown; 
the  men  left  to  explore  up  river,  and  the  iron  house  was  shipped  back 
to  San  Francisco.  When  Requa  was  on  the  old  route  of  US  101,  travelers 
crossed  the  Klamath  by  ferry,  a  motor-driven  barge  attached  trolley  fashion 
to  a  cable,  but  in  1925  the  construction  of  a  bridge  upstream  eliminated 
the  crude  ferry  service  and  isolated  the  town.  A  law  enacted  in  1934  pro- 
hibited commercial  fishing  in  the  tidewater,  and  the  population  declined. 
Near  Requa's  large  modern  inn  are  the  scattered,  vine-covered  shacks  of 
Klamath  Indians  who  compose  the  bulk  of  the  population.  The  cannery  at 
the  water's  edge  is  now  used  only  during  the  fishing  season,  when  sports- 
men's catches  are  tinned  and  labeled  by  the  Indians. 

The  word  Klamath  is  thought  to  be  a  derivation  from  maklaks  (Lutuami 
Ind.,  people),  translated  as  "the  encamped."  According  to  Indian  tradition, 
the  river  once  met  the  sea  at  Wilson  Creek,  about  6  miles  north,  where  it 
was  kept  in  its  course  by  high  parallel  bluffs.  When  Po-lick-o-quare-ick 
(the  Wise  One) — the  Indian  equivalent  to  Christ — had  completed  his 
mission  on  earth,  he  gathered  his  possessions  and  prepared  to  depart.  His 
grieving  people  watched  him  paddle  toward  the  mouth  of  the  river  and 
began  to  follow  him  seaward,  whereupon  the  Wise  One  commanded  the 
bluffs  to  separate,  forming  a  breach  through  which  the  river  could  flow 
quickly  to  the  ocean.  When  the  followers  reached  the  shore  they  glimpsed 
the  Wise  One  fading  into  the  setting  sun.  Since  then  the  Klamath  has 
followed  that  course. 

Close  to  the  river  mouth,  on  the  northern  bank,  stands  a  Family  House 
of  weather-beaten  planks,  said  to  be  at  least  150  years  old.  The  house  shel- 
tered only  the  women  and  children  of  a  family;  the  men  and  boys  slept 
in  the  underground  chambers  used  as  sweathouses.  Built  without  nails  or 


TOUR     2        351 

pegs,  the  walls  were  adjustable  to  permit  smoke  from  the  open  fire  to  be 
carried  out  by  the  breeze. 

KLAMATH,  43  m.  (40  alt.,  75  pop.),  on  the  site  called  Hah- 
Paew  by  the  Indians,  is  at  the  northern  end  of  the  DOUGLAS  MEMORIAL 
BRIDGE  over  Klamath  River.  During  August  and  September,  when  the 
town's  hotels  and  camps  are  crowded,  the  river  is  so  densely  dotted  with 
fishing  craft  that  one  can  cross  the  stream  by  leaping  from  boat  to 
boat.  But  the  townspeople  themselves,  many  of  whom  are  Indians, 
are  forbidden  to  earn  their  livelihood  by  fishing.  Klamath  folk  blame 
mining  companies  operating  on  the  upper  Klamath  and  Trinity  Rivers 
for  the  anti-fishing  laws.  It  is  said  that  when  commercial  fishermen 
objected  to  pollution  of  the  stream  by  debris  from  hydraulic  mining, 
mining  interests  retaliated  by  obtaining  the  support  of  sportsmen  anglers 
for  a  law  designating  Klamath  River  as  a  recreational  stream,  on  the 
premise  that  commercial  fishing  would  deplete  the  supply  of  fish.  Min- 
ing operations  proceed  unchallenged  except  during  the  sportsmen's  fish- 
ing season. 

The  SHAKERS'  CHURCH  is  a  small,  unpainted,  barnlike  structure 
(L)  at  the  southern  end  of  town.  The  congregation  is  composed  of 
Indians,  whose  services  consist  mainly  of  violent  shaking  and  shouting; 
their  sect  has  no  relation  to  that  founded  by  Mother  Ann  Lee.  On 
evenings  when  "the  Shakers  are  at  it"  the  townspeople  are  kept  awake 
late  by  the  clamor  attending  the  devotions.  The  ghost  dance,  a  principal 
rite  of  the  sect,  is  a  whirling  performed  before  the  congregation  by  one 
or  two  persons.  The  sect  was  brought  to  Klamath  from  the  State  of 
Washington  by  a  local  Indian,  Jimmie  Jacks.  The  medicine  man, 
Smohalla,  chief  of  the  Columbia  River  Indians,  founded  the  religion. 
When  his  tribe  was  crushed  by  the  whites,  Smohalla  became  a  wan- 
derer, his  travels  taking  him  as  far  south  as  Mexico.  In  1860,  he  de- 
vised a  religious  ceremony  showing  the  influence  of  his  observation  of 
Roman  Catholic,  Mormon,  and  Protestant  rituals. 

A  sudden  turn  in  the  road,  47.4  m.,  reveals  a  wide  sweep  of  surf  in 
the  distance  below,  and  the  highway  climbs  high  above  the  shore  into 
PRAIRIE  CREEK  STATE  PARK  (fishing,  swimming,  horseback 
riding,  camping},  50.9  m.,  a  reserve  of  6,467  acres.  At  the  park's  lower 
end  are  the  last  surviving  herd  of  Roosevelt  elk  in  California,  about  150 
in  number.  These  elk,  a  rich  dark  brown  in  color,  are  larger  than  other 
animals  of  the  species. 

ORICK,  63  m.  (75  alt.,  250  pop.),  trade  center  of  a  prosperous 
dairy  region,  has  a  milk  products  plant. 

LOOKOUT  POINT,  65.4  m.,  affords  a  view  of  the  ocean  in  three 
directions.  At  the  foot  of  the  cliff  is  FRESHWATER  LAGOON, 
separated  from  the  Pacific  by  a  narrow  sand  bar;  its  waters,  always 
fresh,  are  believed  to  be  fed  by  an  underground  stream.  STONE 
LAGOON,  68.2  m.,  and  BIG  LAGOON,  72.2  m.,  overflow  into  the 
ocean  during  the  winter  when  rainfall  is  heavy,  permitting  steelhead 
and  salmon  to  enter  both  lagoons  to  spawn.  In  the  vicinity  of  BIG 
LAGOON  PARK  (motorboat  regattas  in  summer),  77.3  m.,  are  many 


352        CALIFORNIA 

small    summer    cabins.      (Warning:    dangerous,    powerful    undercur- 
rent.) 

In  TRINIDAD,  83  m.  (200  alt.,  107  pop.),  scattered  business 
buildings  offer  little  reminder  of  the  town  of  3,000  of  1851-52,  when 
the  settlement  was  the  distribution  point  for  the  Trinity  County  mines. 
Small  straggling  houses,  windows  broken  and  boarded,  fringe  the  empty 
offices,  refineries,  and  vats  of  the  California  Sea  Products  Company,  a 
whaling  firm. 

Right  from  Trinidad  on  a  narrow  graveled  road  to  TRINIDAD  HEAD, 
1.7  m.,  a  large  promontory.  The  white  granite  memorial  cross  at  the  sum- 
mit replaces  the  Spanish  cross  of  pine  erected  there  June  n,  1775,  by  Capt. 
Bruno  Heceta  and  Lt.  Juan  Francisco  Bodega  y  Cuadra.  The  original 
wooden  marker  bore  the  inscription  "Carolus  III  Dei  G.  Hyspaniarum 
Rex,"  signifying  that  the  explorers  took  possession  of  the  territory  in  the 
name  of  Charles  III  of  Spain.  The  Spaniards  named  the  region  Trinidad 
because  they  took  possession  on  the  day  following  the  feast  of  the  Holy 
Trinity. 

At  the  mouth  of  LITTLE  RIVER,  86  m.,  northern  boundary 
of  LITTLE  RIVER  BEACH  STATE  PARK,  an  exploration  party 
of  nine  men  headed  by  Dr.  Josiah  Gregg  reached  the  coast  in  Decem- 
ber, 1849,  after  weeks  of  hardship.  They  had  left  Weaverville,  about 
IOO  miles  inland,  the  month  before,  in  search  of  a  harbor  described  by 
the  Indians  as  "a  large  bay  with  fertile  land  and  tall  trees,  eight  suns 
to  the  west."  Their  supplies  gave  out,  and  before  they  reached  the 
coast,  they  were  near  starvation. 

CLAM  BEACH  (auto  camps  nearby),  87.9  m.,  is  a  popular  clam- 
digging  and  picnicking  spot. 

At  95.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8b). 

ARCATA  (Ind.,  where  boats  land),  100  m.  (100  alt.,  1,709 
pop.),  on  the  western  shore  of  Humboldt  Bay,  is  built  around  a  plaza. 
Many  of  the  dwellings  on  the  town's  wide  streets  have  broad  lawns 
and  flower  gardens.  Lumber,  shingles,  wool,  and  milk  compose  the 
bulk  of  exported  products.  Uniontown — as  the  place  was  named  by  its 
founders  April  10,  1850 — was  a  shipping  point  and  until  1856  the  seat 
of  Humboldt  County.  Bret  Harte  is  said  to  have  written  his  first  news- 
paper story  here,  while  working  as  compositor  and  assistant  to  S.  G. 
Whipple,  editor  of  the  Northern  California,  as  well  as  agent  for  Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co.,  from  1857  to  J859.  On  the  crest  of  a  hill  are  the  cream- 
colored  stucco  buildings  of  the  HUMBOLDT  STATE  TEACHERS  COLLEGE, 
established  1913. 

Right  from  Arcata  on  a  paved  road  that  traverses  a  narrow,  sandy 
peninsula  to  SAMOA  (97  alt,  600  pop.),  5  m.,  a  company  town  around  an 
extensive  redwood  mill  (open  to  visitors).  The  ocean  lies  just  beyond  the 
sand  dunes  behind  the  town.  About  one  mile  south  is  the  HULK  OF  THE 
U.S.S.  MILWAUKEE,  grounded  in  1917  while  attempting  to  free  a  submarine 
that  had  run  aground.  Bids  had  been  submitted  to  haul  the  submarine  to 
land  and  to  refloat  it,  but  they  were  rejected  as  too  high.  The  Navy 
Department  then  sent  the  cruiser  Milwaukee  from  San  Francisco  to  rescue 
the  submarine.  After  the  Milwaukee  grounded,  one  of  the  original  bids 
was  accepted. 


TOUR    2      353 

US  101  curves  around  the  southern  shore  of  HUMBOLDT  BAY, 
a  landlocked  inlet  so  well  guarded  from  the  sea  by  its  two  narrow 
peninsulas  of  sand  that  it  eluded  discovery  until  Capt.  Jonathan  Win- 
ship,  hunting  seals  and  sea  otter  along  the  coast  for  the  Russian-Amer- 
ican Fur  Company  in  1806,  steered  the  O'Cain  through  the  narrow  en- 
trance. The  search  for  a  safe  harbor  along  the  northern  coast  prompted 
its  rediscovery  on  December  20,  1849  by  the  Josiah  Gregg  party  of 
Government-employed  traders  and  explorers.  On  April  9  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  United  States  revenue  cutter  Laura  Virginia  sailed  into 
the  bay,  which  the  expedition's  second  officer,  Capt.  Hans  Buhne,  named 
for  the  German  naturalist,  Baron  Alexander  von  Humboldt.  The 
harbor's  usefulness  has  been  menaced,  ever  since  its  discovery,  by  the 
shifting  sand  bars  at  its  mouth.  To  keep  the  channel  open,  construc- 
tion of  rock  jetties  and  constant  dredging  have  been  required. 

EUREKA,  105.7  m.  (30  alt.,  15,752  pop.),  seat  of  Humboldt 
County,  on  the  shore  of  Humboldt  Bay,  owes  its  name — as  well  as  the 
surveying  of  its  first  town  lots  in  1850 — to  James  Ryan,  who  drove  his 
vessel  onto  the  mud  flats,  shouting  jubilantly  "Eureka!"  (Gr.,  I  have 
found  it!).  The  largest  California  town  north  of  Sacramento,  Eureka 
spreads  in  checkerboard  fashion  over  an  area  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date a  population  several  times  its  present  size.  Its  solitary  houses  are 
scattered  over  vast  stretches  of  vacant,  weed-grown  lots.  Along  the 
waterfront  are  the  saloons,  cheap  hotels,  and  poolrooms  of  the  late 
nineteenth  century — relics  of  the  days  when  the  tough,  flamboyant 
life  of  the  lonely,  frontier  settlement  centered  here.  Today,  as  in  the 
beginning,  when  woodsmen  and  seafarers  from  New  England  and  Nova 
Scotia  settled  here,  the  great  redwood  mills  along  the  bay  shore  domi- 
nate the  life  of  the  community. 

On  a  high  plateau  overlooking  the  bay  near  the  southern  city  limits 
is  FORT  HUMBOLDT,  where  troops  were  garrisoned  for  protection 
against  Indians  between  1853  and  1865.  Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  sta- 
tioned here  in  1854  as  captain  of  the  Fourth  United  States  Infantry. 
The  life  of  the  lonely  post  was  so  dreary  that,  according  to  legend,  he 
spent  much  of  his  time  drinking  in  Ryan's  saloon  at  Eureka.  In  the  end 
he  resigned  from  the  army  out  of  sheer  discouragement.  Of  the  string 
of  offices  and  barracks  that  lined  the  parade  ground  on  three  sides,  only 
one,  the  headquarters  of  the  commissary  department,  remains  today. 
Restored  and  repainted,  it  stands  in  a  landscaped  plot  enclosed  by  a 
white  picket  fence;  inside  is  a  collection  of  relics,  stuffed  birds,  odd 
bits  of  furniture,  and  yellowing  photographs  of  Grant. 

Most  violent  episode  of  the  Indian  warfare  that  prompted  estab- 
lishment of  Fort  Humboldt  was  the  massacre  of  a  band  of  Indians  by 
whites,  on  INDIAN  ISLAND,  largest  of  several  small  isles  in  the  bay 
near  the  waterfront.  The  remnants  of  two  or  three  tribes  were 
encamped  on  the  island.  On  the  night  of  February  25,  1860,  when  the 
warriors  were  away  hunting  and  fishing,  white  settlers  killed  all  the 
women  and  children,  the  old  and  infirm.  The  husbands,  fathers,  and 
brothers  returning  to  burned  homes  and  mutilated  dead,  swore  ven- 


354        CALIFORNIA 

geance;  and  months  of  bitter  warfare  followed.  When  Bret  Harte, 
temporarily  in  charge  of  the  Uniontown  paper,  denounced  the  outrage, 
he  was  compelled  to  return  to  San  Francisco  because  of  threats  against 
his  life.  The  island — also  called  Gunther's  Island  for  the  man  who 
later  settled  on  it — was  thereafter  protected  from  salt  water  by  dikes 
and  turned  into  farmland.  Gunther  deeded  it  to  someone,  then  changed 
his  mind  and  demolished  the  dikes  by  night,  allowing  the  water  of  the 
bay  to  pour  over  the  island  and  swamp  the  fields. 

Eureka's  Chinese,  like  its  Indians,  were  hounded  out  of  town.  In 
1885  Eureka's  Chinatown  housed  several  hundred;  as  in  most  small 
California  towns,  anti-Chinese  prejudice  was  strong.  When,  on  the 
evening  of  February  6,  1885,  a  Eureka  councilman  was  killed  by  a  stray 
bullet  during  an  outbreak  between  warring  tongs,  feeling  was  inflamed 
to  the  point  of  mob  violence.  Cooler  heads  among  the  whites  assumed 
command,  and  at  a  meeting  held  in  Centennial  Hall  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  order  members  of  the  Chinese  colony  to  leave  the  county 
within  24  hours.  A  scaffold  was  erected  on  Fourth  Street,  and  a  hang- 
man's noose  warned  of  the  intention  of  the  citizens,  should  their  order 
be  disregarded.  When  rough  weather  delayed  the  sailing  of  ships 
chartered  to  take  the  Chinese  to  San  Francisco,  the  whites  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  delay  to  go  through  the  county  and  issue  the  same  com- 
mand to  the  entire  oriental  population.  The  Chinese  properties  were 
appropriated  by  Eurekans.  A  suit  was  subsequently  brought  against  the 
city  of  Eureka  for  $132,820  but  the  case  never  went  to  trial.  Today 
Humboldt  County  is  one  of  the  few  California  counties  that  have  no 
oriental  residents.  When  vessels  with  Chinese  crews  dock  at  Eureka, 
the  sailors  do  not  attempt  to  go  ashore. 

The  CARSON  HOUSE,  2nd  and  M  Sts.,  is  a  startling  architectural 
monument.  The  lumber  magnate  who  built  it  next  door  to  his  lumber 
yards  imported  most  of  the  General  Grant  ornamentation  from  eastern 
mills.  It  stands,  carefully  preserved,  amid  sprucely  tended  grounds. 
Its  jagged  roof  line,  visible  from  almost  any  quarter  of  the  city,  the 
tortured  ornamentation,  and  the  trim  paint  give  it  the  air  of  a  prop  for 
a  Silly  Symphony.  The  STUMP  HOUSE,  on  Broadway  (US  lOl),  an 
edifice  built  of  the  log  and  stump  of  a  giant  redwood,  is  likewise  a 
monument  to  Eureka's  chief  industry;  it  houses  a  collection  of  articles 
fashioned  from  redwood  burl  and  grotesque  formations  found  in  red- 
wood forests.  In  the  midst  of  a  redwood  grove  inside  the  city  is 
SEQUOIA  PARK  (picnic  tables,  playgrounds),  surrounding  a  small  lake, 
which  has  a  zoo  with  deer  and  elk  paddocks. 

LOLETA,  119.7  m.  (50  alt.,  400  pop.),  first  named  Swauger  for 
a  settler  and  renamed  when  it  became  a  shipping  point  for  a  pros- 
perous dairying  region,  has  a  milk  condensing  plant.  Many  of  the 
dairymen  are  Portuguese  who  came  here  as  milkers  and  later  bought 
farms. 

Right  from  Loleta  on  a  paved  road  to  the  TABLE  BLUFF  RADIO  STATION 
and  LIGHTHOUSE,  5  m.  The  radio  station,  co-operating  with  the  Coast 
Guard,  has  been  instrumental  in  saving  many  ships. 


TOUR    2      355 

Along  the  valley  of  the  EEL  RIVER,  visible  (R)  at  120.8  m., 
the  highway  winds  through  pastures,  where  toward  evening  automobiles 
may  be  delayed  by  unhurried  cows  being  driven  to  the  barn  for  milking. 
It  was  discovered  by  the  Gregg  party,  which  came  upon  a  small  band 
of  Indians  laden  with  eels  from  the  river  and  named  the  stream  accord- 
ingly. At  this  point  the  party  divided.  Gregg  and  three  others  fol- 
lowed the  coast  south,  and  the  other  four,  led  by  L.  K.  Wood,  returned 
inland  by  way  of  Eel  River.  Both  parties  met  disaster.  Doctor  Gregg 
died  of  starvation,  falling  from  his  horse  while  still  attempting  to  travel, 
and  Wood  was  mangled  by  bears  that  he  and  his  men  were  forced  to 
attack.  He  begged  his  companions  to  shoot  him  and  go  on,  but  they 
made  a  litter  and  carried  him  to  a  ranch. 

FERNBRIDGE,  121.7  m.  (35  alt.,  51  pop.),  is  a  settlement  at 
the  approach  to  FERN  BRIDGE,  a  graceful  concrete  span  over  Eel  River 
in  a  region  notable  for  its  luxuriant  ferns. 

FORTUNA,  124.7  m.  (53  alt.,  1,239  POP-)>  was  first  called 
Springville  because  of  the  numerous  nearby  springs.  The  name  was 
changed  to  Slide,  and  then  to  Fortuna  by  a  landowner  who  hoped  to 
attract  home  hunters. 

CANYON  PARK,  130.5  m.  (adm.  25$  per  automobile),  is  noted 
for  its  many  varieties  of  ferns  and  moss. 

Another  Eel  River  bridge  carries  US  101  into  SCOTIA,  136.2  m. 
(101  alt.,  2,000  pop.),  named  by  its  settlers,  woodsmen  from  Nova 
Scotia,  called  "Blue  Noses."  Here  is  the  large  PACIFIC  LUMBER  COM- 
PANY REDWOOD  LUMBER  MILL  (visitors  admitted)  established  in  1886. 
The  company  owns  every  foot  of  land  and  every  building  in  the  town, 
renting  the  small  houses  on  the  side  streets  to  those  among  its  1,600 
employees  with  families.  Furniture,  household  goods,  and  groceries 
are  sold  at  the  company  store  for  company  scrip.  It  is  said  that  many 
employees  do  not  handle  legal  tender  for  months  at  a  time.  The  saw- 
mill covers  more  than  400  acres;  it  produces  1,500  kinds  of  wooden 
articles,  besides  lumber.  For  2  miles  stretch  yards  filled  with  cut 
lumber,  each  pile  stacked  precisely  to  facilitate  curing,  which  requires 
three  years.  The  wood  of  the  sempervirens  is  light  and  surprisingly 
straight-grained,  has  almost  no  resin,  and  shrinks  or  warps  very  slightly 
after  seasoning. 

DYERVILLE,  152.3  m.  (100  alt.,  38  pop.),  named  for  pioneer 
"Dad"  Dyer,  has  a  post  office,  district  school,  and  a  State  Park  Head- 
quarters. South  of  Dyerville  is  HUMBOLDT  STATE  PARK, 
northernmost  of  the  long  chain  of  memorial  groves  and  State  parks 
lining  the  highway  for  many  miles.  FOUNDERS'  GROVE,  152.5 
m.,  contains  the  WORLD'S  TALLEST  TREE,  a  redwood  364  feet  in  height 
and  47  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base.  Its  estimated  timber-mill 
cut  is  125,000  feet — sufficient  to  build  a  dozen  average-sized  houses. 
These  groves  have  been  preserved  through  the  efforts  of  the  Save-the- 
Redwoods  League,  which  in  1927  played  an  important  part  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  present  State  park  system. 

The  redwood  belt  extends  from  extreme  southwestern  Oregon  to 


356        CALIFORNIA 

the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains  over  an  area  450  miles  long  and  from  I  to 
40  miles  wide.  The  Sequoia  sempervirens,  the  earth's  tallest  trees,  are 
exceeded  in  girth  only  by  the  Sequoia  gigantea  of  the  Sierra  Nevada. 
The  trees  were  named  for  the  Cherokee  chief,  Se-quo-yah,  who  per- 
fected a  phonetic  alphabet  of  86  symbols  for  his  tribe.  The  semper- 
virens are  between  500  and  1,300  years  old  and  the  gigantea  between 
900  and  2,100.  The  two  varieties  of  redwood  are  similar  in  appear- 
ance ;  the  bole  of  each  tapers  gently  from  a  heavily  buttressed  base,  free 
of  branches  for  a  full  third  of  the  height.  The  branches  are  short,  and 
the  evergreen  foliage,  of  small,  stiff,  sharp-pointed  leaves,  is  usually  a 
deep  but  brilliant  yellow  green.  The  thick,  cinnamon-brown  bark  is 
deeply  furrowed,  giving  the  tree  a  sharply  ribbed  appearance.  The 
redwood  matures  at  a  height  exceeding  200  feet,  when  about  10  feet  in 
diameter,  and  it  may  grow  half  again  as  high.  Although  a  remarkable 
feature  of  the  redwood  is  its  resistance  to  disease  and  fire — because  of 
the  thick  bark,  the  small  amount  of  resin,  and  the  soft  spongelike  quality 
of  the  wood,  which  absorbs  water  easily — fires  occur  almost  every  year 
in  the  scrub  areas  and  in  deforested  sections  among  fallen  logs,  dead 
trees,  and  waste  from  cuttings.  During  the  fall  a  heavy  pall  of  blue- 
gray  smoke  often  hangs  over  the  entire  region. 

South  of  Dyerville  the  groves  are  increasingly  dense  and  the  under- 
foliage  more  luxuriant.  Heavy  carpets  of  fern  and  clover  in  season  are 
embroidered  with  delicately  colored  trillium  and  other  blossoms;  at 
intervals  vivid  yellow  moss  outlines  the  forms  of  fallen  trees. 

From  WEOTT,  154.5  m.  (168  alt.,  150  pop.),  among  the  red- 
wood stands,  the  road  climbs  to  skirt  the  sheer  bluffs  of  the  narrow 
gorge  (R)  of  the  south  fork  of  Eel  River,  occasionally  glimpsed  below. 
South  of  MIRANDA,  165  m.  (187  alt.,  44  pop.),  where  the  woods 
are  interspersed  with  small  clearings  in  which  sheep  graze,  the  highway 
closely  follows  the  bank  of  the  river. 

The  country  around  GARBERVILLE,  181.9  m.  (225  alt.,  361 
pop.),  on  a  high,  terraced  bluff  overlooking  Eel  River,  was  chosen  by 
pioneer  J.  C.  Garber  as  a  potential  stock-raising  area.  The  lowan's 
foresight  was  good,  for  this  town  is  a  shipping  point  for  sheep  ranches. 

At  BENBOW,  185  m.,  summer  homes  are  scattered  near  a  resort 
hotel  in  lush  green  mountain  meadows  where  the  waters  of  the  Eel 
River,  flowing  here  around  two  great  bends,  are  backed  up  in  a  placid 
lake  by  a  "summer  dam." 

Below  RICHARDSON  GROVE  STATE  PARK,  190.6  m. 
{cabins,  campgrounds,  swimming  pool,  dance  floor),  US  101  climbs  the 
high  rim  of  a  narrow  canyon.  LILLEY  REDWOOD  PARK  (private}, 
198.3  m.,  is  the  home  of  the  QUADRUPED  TREE,  called  by  Robert  L. 
Ripley  "the  tallest  one-room  house  in  the  world."  This  hollow  250- 
foot  tree,  used  as  a  shop  for  redwood  novelties,  has  a  ground  circum- 
ference of  101  feet.  Four  openings  have  been  made,  one  in  each  of 
the  huge,  footlike  roots.  It  has  been  used  as  a  barn,  a  blacksmith  shop. 
and,  during  the  construction  of  the  highway,  as  sleeping  quarters  for 
32  convicts.  US  101  descends  from  the  high  rim  of  the  gorge  among 


TOUR    2      357 

redwoods  interspersed  with  Douglas  and  lowland  fir,  alder,  madrofia, 
coast  hemlock,  and  tanoak — the  latter  festooned  with  yellow-green  elk 
moss. 

At  COOLIDGE  REDWOOD  PARK,  206.4  m.,  southernmost  of 
the  State  redwood  parks,  an  archway  has  been  cut  in  one  of  the  red- 
woods through  which  an  automobile  can  pass  (25$  per  car). 

From  a  small,  broad  valley,  US  101  now  climbs  rugged  mountains 
where  seemingly  illimitable  miles  of  blue-green  forest  reach  in  every 
direction. 

LAYTONVILLE,  229.1  m.  (1,600  alt.,  116  pop.),  is  the  trading 
center  for  cattle  and  sheep  ranches. 

Left  from  Laytonville  on  a  narrow  dirt  road  to  DOS  RIOS  (Sp.,  two 
rivers),  11.8  m.  (924  alt.,  20  pop.),  a  resort  at  the  junction  of  the  Middle 
and  South  Forks  of  the  Eel  River.  COVELO,  27.8  m.  (1,397  alt.,  600  pop.), 
in  the  ROUND  VALLEY  INDIAN  RESERVATION,  is  a  trading  center 
for  the  valley  and  an  outfitting  point  for  sportsmen  and  vacationists.  The 
reservation's  productive  farming  land  is  coveted  by  white  farmers  who 
have  encroached  steadily  on  it.  The  Indians  here,  excellent  farmers, 
choose  to  live  in  brush  huts  rather  than  wooden  houses. 

The  former  lumber  community  of  WILLITS,  254  m.  (1,360  alt., 
1,424  pop.),  a  division  point  on  the  Northwestern  Pacific  R.R.,  was 
once  Willitsville,  so  named  for  the  Indiana  immigrant,  Hiram  Willits, 
who  purchased  the  store  opened  here  in  1865.  The  center  of  a  hay, 
stock,  and  poultry  raising  region,  it  pays  homage  to  the  past  at  its  yearly 
Frontier  Days  Celebration. 

BLACK  BART  ROCK,  265.2  m.,  commanding  a  clear  view  of  south- 
bound traffic  from  a  slight  incline  (R),  is  so-named  for  the  robbery  of 
a  mail  stage  here  by  the  elusive  road  agent,  "Black  Bart,"  a  lone  high- 
wayman, traveling  on  foot,  who  robbed  27  coaches  in  the  Sierra  and 
Coast  Range  mountain  country  between  1875  and  1883.  Always  polite, 
fastidiously  dressed  in  a  linen  duster  and  mask,  he  used  to  leave  behind 
facetious  rhymes  signed  "Black  Bart,  Po — 8,"  in  mail  and  express  boxes 
after  he  had  finished  rifling  them.  A  laundry  mark  on  a  handkerchief 
dropped  near  the  scene  of  one  robbery  in  Calaveras  County  eventually 
led  pursuers  to  San  Francisco,  where  "Black  Bart"  was  discovered  to 
be  the  highly  respectable  Mr.  Charles  C.  Bolton,  ostensibly  a  mining 
engineer  who  frequently  made  trips  to  the  mines.  A  stay  in  San  Quen- 
tin  from  1883  to  1885  cut  short  his  career. 

The  highway  descends  to  CALPELLA,  271  m.  (623  alt.,  300 
pop.),  named  for  an  Indian  chief  whose  name  meant  "Shell  Bearer," 
a  slow-moving  country  town  in  the  center  of  an  area  producing  large, 
black  grapes  that  make  an  excellent  dry  wine.  There  are  three  wineries 
(open  to  visitors),  with  a  combined  annual  capacity  of  200,000  gallons, 
one  of  them  very  old,  and  built  of  heavy  stones  that  keep  the  interior 
cool  and  dark.  Laid  out  in  1858,  Calpella  in  1873  rivaled  Ukiah  in 
importance,  but  as  the  latter  town  grew  it  fell  into  decay. 

US  101  cuts  through  vineyards  to  a  junction  with  State  20  (see 
TOUR  2 A)  at  274.1  m. 


358        CALIFORNIA 

UKIAH  (Ind.,  Yo-Ka-Ya,  deep  valley),  276  m.  (650  alt.,  3,124 
pop.),  seat  of  Mendocino  County,  is  in  long,  narrow,  mountain-flanked 
Ukiah  Valley,  where  pears,  prunes,  grapes,  and  hops  flourish.  Ukiah 
celebrates  the  valley's  important  occupation  of  stock  raising  at  its  yearly 
rodeo  in  June.  The  first  settler  was  Samuel  Lowry,  who  built  a  log 
cabin  here  in  1856.  Although  Mendocino  County  was  one  of  the  27 
counties  created  in  1850,  so  few  people  lived  in  it  that  neighboring 
Sonoma  County  administered  its  affairs  until  a  county  seat  was  estab- 
lished here  in  1859;  and — as  a  recent  historian  has  said — it  "did  not 
receive  recognition  at  the  hands  of  capitalists  until  about  1910." 

Ukiah's  INTERNATIONAL  LATITUDE  OBSERVATORY  (open  in  day- 
time), near  US  101  (R)  at  the  end  of  town,  is  one  of  five  in  the  world, 
widely  distributed  in  longitude  but  all  situated  on  the  same  parallel  of 
latitude  (39°  8'  north).  They  were  established  by  the  International 
Geodetic  Association,  beginning  in  1898,  to  derive  from  observation  of 
selected  stars  the  harmonic  analysis  of  the  latitudes,  which  are  shifting 
constantly,  as  is  the  North  Pole.  The  other  observatories  are  situ- 
ated in  Gaithersburg,  Maryland,  Sardinia,  Russian  Turkestan,  and 
Japan. 

1.  Left  from  Ukiah  on  an  oiled  road,  which  becomes  a  dirt  road,  3.9  m. 
to  VICHY  SPRINGS,  a  resort  noted  for  its  "champagne  baths." 

2.  Left   from    Ukiah    on    a   graveled    road   8    m.   to    THE   TERRACES, 
mountainside  gardens  of  Carl  Purdy,  who   in   1900  started   a   project  for 
propagation  of  native  western  bulbs,  shrubs,  wild  flowers,  and  trees.     Al- 
though not  the  first  to  gather  native  seeds  and  flowers — the  Royal  Horti- 
cultural Society  of  London  had  sent  David  Douglas  to  California  for  the 
purpose   as   early  as   1830 — Purdy  was  the  first  to   start  many  California 
wild   flowers   on    foreign    migrations.      Besides    gathering   native    plants — 
which  he  collects   at  elevations   up  to   10,000  feet — he   acclimatizes   in   his 
mountain  garden  many  foreign  species — from  Morocco  morning-glories  to 
Scotch  harebells. 

The  trellised  green  tendrils  of  hop  vines  shade  the  fertile  fields 
around  HOPLAND,  290  m.  (488  alt.,  860  pop.),  center  of  the  Sanel 
Valley's  rich  farmlands  along  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Russian  River. 
The  village  that  grew  up  here  around  the  adobe  ranch  house  of  the 
Mexican  Fernando  Felix  stands  on  the  site  of  a  populous  Indian  settle- 
ment, called  "Sanel"  by  the  aborigines.  The  first  hops  were  planted  in 
1858  by  Stephen  Warren  Knowles,  who  sold  his  first  crop,  dried  in  the 
loft  of  his  barn,  for  30^  a  pound.  During  the  growing  season,  the  hop 
vines — burgeoning  at  the  rate  of  10  or  12  inches  a  day — are  trained 
along  strings  until  they  cover  the  fields  with  leafy,  tent-like  bowers. 
The  migratory  hop  pickers,  arriving  at  harvest  time  in  their  dilapidated 
autos  piled  high  with  dogs,  babies,  pots,  pans,  and  bedding,  camp  in  the 
fields  round  about.  The  fresh-picked  hops  are  hauled  in  trucks  to  the 
weather-stained  drying  kilns  that  dot  the  countryside — odd-looking 
shingled,  peak-roofed  structures  with  chimney-shaped  wooden  towers. 
The  hops  are  dumped  into  the  dryers  and  dried  out  by  means  of  wood- 
and-sulphur  fires  built  under  each  kiln. 

At  302.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  narrow  graveled  road. 


TOUR    2      359 

Left  on  this  road  to  THE  GEYSERS,  14.5  m.  (1,500  alt.),  where,  in  a 
small  canyon,  jets  of  steam  shoot  high  in  the  air  from  hissing  fumaroles 
and  35  mineral  springs,  no  two  of  them  alike,  bubble  from  the  earth.  The 
Devil's  Inkstand  emits  a  black  water  which  can  be  used  for  writing  pur- 
poses. The  springs  early  acquired  fame  for  therapeutic  qualities,  and  in 
1851  a  hotel  was  built. 

At  303.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  28   (see  TOUR  la). 

CLOVERDALE,  304.8  m.  (318  alt.,  759  pop.),  has  a  residential 
area  with  wide  streets  shaded  by  maple  and  eucalyptus  trees;  picket 
fences  and  well-tended  lawns  front  neat  frame  houses.  The  town  lies 
in  an  orange  grove  belt  at  the  head  of  Santa  Rosa  Valley;  it  celebrates 
an  annual  citrus  fair. 

ASTI,  309.3  m.  (264  alt.,  100  pop.),  is  the  home  of  an  Italian- 
Swiss  colony  established  in  1881  by  a  group  of  San  Francisco  Italians  as 
a  commercial  venture  to  employ  Italians  and  Swiss  of  that  city.  Today 
Italian-Swiss  Colony  wines  are  nationally  known.  Beside  the  highway 
(L)  is  the  CHURCH  OF  OUR  LADY  O,F  MOUNT  CARMEL,  built  by  the 
vineyardists  in  the  shape  of  half  an  enormous  wine  barrel.  For  miles 
vineyards  stretch  along  the  highway,  dotted  with  old  stone  wineries,  in 
one  of  which  is  a  large  winevat  with  a  capacity  of  500,000  gallons,  cut 
out  of  solid  rock  and  lined  with  a  special  glass-surfaced  cement.  Wine 
is  shipped  from  this  area  in  tank  cars. 

In  the  spring  the  region  south  of  Asti  is  one  of  exquisite  beauty. 
Yellow  mustard  and  golden  poppies  brighten  a  countryside  of  hundreds 
of  acres  of  plum  and  pear  trees,  whose  soft  blossoms  form  a  sea  of  white 
reaching  to  green  foothills. 

GEYSERVILLE,  314.8  m.  (250  alt.,  629  pop.),  a  shipping  point 
for  great  quantities  of  apples,  pears,  and  plums,  was  settled  in  1852. 

Right  from  Geyserville  on  a  paved  road  to  SKAGGS  SPRINGS,  9  m. 
(800  alt.,  30  pop.),  a  resort  town,  where  Samuel  Brannan  attempted  to 
settle  Mormons  in  1847. 

HEALDSBURG,  323.3  m.  (101  alt.,  2,296  pop.),  a  trade  center, 
was  founded  by  Harmon  G.  Heald  in  1852  as  a  trading  post.  Many  of 
its  inhabitants  are  Italian  grape-growers. 

At  334.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  oiled  road  (see  TOUR  2 A). 

SANTA  ROSA,  338.7  m.  (150  alt.,  10,636  pop.),  seat  of  Sonoma 
County,  is  said  to  owe  its  name  to  Padre  Juan  Amarosa  of  Mission  San 
Rafael,  who  baptized  an  Indian  girl  of  the  region  in  1829,  calling  her 
Rosa  because  it  was  the  feast  day  of  St.  Rose  of  Lima.  The  main  dis- 
tributing center  for  the  ranches  of  Sonoma  Valley,  it  has  enough  indus- 
trial activity  to  provide  an  annual  payroll  of  $450,000. 

The  rich  soil  and  gentle  climate  of  the  Santa  Rosa  Valley  so  de- 
lighted Luther  Burbank  (1849-1926)  that  he  chose  this  as  the  best 
place  for  his  experiments  in  plant  breeding.  For  half  a  century  he 
worked  here,  experimenting  with  thousands  of  kinds  of  plants,  develop- 
ing a  long  series  of  what  he  called  "new  creations."  Uninterested  in 
proving  special  scientific  theories,  Burbank  aimed  solely  to  produce  more 


360       CALIFORNIA 

and  better  varieties  of  cultivated  plants.  Among  his  achievements  were 
the  Burbank  potato;  thornless  cactus;  edible  cactus;  the  Santa  Rosa, 
climax,  Wickson,  apple,  gold,  and  other  plums;  a  new  fruit,  the  plum- 
cot;  the  giant,  sugar,  and  stoneless  prunes;  the  Burbank  cherry;  the 
Burbank,  Santa  Rosa,  and  peachblow  roses;  Shasta  daisies;  giant  and 
fragrant  callas;  and  many  other  new  flowers,  fruits,  vegetables,  ferns, 
grasses,  trees,  and  nuts.  He  lies  buried  under  a  tall  deodar,  a  few  steps 
from  his  charming  greenhouse,  where  his  tools  are  still  stacked  against 
the  wall.  The  LUTHER  BURBANK  HOUSE  AND  GARDENS  (open), 
Santa  Rosa  Ave.  at  Tupper  St.,  were  given  by  his  widow  to  the  Santa 
Rosa  Junior  College  botanical  department. 

Recently  a  mob  said  to  be  organized  by  local  businessmen,  invaded 
the  homes  of  three  men  accused  of  radicalism,  took  them  to  a  warehouse, 
and  beat,  tarred,  and  feathered  them.  The  affair  aroused  Nation-wide 
attention;  widespread  protest  resulted  in  the  arrest  and  trial  of  a  num- 
ber of  suspects.  Most  of  the  defendants  were  excused,  and  the 
few  who  were  tried  were  acquitted.  The  three  victims  received  no 
redress. 

i.  Right  from  Santa  Rosa  on  State  12  is  SEBASTOPOL,  4.2  m.  (68  alt., 
1,762  pop.),  trade  center  for  vineyard-  and  orchard-growers,  lying  in  the 
heart  of  an  area  known  as  the  Gold  Ridge  which  is  famous  for  its  early 
Gravenstein  apples.  It  derived  its  name  from  a  fight  between  two  men 
in  1855;  when  one  barricaded  himself  inside  Dougherty's  store,  besieged 
by  the  other,  onlookers  dubbed  the  store  Hibbs'  Sebastopol,  in  reference 
to  the  Crimean  War  siege  then  taking  place.  The  town  helped  itself  to 
the  name.  On  the  outskirts  is  the  LUTHER  BURBANK  EXPERIMENTAL  GARDEN, 
established  here  in  1885  when  Burbank's  4-acre  garden  in  Santa  Rosa 
proved  too  small.  Not  a  show  garden,  the  tract  has  none  of  the  formal 
air  of  a  landscaped  plot  about  it;  it  was  planted  for  working  purposes. 

State  12  cuts  across  vineyards  and  orchards  to  the  RUSSIAN  RIVER, 
which  once  drained  into  San  Francisco  Bay,  until  geological  changes 
forced  it  to  seek  a  new  channel  through  the  Coast  Range  to  the  sea.  The 
river,  which  the  Indians  called  Shabaikai  or  Misallaako  (Ind.,  long  snake) 
and  the  Russians,  Slavianka  (Russ.,  charming  little  one),  is  named  for 
the  Russian  occupation  (1812-1841).  Capt.  L.  A.  Hagermeister,  writing  to 
the  Russian-American  Fur  Company  in  1817,  praised  the  fertile  fields  along 
the  river,  protected  from  wind  and  fog,  as  being  suitable  for  wheat  growing 
and  cattle  raising,  but  the  Russians  never  settled  there.  The  Russian  River 
today  is  a  famous  fishing  stream;  in  its  fresh-water  pools,  small-mouth 
black  bass  abound,  and  in  the  lower  river  near  the  sea,  striped  bass. 
During  the  winter  steelhead  and  salmon  are  caught  in  great  numbers. 
For  nearly  25  miles  inland  from  its  mouth,  the  river  is  bordered  by  an 
almost  unbroken  line  of  summer  resorts,  where  from  100,000  to  150,000 
people  spend  their  vacations. 

State  12  crosses  the  river  to  GUERNEVILLE,  18.2  m.  (52  alt.,  800  pop.), 
trade  center  of  a  dairying,  fruit  growing  and  lumbering  region,  especially 
noted  for  its  apples.  Its  population  expands  in  summer  to  about  10  times 
its  winter  size.  The  environs  are  thronged  with  tent  colonies  and  camping 
grounds  by  the  river's  brink.  The  town  is  named  for  George  Guerne,  its 
founder,  who  built  a  large  mill  here  in  1865. 

Right  from  Guerneville  on  a  paved  road  2.8  m.  to  ARMSTRONG 
WOODS,  a  400-acre  grove  of  virgin  redwoods,  where  outdoor  plays  and 
festivals  are  presented  during  the  summer  in  rustic  ARMSTRONG  FOREST 
THEATER,  seating  1,000. 

At  23.1  m.  on  State  12  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  L.  on  this  road, 


TOUR     2        361 

which  bridges  the  river,  to  MONTE  RIO,  0.2  m.  (41  alt.,  320  pop.),  a 
summer  resort  by  the  river  where  redwoods  shadow  a  thicket  of  rock 
maples  and  wild  grapevines. 

Right  from  Monte  Rio  0.9  m.  to  BOHEMIAN  GROVE,  a  2,437-acre 
grove  of  virgin  redwoods  extending  from  the  river  bank.  The  grove, 
owned  by  the  Bohemian  Club  of  San  Francisco,  is  open  to  members  only; 
it  contains  a  large  outdoor  theater  seating  1,200  with  seats  of  'bark-covered 
logs  and  a  bark-covered  cement  structure  housing  a  pipe  organ.  At  the 
annual  two-week  summer  encampment  of  the  club,  celebrations  called  High 
Jinks  have  been  presented  ever  since  1878. 

At  26.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  on  this  road,  6.4  m. 
through  a  redwood  belt,  thick  with  summer  camps  and  cabins,  to  CAZA- 
DERO  (87  alt.,  300  pop.),  £  resort  center  in  a  dairying  district. 

State  12  continues  to  DUNCAN  MILLS,  28.1  m.  (26  alt.,  37  pop.),  a 
summer  resort  in  the  center  of  a  small  dairying  region  along  the  banks  of 
the  Russian  River. 

At  32  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  i   (see  TOUR  la). 

2.  Left  from  Santa  Rosa  on  State  12  around  the  northern  end  of  a  foot- 
hill spur  and  southeastward  down  long,  narrow  Sonoma  Valley  between 
wooded  hills.  The  name  Sonoma  is  probably  of  Indian  origin,  derived  from 
the  words  tso  (earth)  and  noma  (village)  of  the  Yukian  Wappo  dialect, 
although  Jack  London  popularized  the  fanciful  translation  "Valley  of  the 
Moon"  in  his  novel  of  that  name.  Sun-drenched  for  long  months — but 
cooled  by  ocean  fogs  in  summer — the  vineyard-mantled  slopes  grow  some 
of  the  State's  best  wine  grapes. 

At  14.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  Valley  of  the  Moon  Highway;  R.  on 
this  road  1  m.  to  GLEN  ELLEN  (131  alt.,  100  pop.),  in  the  shade  of  ancient 
oaks  and  maples. 

Right  from  Glen  Ellen  on  an  oil  surfaced  road  0.4  m.  to  the  entrance 
to  the  JACK  LONDON  RANCH,  overlooking  the  valley  from  orchard-clad 
knolls,  where  the  author  of  The  Call  of  the  Wild  spent  his  last  years  in  a 
fling  at  running  an  experimental  model  farm  which  his  widow  operates 
as  a  "dude"  ranch.  During  London's  life  on  the  ranch,  his  daily  schedule 
began  with  a  gallop  around  the  estate;  after  lunch,  having  finished  his 
i,ooo-word  writing  stint  for  the  day,  he  spent  the  afternoons  supervising 
ranch  operations  from  horseback.  In  the  white  ranch  house  where  the 
Londons  lived,  his  library  is  preserved.  All  that  remains  of  the  costly  Wolf 
House,  which  London  built  but  never  lived  in,  are  its  bare  stone  walls;  the 
unfinished  building  was  razed  by  fire,  supposedly  set  by  an  incendiary. 
Only  a  short  time  later  London  died  at  the  ranch  on  November  22,  1916 — 
by  his  own  hand,  according  to  his  latest  biographer.  On  "Little  Hill"  near 
the  ruins  of  his  unfinished  house,  a  rough  boulder,  unmarked,  shelters  his 
ashes. 

South  of  Glen  Ellen,  the  Valley  of  the  Moon  Highway  follows  Sonoma 
Creek,  through  a  quiet  countryside  fragrant  in  season  with  acacia  blossoms 
and  new-mown  hay,  to  the  SONOMA  STATE  HOME,  2  m.,  a  group  of  red- 
roofed  buildings  on  extensive  lawns,  established  in  the  late  i88o's.  Al- 
though it  is  one  of  the  largest  hospitals  for  the  mentally  deficient  in  the 
State,  it  was  badly  overcrowded  until  additions  were  built  in  1939. 

The  once-thriving  farm  and  poultry  center  of  EL  VERANO  (Sp.,  the 
summer),  6.2  m.  (103  alt.,  200  pop.),  suffered  a  sharp  decline  when  the 
railroad  discontinued  service  to  its  station  here,  as  a  huge,  empty  hotel, 
windowless  stores  and  homes,  and  rusting  railway  tracks  attest. 

At  7.2  m.  the  Valley  of  the  Moon  Highway  rejoins  State  12. 

South  of  its  northern  junction  with  the  Valley  of  the  Moon  Highway, 
State  12  continues  through  AGUA  CALIENTE,  18.3  m.  (75  alt.,  150  pop.), 
FETTERS  SPRINGS,  18.7  m.,  and  BOYES  SPRINGS,  19.4  m.  (129  alt., 
400  pop.) — all  resorts  with  cabins,  hotels  and  swimming  pools  around  hot 
mineral  springs. 


362        CALIFORNIA 

SONOMA,  21.9  m.  (97  alt.,  980  pop.),  sprawls  over  the  flat  valley  floor, 
with  low-lying  frame  and  adobe  buildings,  typically  Californian  in  their 
second-story  Spanish  balconies,  along  wide  streets  around  a  plaza.  Estab- 
lished as  a  frontier  post,  Sonoma  has  survived  threatened  invasion  by 
Russians  from  the  north,  raids  by  horse  thieves,  and  rebellion  by  Ameri- 
canos, and  still  pursues  its  leisurely  ways,  untroubled  by  bustle  and  scurry, 
amid  pleasant  acres  of  farm,  vineyard,  and  cattle  land. 

The  straggling  Russian  settlements  along  the  northern  coast  (see  TOUR 
la]  worried  Gov.  Luis  Argiiello  so  much  that  he  urged  Padre  Jose 
Altimira  to  move  Missions  San  Francisco  de  Asis  and  San  Rafael  Arcangel 
northward  without  delay.  Too  impatient  to  wait  for  the  sanction  of  church 
authorities,  the  young  priest  set  out  in  June  1823  to  find  a  site.  On  July 
4,  1823,  he  dedicated  his  chosen  spot  with  rites  before  a  cross  of  tree 
limbs  and  an  altar  of  woven  willow  twigs  and  named  it  Mision  San 
Francisco  Solano  for  the  saint  known  as  the  Apostle  to  the  Indies.  The 
mission  authorities  were  so  outraged  by  Padre  Altimira's  precipitous  action 
that  at  first  they  forbade  him  to  continue.  By  April  24,  1824,  however,  this, 
the  last  and  most  northerly  of  the  missions,  had  been  finished  and  dedicated 
— a  crude  structure  of  whitewashed  boards — and  by  the  end  of  the  year  a 
long,  low  tile-roofed  adobe  with  overhanging  eaves,  a  priest's  house  and 
guards'  houses,  and  a  granary  had  been  added.  During  the  n  years  before 
it  was  secularized  in  1834,  the  mission  grew  rich  from  its  vineyards, 
orchards,  and  herds  of  stock. 

Still  plagued  by  the  Russian  menace,  Gov.  Jose  Figueroa  ordered  the 
commissioner  for  the  mission,  young  Alferez  Mariano  Vallejo,  Comandante 
of  the  Line  of  the  North,  to  found  a  pueblo  on  the  northern  frontier.  In 
1835,  having  failed  to  establish  successful  colonies  at  Santa  Rosa  and 
Petaluma  because  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  he  laid  out  the  Pueblo 
de  Sonoma  around  a  plaza — the  largest  in  all  California — and  built  his 
own  two-story  palacio  on  the  northern  side.  As  other  adobe  dwellings — 
including  those  of  his  brother  Salvador  on  the  northern  side  and  his  brother- 
in-law,  Jacob  P.  Leese,  at  the  southwestern  corner — were  erected,  the 
pueblo  took  on  the  shape  of  a  quadrangle  bordered  with  backyard  gardens. 
By  1839,  the  population  included  more  than  25  families,  over  whom  Vallejo 
reigned  like  a  feudal  baron.  In  the  plaza  he  drilled  his  Mexican  soldiers, 
augmented  by  Indians  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket.  From  the  four-story 
watch  tower  of  his  palacio  he  used  field  glasses  to  survey  his  lands,  ranged 
by  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  horses.  To  guarantee  the  security  of  his 
domain — and  of  the  northern  frontier — he  formed  an  alliance  with  the  chief 
of  the  Suisun,  Sem-Yet-Ho  (Mighty  Arm),  baptised  Solano,  through  whose 
powerful  friendship  he  won  the  allegiance  of  Indian  groups  whom  the 
missions  had  never  touched. 

The  drowsy  pueblo  was  awakened  to  sudden  life  before  dawn  of  June 
14,  1846,  by  a  villainous-looking  band  of  three  dozen  armed  gringoes.  A 
rapid  "change  in  the  political  affairs  of  Sonoma"  took  place,  as  one  of  the 
gringo  leaders,  William  B.  Ide,  put  it.  The  invaders  were  Yankee  trap- 
pers and  settlers,  led  by  rough,  rawboned  Ezekiel  Merritt;  they  were  acting 
on  orders  from  Capt.  John  C.  Fremont,  encamped  nearby  with  his  pur- 
ported scientific  expedition.  Uneasy  at  the  threat  of  expulsion  from  the 
province  by  the  Mexican  authorities,  they  were  ready  to  begin  a  struggle 
to  bring  California  under  the  American  flag — unaware  that  the  United 
States  had  already  declared  war  against  Mexico.  As  Ide  told  the  story 
in  a  letter  to  Commodore  Robert  Stockton:  ".  .  .  we  charged  upon  the 
Fortress  of  General  Guadaloupe  Vallejo,  and  captured  eighteen  prisoners 
(among  whom  were  three  of  the  highest  officers  in  the  Californian  Govern- 
ment and  all  the  military  officers  who  reside  in  Sonoma)  eight  field- 
pieces,  two  hundred  stand  of  arms,  a  great  quantity  of  cannon,  canister, 
and  grape-shot,  and  a  little  less  than  one  hundred  pounds  of  powder 
(quite  too  little  to  sustain  us  against  an  attack  by  the  use  of  cannon)  .  .  . 
the  soldiers  were  set  at  liberty,  and  the  said  officers  were  escorted  by  ten 


TOUR     2        363 

armed  men  to  an  asylum  under  the  generous  protection  of  Captain  Fremont. 
This  day  we  proclaim  California  a  Republic,  and  our  pledge  of  honor  that 
private  property  shall  be  protected  .  .  .  Destined  as  we  are  to  certain 
destruction  should  we  prove  unsuccessful,  we  have  the  honor  to  be  your 
Fellow  Countrymen  .  .  ."  He  signed  himself  "Commander-in-chief  at  the 
Fortress  of  Sonoma,"  having  been  elected  president  of  the  new  "California 
Republic." 

A  flag  was  hastily  improvised  from  a  yard-wide  strip  of  unbleached 
homespun  and  a  4-inch  strip  of  red  flannel.  With  brown  paint  William  L. 
Todd,  Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln's  nephew,  painted  a  star  in  one  corner — in 
memory  of  the  Lone  Star  Republic  of  Texas — a  grizzly  bear,  and  the 
words  "California  Republic."  Said  Benjamin  Dewell,  one  of  the  revolu- 
tionaries: "A  bear  stands  his  ground  always,  and  as  long  as  the  stars 
shine  we  stand  for  the  cause."  The  bear,  however,  was  so  fat  and 
clumsily  drawn  that  the  Sonomans  laughed  and  called  it  a  pig.  The  flag 
was  run  up  the  high  flag  pole  in  the  plaza,  where  it  fluttered  until  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  replaced  it  on  July  9. 

After  the  Yankee  occupation,  when  a  military  garrison  was  stationed 
here,  Sonoma  grew  into  a  prosperous  town,  with  Vallejo,  who  soon  ad- 
justed himself  to  American  rule,  as  one  of  its  leading  citizens.  In  1856 
the  Hungarian  nobleman  Col.  Agaston  Haraszthy,  called  the  father  of 
wine  making  in  California,  purchased  land  east  of  town.  By  1858  he  had 
planted  85,556  vines  in  his  Buena  Vista  Vineyard.  When  he  wrote  an 
article  on  viticulture  and  wine  making  in  the  latter  year,  Sonoma  was 
deluged  with  a  flood  of  inquiries;  overnight  it  became  the  State's  chief 
center  for  distribution  of  viticultural  knowledge  and  nursery  cuttings  of 
foreign  vines.  From  Col.  Haraszthy's  vineyard,  cuttings  of  the  Zinfandel, 
Flame  Tokay,  Black  Morocco,  Seedless  Sultana,  and  Muscat  of  Alexandria 
were  distributed  throughout  the  State. 

Sonoma's  plaza,  once  a  dusty  square  carelessly  littered  with  the  skeletons 
of  slaughtered  beeves,  is  green  with  lawns  and  shrubs  today.  It  surrounds 
the  stone  COURTHOUSE  AND  CITY  HALL,  dedicated  in  1908.  At  the  north- 
eastern corner  is  the  BEAR  FLAG  MONUMENT,  a  bronze  figure  (John  Mac- 
Quarrie,  sculptor)  of  a  pioneer  waving  the  Bear  Flag  from  a  4o-ton 
granite  chunk ;  it  was  unveiled  on  the  sixty-ninth  anniversary  of  the  Bear 
Flag  Revolution. 

MISSION  SAN  FRANCISCO  DE  SOLANO,  at  the  northeastern  corner  of  the 
plaza,  now  a  State  Museum  (open  10-4),  was  restored  in  in  1910-14,  after 
the  chapel  had  served  since  1880  as  storehouse  for  cattle  feed  and  the 
cloisters  as  wine  cellars.  The  chapel  (1824)  and  a  tile-roofed  one-story 
wing  belong  to  the  early  days.  The  original  mission  bell,  green  with  age, 
hangs  near  the  door.  In  the  cool,  dim  interior,  old  heavy  unpainted  beams 
support  an  adobe  ceiling.  One  room  houses  pioneer  relics,  and  another, 
examples  of  Indian  handicraft. 

The  BLUE  WING  INN,  217  Spain  St.  East,  a  long,  shabby,  shingle-roofed 
adobe  building  with  a  balcony,  was  reputedly  the  first  hotel  north  of  San 
Francisco  at  the  time  of  its  erection  in  the  early  1840*3.  It  houses  an  old 
music  box  that  still  tinkles  when  fed  coins,  and  Sonoma's  first  fire  engine, 
decorated  with  faded  birds  and  flowers.  The  SONOMA  BARRACKS,  Spain 
St.  East  and  First  St.  East,  a  two-story  adobe  with  a  balcony  (1836),  has 
served  as  headquarters  for  Mexican  troops,  for  the  Bear  Flag  rebels,  and 
for  U.  S.  Army  officers.  The  VALLEJO  HOME,  next  door,  the  two-story 
adobe  Palacio  where  Sonoma's  overlord  ruled  his  little  principality,  is 
still  in  use,  although  the  tall  tower  from  which  he  surveyed  his  holdings 
has  disappeared.  The  two-story  HOTEL  EL  DORADO,  Spain  St.  West  and 
First  St.  West,  with  balconies  across  the  front  of  two  long  wings,  consists 
of  a  first  story  of  adobe — which  in  1848-49  housed  a  noted  hostelry — and  a 
second  story  of  wood,  added  in  the  i86o's.  Vallejo's  brother-in-law,  Jacob 
P.  Leese,  erected  the  FITCH  HOUSE,  southwest  corner  of  the  plaza;  both  it 
and  the  RAY  HOUSE,  Main  St.  West  and  Second  St.  West,  a  two-story 


364        CALIFORNIA 

frame  and  adobe  house  with  an  overhanging  roof,  sheltered  U.  S.  Army 
officers. 

Left  from  Sonoma  on  paved  Third  St.  West  into  a  tree-lined  avenue 
leading  0.5  m.  to  the  VALLEJO  HOME  HISTORICAL  STATE  MONUMENT  in  a 
tree-shaded  ij-acre  tract.  The  two-story,  ten-room  frame  mansion  with  its 
white  fret-work  dripping  from  the  eaves  was  built  by  Vallejo  in  1851  in 
the  gabled  and  bracketed  vogue  of  the  period.  In  the  front  and  back  yards 
are  white  cast-iron  fountains — one  fashioned  in  the  likeness  of  a  fat  swan 
with  raised  neck  and  open  red  bill  spouting  water.  Vallejo  called  his 
place  Lachryma  Montis  (Lat.,  tears  of  the  mountain)  because  its  first 
water  supply  came  from  a  mountain  spring.  Near  the  house  is  the  Swiss 
chalet,  now  the  VALLEJO  MUSEUM  (open  10-4),  a  long,  narrow  edifice 
with  a  second-story  overhang,  built  in  1850  of  buff-colored  brick  and 
timbers  supposed  to  have  been  brought  around  the  Horn  in  sailing  ships 
as  ballast.  Among  the  exhibits  are  the  general's  Spanish-embroidered 
christening  robe,  his  derby  and  silk  top  hat,  and  his  wife's  enamel  and 
silk  jewel  case. 

South  of  Sonoma,  State  12  continues  to  its  junction  with  State  37  at 
SHELLVILLE,  25.5  m.  (10  alt.,  84  pop.);  R.  from  Shellville  on  State  37 
to  the  junction  with  US  101,  41.5  m. 

COTATI,  346  m.  (113  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  trade  center  of  a  poultry 
and  farming  area,  is  within  the  bounds  of  the  former  Rancho  Cotati. 

The  roads  leading  into  PETALUMA  (Ind.,  beautiful  view),  354.7 
m.  (100  alt.,  8,245  pop.),  which  calls  itself  "The  World's  Egg  Basket" 
— and  has  been  called  "Chickaluma" — are  often  clogged  by  trucks 
heavily  loaded  with  crates  of  eggs  and  white  leghorns.  The  slopes 
around  town  echo  with  the  cackle  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  chickens, 
for  Petaluma  produces  eggs  on  a  mass  scale.  Although  the  Mexican 
colony  here  dated  from  1833  and  the  Yankee  settlement  from  1852, 
Petaluma  rose  to  prominence  only  with  the  founding  of  its  major  com- 
mercial activity  by  a  young  Canadian,  Lyman  Ryce,  who  decided  in 
1878  that  the  region  was  adapted  to  poultry  raising  and  sent  to  Canada 
for  some  white  leghorns.  Conceiving  the  -idea  of  artificial  incubation, 
he  lived  to  see  his  incubators  and  brooders  used  throughout  the  world. 

In  Petaluma's  scientific  chicken  yards,  hens  have  outgrown  the  habits 
of  their  barnyard  ancestors — scratching  for  worms,  "setting,"  strutting 
about  with  their  chicks.  Petaluma  eggs  are  hatched  in  mechanical 
incubators  that  even  turn  the  eggs,  a  trayf ul  at  a  time ;  Petaluma  chicks 
are  nurtured  in  heated  brooders — the  largest  of  which  has  a  yearly  out- 
put of  1,800,000  fledglings.  One  of  the  world's  biggest  incubator  fac- 
tories is  here,  producing  machines  that  are  widely  distributed.  Petaluma 
even  has  a  CHICKEN  PHARMACY,  on  the  main  street,  devoted  exclusively 
to  the  sale  of  remedies  for  ailing  chickens. 

Left  from  Petaluma  on  an  oiled  road  1.5  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt 
road;  L.  here  1.8  m.  to  brown-roofed  CASA  GRANDE  (caretaker),  largest 
adobe  structure  in  northern  California,  standing  in  wide,  level  fields. 
Gen.  Mariano  Vallejo  in  1833-34  built  the  casa  as  headquarters  of  his 
75,ooo-acre  Rancho  Petaluma.  Here  he  farmed  successfully  with  the  aid 
of  his  Indian  laborers — probably  for  several  years  before  the  land  was 
formally  granted  to  him  in  1834.  The  adobe  walls  of  the  massive,  fort- 
like  structure  are  4  feet  thick.  The  heavy  beams  used  in  its  framework — 
hewn  from  trees  brought  by  ox-cart  from  Mendocino  County — are  bound 


TOUR     2        365 

with  tough   rawhide  thongs.     Wide,   second-story  balconies   run  the   length 
of  the  three  facades,  enclosing  the  rear  patio. 

NOVATO,  365  m.  (12  alt.,  700  pop.),  is  a  trade  center  of  a  fruit- 
raising  and  dairying  region. 

At  368.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  37  (see  above). 
At  370.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  here  to  HAMILTON  FIELD  (open  70-5),  0.5  m.,  928-acre  Army  air 
base,  built  at  a  cost  of  $5,000,000.  Approximately  900  men,  125  officers, 
and  60  planes  are  stationed  here. 

SAN  RAFAEL,  376.3  m.  (10  alt.,  8,022  pop.),  largely  populated 
by  commuters  to  San  Francisco,  is  the  seat  of  Marin  County,  named  for 
a  Lacatuit  Indian  chief.  It  grew  up  around  the  MISSION  SAN  RAFAEL 
ARCANGEL,  twentieth  in  the  chain  of  California  missions,  founded  by 
Father  Ventura  Fortuni  September  18,  1817.  The  present  buildings 
are  restorations.  In  1834  tne  mission  had  1,250  Indians  (Jouskionme), 
3,000  head  of  cattle,  500  horses,  4,500  sheep,  goats,  and  hogs,  and  a 
harvest  of  1,500  bushels  of  grain.  In  1842,  8  years  after  the  decree 
secularizing  all  the  missions,  only  20  Indians  remained. 

At  720  Fourth  St.  is  the  ANGELOTTI  HOUSE;  built  by  prison  labor 
for  the  pioneer  family,  it  stands  as  when  it  was  constructed.  A  restau- 
rant at  1339  Fourth  St.,  built  in  1886,  was  long  a  training  place  for 
pugilists,  among  them  James  J.  Corbett,  Joe  Cans,  Jimmie  Britt, 
Battling  Nelson,  and  Young  Corbett.  Another  restaurant,  at  603  Lin- 
coln Ave.,  was  the  HOUSE  OF  PETER  DONAHUE,  early  railroad  builder 
and  capitalist;  the  spacious  halls  bear  the  murals  and  gold  leaf  that 
decorated  some  dwellings  of  the  wealthy  in  the  late  nineteenth  century. 

Left  from  San  Rafael  on  a  paved  road  to  POINT  SAN  PEDRO,  5.9  m., 
where  three  Spaniards — Francisco  and  Ramon  de  Haro  of  San  Francisco, 
and  Jose  de  los  Reyes  Berryessa,  an  aged  rancher  from  Santa  Clara — were 
shot  and  killed  by  Kit  Carson  on  June  28,  1846,  during  the  Bear  Flag 
revolt,  while  Capt.  John  C.  Fremont  was  temporarily  in  possession  of 
Mission  San  Rafael.  Seeing  a  boat  approaching  from  San  Pablo,  Fremont, 
it  is  said,  ordered  Carson  to  intercept  the  passengers.  The  three  men 
disembarked  at  the  point.  A  witness,  Jasper  O'Farrell,  said  that  Carson 
asked  Fremont  whether  he  should  make  prisoners  of  the  strangers,  and 
that  the  general  waved  his  hand  and  replied,  "I  have  no  room  for 
prisoners." 

At  GREENBRAE,  379  m.  (32  alt.,  100  pop.),  where  houseboats 
are  anchored  along  Corte  Madera  Creek,  is  a  junction  with  a  paved 
road. 

Left  here,  to  the  tip  of  Point  San  Quentin  reaching  eastward  into  San 
Francisco  Bay,  to  SAN  QUENTIN  PRISON,  2.5  m.  (relatives  and  persons  with 
legitimate  reasons  to  see  prisoners  admitted  weekdays  9-2:30}.  The  ap- 
proach to  San  Quentin  is  barred  by  gates;  only  automobiles  of  prison 
officials  are  permitted  to  pass.  Within  the  gates,  a  concrete  walk  leads 
past  guards'  cottages  and  the  prison  fire  department  (of  which  Norman 
Selby — "Kid  McCoy" — was  once  a  member)  to  the  prison  wall.  Construc- 
tion of  San  Quentin,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  overcrowded  State  prisons, 


366       CALIFORNIA 

was  started  in  1852,  and  parts  of  the  original  cell  blocks  are  still  in  use. 
With  accommodations  for  about  3,500  prisoners,  it  now  (1939)  holds  5,200. 
The  four  principal  cell  units  of  the  prison  are  of  modern  construction  but 
cells  built  to  house  one  man  now  accommodate  two.  About  1935  the 
dungeons,  in  use  since  1852  as  prison  disciplinary  quarters,  were  abolished; 
now  transgression  of  prison  rules  results  in  confinement  in  "solitary,"  where 
the  prisoner  is  fed  only  one  meal  each  day  and  loses  his  privileges 
(visitors,  tobacco,  mail,  or  reading  matter).  Execution  for  capital  offenses 
committed  since  August  1937  is  by  lethal  gas. 

New  prisoners  usually  work  in  the  jute  mill,  where  grain  sacks  are 
made,  for  a  year  before  being  assigned  to  other  duties.  The  prison  manu- 
factures furniture  for  use  in  State  schools  and  offices.  Its  other  industries 
supply  its  own  needs.  The  inmates  publish  a  Sports  News,  which  has 
replaced  the  monthly  San  Quentin  Bulletin.  Prison  dahlias  win  prizes 
regularly  at  the  San  Francisco  Dahlia  Show.  San  Quentin's  most  famous 
prisoner  was  Thomas  J.  Mooney,  sent  here  to  be  hanged  for  the  Prepared- 
ness Day  explosion  in  San  Francisco  in  1917;  his  sentence  was  commuted  to 
life  imprisonment,  and  he  was  pardoned  by  Gov.  Culbert  Olson  in  January 
1939.  In  the  days  following  the  World  War,  there  were  more  than  100 
prisoners  at  a  time  here  under  the  criminal  syndicalism  act,  most  of  them 
members  of  the  I.W.W. 

At  380.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  MILL  VALLEY,  2.1  m.  (57  alt.,  4,164  pop.),  a  resi- 
dential community  at  the  base  of  MOUNT  TAMALPAIS  (Ind.,  bay  moun- 
tain country).  The  land  on  which  the  town  stands  was  once  part  of  the 
Rancho  Saucelito  (little  willow).  A  mortgage  on  the  property  was  fore- 
closed in  1891,  and  the  land  auctioned  off  in  lots  to  form  the  town  named 
for  the  sawmill  built  here  by  Juan  Read  in  1834.  The  heavy  redwood 
frame  of  the  mill  stands  in  OLD  MILL  PARK,  on  Throckmorton  Ave.,  on  the 
bank  of  the  stream  that  formed  the  boundary  between  the  Rancho  Saucelito 
and  Read's  Rancho  Corte  Madera  del  Presidio  (cut  wood  for  the  army 
post).  The  latter  grant  was  named  from  the  fact  that  timber  cut  from 
the  land  went  into  the  construction  of  the  presidio  at  Yerba  Buena  (San 
Francisco). 

The  route  continues  L.  from  Throckmorton  Ave.  in  Mill  Valley  on  Cas- 
cade Ave.  and  climbs  to  a  junction  with  paved  Muir  Woods  Road,  4.6  m.; 
L.  here  1.6  m.  to  an  entrance  (R)  to  MUIR  WOODS  NATIONAL  MONU- 
MENT (picnicking  facilities),  a  427-acre  grove  of  redwoods  in  Redwood 
Canyon.  The  grove,  named  in  honor  of  John  Muir,  the  naturalist,  contains 
redwoods  as  much  as  2,000  years  old  and  as  tall  as  250  feet,  frequently 
growing  in  great  circles  around  the  fire-blackened  stumps  of  trees  burned 
in  the  remote  past.  An  unusual  feature  of  the  grove  is  the  albino  redwood 
sapling,  about  6  feet  tall;  containing  no  chlorophyll,  it  cannot  manufacture 
its  own  food  and  therefore  depends  on  the  root  of  the  nearby  parent  tree 
for  sustenance.  Among  the  other  trees  found  in  the  woods  are  California 
laurel,  tan-bark  oak,  Douglas  fir,  alder,  madrone,  nutmeg,  and  buckeye. 
Ferns  and  wild  flowers  grow  in  abundance.  The  park  owes  its  existence  to 
William  Kent,  an  ardent  conservationist,  who  purchased  the  nucleus — 295 
acres — and  donated  it  to  the  Government  in  1907  to  save  the  grove  from 
destruction  by  a  water  company  which  had  filed  condemnation  proceedings 
to  secure  Redwood  Canyon  for  a  reservoir.  The  grove  became  a  National 
Monument  in  1908.  South  of  the  entrance  the  side  road  traverses  Frank 
Valley  and  joins  State  i  (see  TOUR  la)  at  5.7  m. 

From  the  junction  with  Muir  Woods  Road  the  main  side  route  swings 
sharply  R. ;  at  6.4  m.  it  crosses  a  trestle  built  over  the  abandoned  road-bed 
of  the  old  Mount  Tamalpais  and  Muir  Woods  Railway,  a  steam-operated 
road  known  as  "The  Crookedest  Railroad  in  the  World,"  constructed  in 


TOUR     2        367 

1896.  The  line  had  281  curves.  The  chief  engineering  feature  was  the 
Double  Bow  Knot,  where  the  track  negotiated  a  xoo-foot  rise  by  parallel- 
ing itself  five  times  within  2,000  feet. 

At   PANORAMA    GATE,   9.4    m.,   the    route   turns    R.    on    a    toll    road 


Left  from  Panorama  Gate  on  West  Point  Road  3.5  m.  to  the  junction  with 
State  i  (see  TOUR  la). 

At  10.3  m.  on  the  toll  road  is  the  MOUNTAIN  THEATER,  a  natural  amphi- 
theater with  terraced  stone  seats  on  the  lower  western  side  of  Mount 
Tamalpais,  more  than  2,000  feet  above  sea  level  in  a  forest  of  redwoods, 
madrones,  and  mountain  oaks.  The  backdrop  of  the  natural  stage  is  a 
sweeping  stretch  of  San  Francisco  Bay  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Since  its 
inception  in  1913,  the  Mountain  Play  Association  has  presented  a  play  here 
annually  on  the  third  Sunday  in  May  (adm.  50^).  Past  presentations 
have  included  Rip  Van  Winkle,  The  Pied  Piper,  Robin  Hood,  As  You  Like 
It,  Peer  Gynt,  and  Androdes  and  the  Lion. 

The  toll  road  winds  along  the  slopes  of  Mount  Tamalpais'  three  crests  — 
West  Peak  (2,605  alt.),  Middle  Peak  (2,570  alt.),  and  East  Peak  (2,586 
alt.)  —  to  the  MOUNT  TAMALPAIS  TAVERN,  12.4  m.  From  the  tavern's  broad 
windows  is  a  far  view  on  clear  days.  Mount  Tamalpais  appears  much 
higher  than  it  is  because  it  rises  almost  from  sea  level.  Myriads  of  ferns 
and  wild  flowers  grow  in  the  forest  shade.  The  entire  mountain  is  a  game 
refuge,  with  hundreds  of  deer  grazing  on  its  slopes. 

IN  RICHARDSON  BAY,  bridged  by  US  101  at  383.1  m.  appear 
the  faded  hulks  and  naked  masts  of  a  few  German  sailing  vessels  seized 
during  the  World  War,  so  rotted  as  to  be  worth  nothing  in  salvage. 
In  the  distance  is  the  graceful  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge. 

At  383.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  I  (see  TOUR  la),  which 
unites  with  US  101  into  San  Francisco. 

At  383.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  SAUSALITO,  1  m.  (8  alt.,  3,667  pop.),  whose  first 
permanent  English-speaking  settler  was  Captain  William  Richardson,  a 
shrewd  and  active  business  man,  who  although  as  a  foreigner  he  had  no 
such  rights,  engaged  quite  openly  as  a  pilot  for  trading  and  whaling  ships 
anchoring  off  the  Marin  shore  and  appropriated  the  fees  for  his  services; 
he  claimed  this  as  his  privilege,  since  he  officially  represented  the  Mexican 
Government  on  the  San  Francisco  shore.  Sausalito  (corruption  of  Sp. 
salcedo,  willow)  was  so  named  because  of  the  abundance  of  willows  in 
early  times  growing  about  its  spring,  from  which  in  early  days,  all  the 
fresh  water  used  in  San  Francisco  was  transported  in  barrels  on  rafts. 
The  place  is  a  strange  combination  of  fishing  village,  residential  suburb, 
and  literary  art  colony,  with  a  polyglot  population.  It  is  divided  into 
Old  Town  and  New  Town  ;  local  humor  divides  the  residents  into 
"Wharf  Rats"  and  "Hill  Snobs."  The  vicinity  of  the  SAUSALITO  YACHT 
HARBOR  in  Old  Town  is  called  Hurricane  Gulch  despite  the  attempts  of 
realtors  to  rename  it  Shelter  Cove;  it  is  a  natural  funnel  through  which 
strong  winds  blow  from  the  hills.  Whalers  first  began  to  use  the  cove 
around  1800  and  later  came  here  in  large  numbers.  On  the  western  shore 
is  FORT  BAKER,  with  high  batteries.  Still  farther  south  near  POINT  BONITA 
is  FORT  BARRY. 

South  of  the  Sausalito  junction  US  101  climbs  through  low,  wind- 
swept hills,  in  sight  of  numerous  craft  on  the  broad  bay. 

The  3.6  mile  Golden  Gate  Bridge  (see  SAN  FRANCISCO), 
386.1  m.,  spans  the  entrance  to  San  Francisco  Bay.  From  the  toll  house 


368        CALIFORNIA 

(toll  50$  per  car),  389   m.,  the  island  site  of  Alcatraz   Penitentiary 
(L)  is  visible. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  392.5  m.  (18  alt.,  634,394  pop.)  (see  SAN 
FRANCISCO). 

Section  b.    SAN  FRANCISCO  to  SAN  LUIS  OBISPO,  243.3  m. 

US  ioi 

South  of  San  Francisco  US  ioi  follows  California's  oldest  road — El 
Camino  Real  (the  king's  highway),  the  life  line  that  linked  Spanish 
California's  21  missions,  her  straggling  pueblos,  and  isolated  presidios. 
In  the  days  when  it  was  just  wide  enough  for  an  oxcart,  it  was  used  by 
the  soldiers  of  the  Spanish  king,  clad  in  leather  cuirasses  and  helmets 
and  armed  with  swords  and  smoothbore  muskets.  Brown-robed  Fran- 
ciscans plodded  along  it  on  their  way  between  the  missions,  spaced  a 
day's  journey  apart. 

"Down  the  peninsula" — as  local  inhabitants  say — the  way  is  now  a 
tree-lined  boulevard  in  a  country-club  domain  populated  largely  by  San 
Francisco  commuters.  Here  latter-day  millionaires  following  in  the 
steps  of  the  mid-Victorian  "bonanza  kings"  have  laid  out  estates,  golf 
links,  racetracks,  and  polo  fields.  US  ioi  cuts  across  saucer-like  Santa 
Clara  Valley's  prune  and  apricot  orchards — in  early  spring  a  fragrant 
sea  of  white  blossoms — dotted  with  fruit  canneries  and  packing  plants. 
It  winds  into  Salinas  Valley,  a  narrow  trough  checkered  with  lettuce 
fields  and  orchards  and  dairy  farm  alfalfa  patches,  stretching  southeast- 
ward a  hundred  miles  between  bare  rolling  hills  where  cattle  have 
ranged  since  the  Mexican  rancho  era.  From  the  southern  tip  of  the 
valley  the  highway  crosses  the  oak-dappled  Santa  Lucia  Mountains. 

Van  Ness  Ave.  and  Fell  St.,  0  m.,  in  SAN  FRANCISCO,  is  the 
junction  with  US  lOi-Alt. 

East  from  Van  Ness  Ave.  on  Fell  St.,  which  curves  (R)  into  Tenth  St.; 
R.  on  Potrero  Ave.  and  L.  on  Bayshore  Highway  (US  ioi-Alt.),  a  speed 
road  skirting  the  marshy  flats  along  San  Francisco  Bay. 

The  LIVESTOCK  PAVILION  of  Agricultural  District  No.  i-A,  8  m. — in  local 
parlance  the  "Cow  Palace" — stands  (R)  in  a  i5-acre  tract  beside  a  trotting 
track  and  grandstand.  The  vast  rounded  roof  rests  on  rockers  greased 
every  ten  days  so  that  it  can  be  moved  back. 

At  the  southern  edge  of  hills  that  wall  San  Francisco's  outskirts  is 
SOUTH  SAN  FRANCISCO,  10.5  m.  (u  alt.,  6,166  pop.),  "The  Industrial 
City,"  as  it  calls  itself,  a  closely  built  conglomeration  of  steel  mills,  foun- 
dries, smelters  and  refineries,  machine  shops  and  lumber  yards,  stockyards 
and  packing  plants. 

On  the  Bay  shore  (L)  is  MILLS  FIELD,  13  m.,  San  Francisco's  municipal 
airport. 

Overlooking  the  water  is  a  PACIFIC  PORTLAND  CEMENT  PLANT,  25  m.,  that 
converts  oyster  shells  dredged  from  the  Bay  bottom  into  cement.  The 
industry  took  over  holdings  of  the  unsuccessful  Morgan  Oyster  Company, 
formed  in  1887  to  grow  transplanted  Washington  oysters  in  the  Bay.  The 
oyster  shells  are  unloaded  by  crane  from  barges,  pulverized  in  steel 
cylinders  partly  filled  with  steel  balls,  and  subjected  to  heat  above  tempera- 
tures required  to  melt  steel. 


TOUR     2        369 

MOFFETT  FIELD,  36  m.  (visitors  7-5),  a  U.  S.  Army  aviation  base  (ac- 
quired from  the  Navy  in  1935  in  exchange  for  three  Army  air  fields),  has 
a  dirigible  hangar  almost  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  that  housed  the  ill-fated 
Macon,  a  mooring  mast,  helium  tank,  airplane  runway,  barracks,  and  shops. 

In  SAN  JOSE  (see  below),  46.9  m.  US  lOi-Alt.  rejoins  US  101. 

South  of  Van  Ness  Ave.  and  Fell  St.,  0  m.,  in  San  Francisco,  US 
101  follows  Van  Ness  Ave.  into  Mission  St. 

From  the  hills  around  DALY  CITY,  5.6  m.  (190  alt.,  7,838 
pop.),  named  for  dairyman  John  D.  Daly  and  expanded  in  1936  to 
include  the  former  town  of  Colma,  hundreds  of  people  from  the  Penin- 
sula watched  San  Francisco  burn  in  1906.  When  speculators  who 
bought  up  the  land  here  attempted  in  1859  to  drive  settlers  off  the  site, 
the  squatters  built  a  fort  and  armed  themselves  with  muskets  and  a 
cannon  loaded  with  grapeshot.  Chased  away  by  pluguglies,  they  went 
to  court  and  recovered  their  land  in  1866,  when  the  Supreme  Court 
upheld  their  rights.  The  fields  and  slopes  are  covered  with  fields  of 
lettuce,  artichokes,  brussels  sprouts,  pansies,  marigolds,  and  violets. 

Smooth  green  burial  grounds  dotted  with  marble  headstones  com- 
prise LAWNDALE,  8.1  m.  (113  alt.,  369  pop.),  a  town  populated 
with  cemetery  employees.  Nurseries,  florists'  establishments,  marble- 
works,  and  tombstone  shops  border  the  highway.  Lawndale  has  placed 
an  arbitrary  value  on  its  land — $60,000  an  acre — in  order  to  exclude 
unallied  enterprises. 

The  soldiers  of  the  San  Francisco  Presidio  once  pastured  their  cattle 
on  the  site  of  TANFORAN  RACE  TRACK  (L),  11.7  m.  (gen.  adm.  40$; 
fall  and  spring  seasons),  oldest  commercial  track  in  the  State.  Named 
for  the  Mexican  rancher,  Torbirio  Tanforan,  it  was  opened  by  the 
San  Francisco  Jockey  Club  in  the  late  '90*5 ;  but  racing  scandals  involv- 
ing jockeys,  trainers,  and  owners  evoked  so  much  hue  and  cry  that  bet- 
ting was  made  illegal  in  1912,  forcing  it  to  close.  The  track  was  the 
scene  of  a  race  between  an  automobile  and  a  Wright  pusher  biplane  in 
aviation's  pioneer  period.  The  pilot,  Lincoln  Beachey,  was  the  victor, 
thrilling  watchers  by  scraping  the  earth  with  wingtips  as  he  cut  corners 
and  narrowly  cleared  his  rival's  head  as  he  swooped  over  the  auto- 
mobile. One  of  his  stunts — seldom  attempted  even  today — was  to  fly 
between  two  trees,  where  the  opening  was  narrower  than  his  wing- 
spread,  by  tilting  his  plane.  Beachey  was  killed  soon  afterward  while 
stunting  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  (1915).  The  track  was  re- 
opened when  betting  was  legalized  in  1933. 

On  the  site  of  SAN  BRUNO,  12.7  m.  (20  alt.,  3,610  pop.),  a 
community  shipping  vegetables  and  poultry,  was  a  roadhouse  where 
travelers  by  stagecoach  down  the  Peninsula  used  to  change  horses  and 
young  bloods  from  San  Francisco  practiced  target  shooting. 

The  tree-shaded  avenues  of  MILLBRAE,  14.6  m.  (8  alt.,  1,500 
pop.),  a  nursery  and  dairy  trade  center,  extend  toward  the  bay  shore 
over  the  former  estate  of  Darius  Ogden  Mills.  His  was  one  of  the 
baronial  country  retreats  where  San  Francisco's  "bonanza  kings"  set 
themselves  up  as  country  gentlemen.  The  great  two-story,  mansard- 


37O        CALIFORNIA 

roofed  MILLS  HO.USE,  built  in  1866,  stands  in  the  shade  of  Himalayan 
cedars  on  lawns  where  cast-iron  shepherd-maids  pose  with  flower 
baskets,.  The  garish  iron  and  wooden  grillwork  that  once  festooned  the 
exterior  is  gone — but  not  the  carved  grandfather  clock,  the  chandeliers 
and  the  full-length  mirrors,  the  marble  mantlepieces  and  the  red  plush 
canopies  over  walnut  bedsteads  that  graced  the  interior.  On  the  oak- 
dotted  acres  sloping  toward  the  bay,  reclaimed  with  levees  built  by 
Chinese  coolies  in  1872,  Mills  pastured  dairy  cattle,  built  an  up-to-the- 
minute  dairy  and  a  glass-domed  conservatory  with  a  white  marble  foun- 
tain. The  fortune  that  he  poured  into  the  estate  had  begun  accumulat- 
ing in  1850,  when  he  made  his  stake  with  a  cargo  of  miners'  supplies 
sold  in  Stockton;  it  had  grown  rapidly  after  he  opened  a  bank  at 
Columbia,  a  Sacramento  merchandising  house,  and  eventually — with 
William  C.  Ralston — the  Bank  of  California.  It  grew  even  more 
rapidly  as  he  acquired  vast  holdings  in  the  Comstock  mines.  The 
fortune  passed  to  his  son,  Ogden  L.  Mills,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
under  President  Hoover. 

Ragged  eucalypti — grown  from  seed  brought  from  Australia  by 
Mills — interlace  in  a  green  arch  high  overhead  for  3  miles  south  of 
Millbrae.  In  the  summer  the  trees  give  forth  a  pungent  scent  as  the 
sun  draws  out  the  resinous  sap ;  in  autumn  bonfires  of  the  fallen  branches 
and  peeling  bark  fill  the  air  with  a  spicy  tang  and  bluish  haze. 

The  first  center  of  country-club  life  in  the  West  was  BUR- 
LINGAME,  17.3  m.  (30  alt.,  14,800  pop.),  a  spacious  town  laid  out 
with  long  avenues  running  from  the  hills  to  the  bay  shore.  The  pseudo- 
Spanish  stucco  villas  of  commuters  and  the  great  rambling  mansions  of 
the  rich  stand  in  the  shade  of  eucalypti,  pepper-trees,  and  oaks  among 
golf  links  and  polo  fields.  Burlingame  was  the  product  of  banker 
William  C.  Ralston's  ambitious  dream  of  a  colony  where — as  Gertrude 
Atherton  later  wrote — ".  .  .  San  Franciscans  could  have  charming 
summer  homes  not  too  far  apart  for  social  gatherings;  with  small 
grounds,  but  houses  spacious  enough  for  entertaining  ...  In  those 
days  everybody  in  society  was  more  or  less  intimate,  and  of  course  no 
outsider  would  be  able  to  buy  an  acre  in  this  sacrosanct  colony."  The 
dream  had  already  prompted  Ralston  to  buy  the  site  when  "His  Ex- 
cellency, the  Honourable  Anson  Burlingame,  High  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary and  Envoy  Extraordinary  to  the  Court  of  Pekin,"  came  to 
Ralston's  estate  with  members  of  the  Chinese  Imperial  Embassy  to  be 
wined  and  dined.  Full  of  enthusiasm  for  his  project,  Ralston  drove 
his  visitor,  an  imposing  gentleman  with  luxuriant  Dundreary  whiskers, 
to  the  tract  and  christened  it  in  his  honor.  Ralston  cut  his  land  into 
5-acre  lots,  built  roads  and  planted  trees,  drilled  wells  and  installed 
water  mains — and  sold  the  plots  for  exorbitant  prices.  But  the  colony 
grew  slowly;  not  till  after  establishment  (1893)  of  the  BURLINGAME 
COUNTRY  CLUB,  first  in  the  State,  did  it  become  the  city  of  "charming 
summer  homes"  that  he  had  envisioned. 

The  millionaires'  community  of  HILLSBOROUGH  (40-700  alt., 
1,891  po'p.),  southwest  of  Burlingame,  climbing  hills  that  command 


TOUR     2        371 

sweeping  views,  now  contests  Burlingame's  long-unchallenged  social 
supremacy.  Its  founders  decreed  that  it  should  have  no  post  office,  no 
telegraph  or  express  office,  no  stores,  saloons,  hotels,  boarding  houses, 
newspapers — and  no  sidewalks.  In  summer  Hillsborough's  WOODLAND 
THEATER  is  the  scene  of  Sunday  afternoon  symphony  concerts. 

SAN  MATEO,  19.2  m.  (22  alt.,  13,444  Pop-)>  is  a  bustling  sub- 
urban town,  still  shaded  by  live  oaks  that  stood  on  the  rolling  acres  of 
Cayetano  Arenas'  Rancho  San  Mateo.  The  region  looked  like  a  "noble- 
man's park"  to  officers  of  the  British  naval  vessel  Blossom,  on  their  way 
to  Monterey  in  1827;  "herds  of  cattle  and  horses  were  grazing  upon 
the  rich  pasture,  and  numerous  fallow  deer,  startled  at  the  approach  of 
strangers  bounded  off  to  seek  protection  among  the  hills."  But  they 
could  trace  the  resemblance  no  further.  "Instead  of  a  noble  mansion 
in  character  with  so  fine  a  country,"  they  found  on  the  banks  of  San 
Mateo  Creek  "a  miserable  hut  dwelling  before  the  door  of  which  a 
number  of  half  naked  Indians  were  basking  in  the  sun,"  surrounded 
with  litter  that  "sadly  disgraced  the  park-like  scenery."  The  building, 
a  long,  low  adobe,  was  a  hospice  where  friars,  officials,  and  soldiers 
broke  their  journey  between  Mission  Dolores  and  Mission  Santa  Clara. 
The  roof  tiles,  all  that  remained  after  the  earthquake  of  1868,  were 
used  on  the  Burlingame  railroad  station. 

The  first  San  Mateo  settler,  John  B.  Cooper,  a  deserter  from  the 
British  Navy  in  1833,  took  up  his  abode  in  1851  in  a  brush  booth 
beneath  an  oak.  The  town,  platted  in  1863,  was  eventually  encom- 
passed by  the  estates  of  San  Francisco  rich  men — W.  D.  M.  Howard 
and  Frederick  Macondray,  the  merchants;  John  Parrott,  shipping  and 
financial  magnate;  and  Alvinza  Hayward,  mine  operator  and  financier. 
All  that  remains  of  the  HAYWARD  ESTATE  is  the  white-painted  stable 
(now  a  garage),  between  Rosewood  Dr.  and  South  B  St.  near  Ninth 
St.;  it  housed  Hayward's  horses  in  rosewood  and  mahogany  stalls  and 
stood  in  the  midst  of  a  park  where  Hayward's  own  deer  browsed  under 
oaks.  At  the  SAN  MATEO  POLO  CLUB  FIELD,  near  the  southern  city 
limit  (R),  high-goal  players  from  California,  the  East,  England,  and 
Argentina  perform  before  "society"-crowded  galleries. 

The  stands  of  BAY  MEADOWS  RACE  TRACK  (L),  20.7  m.  (gen. 
adm.  40$),  are  filled  with  25,000  horse  fans  during  the  winter  racing 
season. 

The  wooded  hills  sloping  steeply  to  BELMONT,  23  m.  (32  alt., 
984  pop.),  delighted  Capt.  George  Vancouver's  appreciative  eye  when 
he  paused  here  for  lunch  November  20,  1792,  on  his  way  to  Mission 
Santa  Clara  with  a  military  escort  from  the  anchorage  near  the  San 
Francisco  Presidio  of  the  British  warship  Discovery,  first  non-Spanish 
vessel  to  enter  the  Bay.  On  "a  very  pleasant  enchanting  lawn  situated 
amidst  a  grove  of  trees  at  the  foot  of  a  small  hill,  by  which  flowed  a 
stream  of  most  excellent  water,"  the  party  had  their  noontime  refresh- 
ments "with  some  grog  we  had  brought  from  the  ship,  spirits  and  wine 
being  scarce  articles  in  this  country."  For  Vancouver,  the  countryside 
could  properly  be  described  only  with  eighteenth-century  grandilo- 


372        CALIFORNIA 

quence:  "The  stately  lords  of  the  forest  were  in  complete  possession  of 
the  soil,  covered  with  luxuriant  herbage  and  beautifully  diversified  with 
pleasing  eminences  and  valleys;  which,  with  the  range  of  lofty,  rugged 
mountains  that  bounded  the  prospect,  required  only  to  be  adorned  with 
the  neat  habitations  of  an  industrious  people  to  produce  a  scene  not 
inferior  to  the  most  studied  effects  of  taste  in  the  disposal  of  the 
grounds." 

Only  "the  most  studied  effects  of  taste"  would  do  for  William 
Chapman  Ralston — the  gambling  financial  genius  of  the  Bank  of  Cali- 
fornia who  poured  his  Comstock  mining  millions  into  countless  enter- 
prises— when  he  purchased  Count  Lussetti  Cipriani's  modest  hillside 
villa  in  the  Canada  del  Diablo  at  Belmont  and  began  transforming  it 
into  the  Peninsula's  most  extravagant  showplace.  Architects,  artisans, 
and  gardeners  changed  the  villa  into  what  Gertrude  Atherton  called 
"an  immense,  rambling,  French-looking  structure,"  thrusting  out  guest 
wings  in  all  directions.  By  1867  it  had  accommodations  for  30  guests; 
by  1868,  for  1 20.  The  floors  were  of  parquetry,  the  walls  panelled 
with  mirrors,  the  ceiling  hung  with  chandeliers.  Europe  and  the  Orient 
were  plundered  for  rugs,  hangings,  vases,  furniture,  glassware  and 
napery  to  furnish  the  spacious,  high-ceilinged  chambers.  Outside  the 
mansion  were  brick-and-glass  greenhouses;  a  bowling  alley  and  gym- 
nasium with  a  Turkish  bath;  a  "Little  Belmont"  for  the  Chinese 
servants,  the  grooms  and  hostlers;  and  stables  with  walls  of  redwood 
outside  and  carved  mahogany  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl  inside,  and 
with  a  glass-enclosed  harness  room  having  solid  silver  pegs  for  the 
silver-monogrammed  trappings  of  Ralston's  thoroughbreds.  To  illum- 
inate his  country  seat,  Ralston  erected  a  gas-works;  to  irrigate  his  far- 
reaching  gardens,  he  built  a  dam  and  reservoir  in  the  hills. 

At  the  great  white  mansion's  long  porte-cochere  an  almost  continu- 
ous stream  of  carriages  began  discharging  actresses,  ambassadors,  gen- 
erals, and  statesmen,  the  great  and  near-great  from  Mark  Twain  to 
Baron  Ikakuri  of  the  first  Japanese  delegation  to  visit  America.  One 
of  the  sights  of  the  time  was  Ralston's  four-in-hand,  crowded  with 
guests  and  drawn  by  spirited  steeds,  with  Ralston  himself  cracking  the 
whip.  He  usually  managed  to  arrive  with  new  guests  just  after  dark 
when  the  house  was  a  blaze  of  light  against  the  black  of  the  canyon. 
Often  Ralston  used  to  sit  in  his  royal  box,  watching  his  guests  dance  in 
the  dazzling  chandelier-lighted  ballroom,  reflected  in  its  great  mirrors. 
As  many  as  a  hundred  dinner  guests  used  to  be  escorted  to  the  library, 
there  to  wait  until  suddenly  "the  opposite  wall  gave  a  sort  of  shiver, 
then  rose  slowly  like  the  curtain  of  a  theatre,  revealing  an  immense 
banqueting-hall  laden  with  the  most  splendid  plate,  china  and  glass  that 
had  been  imported  to  California  at  that  period  ...  As  motionless  as 
an  army  about  to  salute  stood  the  pigtailed  Chinese  servants  .  .  ." 
The  San  Francisco  Call  once  described  what  appeared  on  the  table 
before  them:  "Glorious  was  the  grand  salmon  stuffed  with  brook  trout 
and  baked  in  rose  leaves  .  .  .  the  pyramid  of  skewered  frogs  a  la  mode 
Huguenots  .  .  .  But  these  were  as  nothing  beside  the  grand  course 


TOUR   2      373 

.  .  .  humming-bird  filled  with  baked  almonds,  surrounded  by  a  Spring 
linnet,  which,  in  turn,  was  enveloped  by  an  English  snipe.  These  the 
carcass  of  a  stuffed  goose  surrounded,  covering  which  were  two  canvas- 
back  ducks  ...  the  whole  placed  within  the  bosom  of  a  Chicago  goose. 
Soaked  in  raisin  wine  for  six  days,  then  larded,  and  smoked  three  weeks 
over  burning  sandalwood,  it  was  at  last  placed  on  the  spit  and  roasted 
with  pig-pork  drippings." 

The  day  after  Ralston's  Bank  of  California  closed  its  doors  on 
clamoring  investors,  August  26,  1875,  in  a  financial  scandal  that  rocked 
the  State,  Ralston's  body  was  found  floating  in  the  Bay.  The  estate 
passed  to  his  partner,  William  Sharon,  whose  daughter's  marriage  was 
the  last  of  Belmont's  social  flings.  The  great  mansion  became  succes- 
sively a  young  ladies'  seminary,  a  private  insane  asylum,  and  finally,  the 
college  and  convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  who  converted  the 
ballroom  into  a  chapel. 

SAN  CARLOS,  24.2  m.  (21  alt.,  1,132  pop.),  a  town  of  homes 
among  oaks,  named  for  Lt.  Juan  Manuel  de  Ayala's  San  Carlos,  first 
vessel  to  enter  the  Golden  Gate,  was  the  seat  of  Rancho  Las  Pulgas 
(the  fleas).  "The  ranch  had  been  well-named  by  the  matter-of-fact 
Spanish,"  wrote  Gertrude  Atherton  in  later  years.  "I  may  add  that  it 
was  no  breach  of  decorum  to  speak  of  fleas  in  California,  nor  even  to 
scratch." 

The  flower  beds  in  the  neighborhood  supply  eastern  markets  with 
carloads  of  chrysanthemums,  asters,  roses,  violets,  lilies,  irises,  anemones, 
gardenias,  acacia,  heather,  and  peach  blossoms. 

REDWOOD  CITY,  26.2  m.  (10  alt.,  8,962  pop.),  seat  of  San 
Mateo  County,  spreads  over  land  some  miles  eastward  from  the  docks 
and  piers,  canneries,  and  salt  works  of  its  deep-water  bay  frontage. 
Redwood  Slough  once  extended  inland  to  the  mouth  of  Redwood  Creek, 
now  the  center  of  town,  where  the  Mexican  rancheros  shipped  from  the 
Embarcadero  de  las  Pulgas.  As  shipment  of  redwood  lumber  hauled 
from  the  forested  ridges  to  the  west  began  in  1850,  Embarcadero  be- 
came a  busy  shipbuilding,  wagonmaking,  and  blacksmithing  center. 
Each  time  that  San  Francisco  burned  to  the  ground  the  demand  for 
lumber  swelled.  The  redwood  business  prompted  the  renaming  of  the 
town  in  1858,  despite  founder  S.  M.  Mezies'  attempts  to  substitute  his 
own  name  for  the  more  euphonious  Embarcadero. 

The  country  estates  of  ATHERTON,  28.7  m.  (52  alt.,  1,324 
pop.),  are  so  heavily  wooded  that  little  of  the  town  beyond  its  shady 
lanes  winding  under  great  liveoaks  can  be  seen  from  the  highway. 
Besides  its  mansions,  it  has  the  old  railroad  station  where  the  Penin- 
sula's first  steam  carriages  stopped,  a  handful  of  nurseries  engaged  in 
orchid  cultivation — but  no  stores,  and  no  sidewalks. 

The  first  estate  here  was  Faxon  Dean  Atherton's  mile-square  Val- 
paraiso Park,  laid  out  in  1860.  The  family  mansion  (no  longer  standing) 
was  later  described  by  his  daughter-in-law,  Gertrude,  as  "a  large  com- 
fortable house  with  two  bath  rooms — few  houses  boasted  more  than  one 
— and  a  wing  for  the  servants  .  .  .  About  the  house  was  a  continuous 


374        CALIFORNIA 

bed  of  Parma  violets  whose  fragrance  greeted  one  when  passing  the 
deer  park.  (The  deer  generally  died,  homesick  for  their  forests  on  the 
mountains.)"  Faxon  Atherton,  "in  his  early  youth,  had  adventured  as 
far  as  Chile  in  search  of  his  fortune.  He  made  it  in  hardware.  Not 
long  after  his  arrival  he  married  Dominga  de  Goni  .  .  ."  Mrs.  Ather- 
ton, her  daughter-in-law  wrote,  "had  hopes  of  making  a  true  Atherton 
out  of  me,  and  I  sometimes  wonder  she  did  not  .  .  .  'Ladies  in  Spain 
do  not  write,'  she  said  to  me  when  I  began  to  betray  symptoms;  and 
it  was  quite  twelve  years  after  I  published  my  first  novel  before  the 
painful  subject  that  I  wrote  at  all  was  mentioned  by  any  of  the  family 
in  my  presence  .  .  ."  Life  in  Valparaiso  Park  for  Gertrude  Atherton 
seemed  to  be  a  long  series  of  summer  afternoons  spent  with  neighbors 
"on  the  wide  verandah,  sewing,  embroidering,  exchanging  recipes,  gos- 
siping. I  often  wondered  if  life  anywhere  else  in  the  whole  wide  world 
were  as  dull." 

When  James  L.  Flood,  the  former  San  Francisco  saloonkeeper  who 
rose  to  sudden  riches  by  speculation  in  Virginia  City  mines,  began  in 
1878  to  build  the  scrollwork-festooned  extravaganza  of  gables,  cupolas, 
and  porticos  that  he  called  Linden  Towers,  "the  impertinent  invasion 
of  ...  the  Bonanza  millionaires"  threw  the  country  aristocracy  into 
a  furore,  and  "for  weeks  the  leading  topic  on  the  verandah  was  whether 
or  not  the  Floods  should  be  called  upon  when  they  moved  in."  The 
"colossal  white  house  .  .  .  looked  more  like  a  house  on  a  wedding  cake 
than  something  to  live  in."  In  the  end,  "for  business  reasons,  impressed 
upon  them  by  their  husbands,  the  women  did  call."  When  the  Floods 
returned  the  call  at  Valparaiso  Park — Mrs.  Flood  wearing  "a  flowing 
dark  blue  silk  wrapper,  discreetly  ruffled,  and  'Miss  Jennie'  a  confec- 
tion of  tourquoise-green  flannel  trimmed  with  deep  flounces  of  Valen- 
ciennes lace!" — Gertrude  Atherton  fancied  "they  went  away  .  .  .  with 
the  pleasant  feeling  of  superiority  that  only  multi-millions  can  give." 
The  trappings  of  Linden  Towers — the  sterling  silver  soap  dishes  ini- 
tialed J.F.,  the  statues  and  tapestries,  the  marble  fireplaces  and  carved 
rosewood  panels — went  on  the  auction  block  in  1934  when  the  mansion 
was  torn  down;  all  that  remains  of  the  JAMES  L.  FLOOD  ESTATE  on 
Middlefield  Rd.  today  are  the  lodge,  the  massive  iron  gateways,  and  the 
brick  wall  that  enclosed  the  grounds. 

The  neighboring  country  home  center  of  MENLO  PARK,  29.9  m. 
(63  alt.,  2,254  pop.),  which  grew  up  with  the  advent  of  the  railroad  in 
1863  around  an  estate  named  by  two  Irishmen  for  their  home  in  Ire- 
land, was  chosen  in  1871  by  Milton  S.  Latham,  Governor  and  U.  S. 
Senator,  for  his  stately,  pillared  mansion.  When  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester passed  through  on  his  way  around  the  world,  he  was  escorted 
here  by  train  to  meet  the  country  fashionables.  The  company  was 
gathered  in  the  drawing  room — the  women  in  their  Paris  gowns  and 
the  men  in  their  evening  best  eagerly  awaiting  their  first  sight  of  a  real 
duke  when  the  English  butler  announced  him.  "And  then,"  as  Gertrude 
Atherton  told  the  story,  "the  duke  strode  in,  and  they  nearly  fainted. 
He  wore  boots  that  reached  his  thighs  and  a  red  flannel  shirt!  .  .  . 


3&&&38^^^ 


History 


3&3&&&s^ 


MAP  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DRAWN  IN  1666 


A  VIEW  OF  SUITER'S  MILL  AND  CULLOMA  VALLEY 


WORKING  AT  SUITER'S  MILL  (1850),  TWENTY-FIVE 
FEET  FROM  WHERE  GOLD  WAS  DISCOVERED 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH,  FORT  ROSS  (1812) 


HORNITOS 


SAN  FRANCISCO  IN  1849 


Courtesty  of  Bancroft  Library,  University  of  California 


PRAIRIE  SCHOONER,  BROUGHT  TO  YOLO  COUNTY 
BY  JOHN  BEMMERLY  FROM  OHIO  IN  1849 


r 


ON  TO  THE  GOLD  FIELDS 


LYNCH  LAW  (1856) 


STAGE  COACH  AND  TRAIN,  CISCO  (1869) 


PONY  EXPRESS.    HIGHWAYMEN  IN  PURSUIT 


TOUR    2      375 

Poor  man,  he  was  terribly  mortified,  and  explained  to  his  suave  and 
smiling  host  that  all  he  knew  of  California  he  had  gleaned  from  the 
stories  of  Bret  Harte,  and  had  provided  himself  with  what  he  believed 
to  be  the  regulation  Western  costume  .  .  ."  The  MILTON  S.  LATHAM 
HOUSE,  damaged  in  the  1906  earthquake  and  never  repaired,  stands 
among  gardens,  fountains,  stables,  and  carnage  houses  on  Ravenswood 
Avenue. 

Visible  above  liveoaks  and  eucalypti  for  miles  is  the  PALO  ALTO 
(tall  tree),  30.6  m.,  whose  branches  shaded  the  camp  of  the  Caspar  de 
Portola  expedition,  November  6-n,  1769.  The  ''barbarous  heathen" 
of  the  region  whom  the  chronicler,  Fray  Crespi,  described  as  "very 
affable,  mild,  and  docile,  and  very  generous"  believed  that  the  Great 
Spirit  dwelt  in  the  tree  and  held  their  councils  beneath  it.  When  the 
expedition  led  by  Don  Fernando  de  Rivera  y  Moncada  to  hunt  for  a 
mission  site  on  the  Bay  passed  by  five  years  later,  Fray  Palou  marked 
the  spot  as  suitable;  and  the  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza  Party,  bound  for 
San  Francisco  in  March  1776,  found  the  cross  he  had  erected.  The 
tree  in  those  days  was  double-trunked,  but  one  of  the  trunks  fell  across 
the  creek  in  the  late  iSgo's.  A  reproduction  of  it  appears  on  the  seal 
of  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University.  Before  the  World  War,  Stanford 
students  used  to  mount  guard  over  the  tree  nightly  just  before  their 
annual  "Big  Game"  with  the  University  of  California,  to  prevent  raid- 
ing parties  of  California  students  from  cutting  it  down. 

PALO  ALTO,  31.1  m.  (63  alt.,  13,652  pop.),  is  a'college  town 
with  lawns  and  flower  gardens  along  avenues  lined  with  liveoaks  and 
pepper-trees.  It  owes  its  community  theater,  its  advanced  schools,  and 
its  distinguished  residents  to  the  influence  of  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  Uni- 
versity. Palo  Alto  is  the  home  of  cartoonist  James  Swinnerton,  radio 
engineer  Frederick  Kolster,  university  president  Ray  Lyman.  Wilbur — 
and  of  Herbert  Clark  Hoover,  the  thirty-first  President  of  the  United 
States  (1929-1932).  The  HOOVER  HOUSE,  623  Miranda  Rd.,  is  on 
the  heights  of  the  university  campus. 

When  the  university  was  opened  in  1891,  Timothy  Hopkins  was 
still  raising  hay  on  the  town  site;  he  gave  up  his  land  in  1894  with  the 
proviso  that  if  liquor  were  ever  sold  on  it,  the  land  would  revert  to  its 
original  owners.  To  quench  their  thirst,  early  Stanford  students  trav- 
eled southward  to  the  village  of  Mayfield  (now  part  of  Palo  Alto), 
so  named  allegedly,  because  a  recorder's  office  clerk  mistook  the  first 
letter  of  Hayfield  for  an  "M";  there  they  found  no  less  than  27  saloons 
along  the  noisy  main  street  in  which  to  roar  their  drinking  songs. 

Right  from  Palo  Alto  on  wide,  palm-bordered  Palm  Drive  (University 
Ave.)  to  the  sandstone  pillars  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  9,ooo-acre 
campus  of  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY  (formerly  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University). 
The  campus,  nicknamed  The  Farm,  covers  the  former  Palo  Alto  Stock  Farm 
where  Leland  Stanford  (one  of  the  "Big  Four,"  early  railroad  builders  and 
financiers),  who  became  Governor  (1861-62)  and  U.  S.  Senator  (1885-93), 
raised  thoroughbred  horses.  Construction  of  the  university  buildings  was 
begun  in  May,  1887,  with  a  $30,000,000  endowment  fund  established  by 
Stanford  and  his  wife  as  a  memorial  to  their  only  child,  who  had  died  at 


376        CALIFORNIA 

the  age  of  16.  The  university  was  opened  to  students  in  1891.  The  insti- 
tution had  more  women  students  than  men  until  Mrs.  Stanford  limited  the 
number  of  women  to  500  (whereupon  Stanford  co-eds  were  dubbed  the 
"500")  ;  but  women  now  comprise  about  1,000  of  the  3,000  or  4,000  students. 

At  0.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  here  0.1  m.  to  the  marble 
STANFORD  MAUSOLEUM  among  trees.  A  white  marble  statue,  the  weeping 
ANGEL  OF  MERCY,  is  a  memorial  to  the  Stanfords'  son.  Just  beyond  are 
the  CACTUS  GARDENS. 

On  Palm  Dr.  at  0.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  paved  Lomita  Dr. 

1.  R.  here  0.2  m.  to  the  LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR  MUSEUM   (open  10-5 , 
adm.  -?5^),  a  reproduction  in  concrete  of  the  museum  at  Athens,  with  mosaic 
panels  and  bronze  entrance  doors  added.     The  south  wing  is  devoted  to 
anthropological,  archeological,  and  paleontological  exhibits ;  notable  are  the 
prehistoric   Indian    artifacts,   baskets   of  the   Klamath,    Haida   carvings    in 
soft  slate,  and  the  David  Starr  Jordan  drawings  of  fish  of  the   Miocene 
period.     Also   in  the   south  wing  are  the   Timothy   Hopkins  Korean   Col- 
lection, including  costumes,  household  goods,  screens,  and  carved  furniture; 
the  Di  Cesnola   Collection  of  Greek   and  Roman  pottery  and  glass,   exca- 
vated  at  Cyprus  in   1865-76;    and  copies   of   Baron  Rothschild's   Tanagra 
figurines.     The  west  wing  houses   the   Ikeda   Collection   of  Japanese    and 
Chinese  ceramics  and  bronzes,  including  an  old  peachblow  vase,   and   an 
Imperial  yellow  Chinese  vase.     The  north  wing  has  a  collection  of  early 
Californiana,   including  the  first  passenger  locomotive   used   in   California 
(1864),   and  the   "last   spike"  of  the   Central   Pacific  Railroad,   driven   by 
Governor  Stanford.     Also  here  are  early  California  tools  and  arms,  Moro 
and  Igorote  weapons  from  the  Philippines,  and  Chinese  robes  and  ceramics. 
On  the  second  floor  is  the  Stanford  collection  of  guns,  jewelry,  clothing, 
and  toys. 

2.  Left  from  Lomita  Dr.,  0.3  m.  to  the  OUTDOOR  AUDITORIUM  landscaped 
with  trees  and  shrubs  to  make  it  look  as  natural  as  possible.    The  STANFORD 
STADIUM,  0.6  m.,  a  great  pit,  holds  more  than  90,000  spectators.     On  alter- 
nate years  the  Big  Game — between  Stanford  and  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia— is  held  here,  jamming  the  countryside  with  parked  cars  and  traffic. 

At  the  end  of  Palm  Dr.  is  the  UNIVERSITY  QUADRANGLE,  1  m.  The  15 
buildings  of  the  outer  quadrangle  and  the  12  buildings  of  the  inner  quad- 
rangle, built  of  buff  sandstone  and  red  tile  are  connected  by  long  colon- 
nades enclosing  green  lawns.  The  MEMORIAL  CHURCH,  built  in  1900  by 
Mrs.  Stanford  in  memory  of  her  husband,  is  a  buff  sandstone  edifice  of 
cruciform  shape  in  modified  Moorish  Romanesque  design.  The  mosaic  of 
the  facade  is  a  duplicate  of  one  imported  from  Italy  but  destroyed  in 
the  1906  earthquake.  The  brilliant  stained  glass  windows  depict  Biblical 
incidents.  Marble  columns  support  the  dome.  The  reredos  is  a  mosaic 
reproduction  of  Da  Vinci's  Last  Supper.  JORDAN  HALL,  NW.  corner  of 
the  Quadrangle,  has  among  natural  history  exhibits  an  unusual  collection 
of  fishes.  On  Lasuen  St.,  NE.  corner  of  the  Quadrangle,  is  the  THOMAS 
WELTON  STANFORD  ART  GALLERY,  the  gift  of  Thomas  Welton  Stanford,  the 
university  founder's  brother;  it  houses  a  collection  of  paintings  and  repro- 
ductions of  classic  statuary  and  holds  frequent  temporary  exhibits ;  the 
most  costly  painting  is  a  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  The  STANFORD 
LIBRARY,  on  Lasuen  St.  facing  the  Quadrangle,  is  an  adaptation  of  the 
mission  type  of  architecture  with  red  tile  roofs  and  many  windows.  It 
contains  more  than  600,000  volumes,  with  specialized  departments  and  a 
rare  book  section. 

The  HOOVER  LIBRARY  ON  WAR,  REVOLUTION,  AND  PEACE  (open  to  special- 
ists), 5,000,000  documents,  books,  and  secret  reports  of  the  World  War 
period  (formerly  housed  in  the  library)  is  to  be  transferred  to  its  own 
high  tower.  Compilation  of  the  archives  was  begun  during  the  war  years 
when  Herbert  Hoover  was  first  engaged  in  distributing  relief  supplies 
among  the  peoples  of  the  European  Allies;  later,  American  Relief  Admin- 


TOUR   2      377 

istration  employees  collected  cases  full  of  the  records  of  tumbling  govern- 
ments. Forty  governments  cooperated  to  build  up  the  collection.  Some 
of  the  documents  were  deposited  on  the  condition  that  they  be  kept  sealed 
for  20  years.  The  documents  considered  dangerous  to  persons  now  alive 
are  sealed  in  concrete  vaults. 

Beyond  the  Quadrangle,  along  Lasuen  St.,  is  The  Row,  lined  with 
fraternity  and  sorority  houses  and  the  homes  of  faculty  members.  All  day 
and  all  evening  convertible  coupes  dash  in  and  out  of  the  circular  drive- 
ways;  men  pass  footballs  on  the  yards  of  fraternity  houses,  or  sit  on  the 
steps  watching  other  students  go  by.  On  Saturday  nights  there  are  dances 
in  the  fraternity  and  sorority  houses,  formal  and  informal — possibly  "barn- 
yard frolics"  where  couples  dressed  in  overalls  and  gingham  dance  among 
bales  of  hay  and  other  bucolic  decorations. 

Right  from  the  Quad  on  Serra  St.  to  Lomita  Dr.;  L.  on  Lomita  Dr. 
(bordering  the  Quad  on  the  west)  to  the  junction  with  Searsville  Rd., 
1.2  m.  Right  on  Searsville  Rd.  about  0.3  ra  to  the  FOOD  RESEARCH  INSTITUTE, 
organized  under  a  Carnegie  Corporation  grant,  which  studies  the  produc- 
tion, distribution,  and  consumption  of  food.  A  well-equipped  laboratory 
facilitates  the  primary  job  of  research  and  the  secondary  one  of  teaching. 
Among  the  subjects  being  analyzed  in  1939  were  the  world  wheat  situation, 
fats  and  oils  of  animal  and  vegetable  origin,  and  the  agricultural  situation 
and  policy  at  home  and  abroad. 

On  Lomita  Dr.  is  (L)  the  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS,  1.4  m.,  a  printing 
and  publishing  establishment. 

At  1.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  Lagunita  Dr.;  R.  here  on  a  footpath  about 
200  feet  to  LAGUNITA,  a  shallow  lake,  dry  except  in  the  spring,  when  it  is 
used  for  water  sports. 

At  2  m.  is  Mayfield  Ave.;  L.  here  1  m.  to  the  HARRIS  J.  RYAN  HIGH 
VOLTAGE  LABORATORY,  near  the  foot  of  Stanford  Ave.,  which  has  electrical 
transformers  with  a  capacity  of  more  than  2,000,000  volts. 

Stanford  graduates  include  many  noted  figures.  Among  the  first  were 
Herbert  Hoover  and  Ray  Lyman  Wilbur,  later  a  member  of  President 
Hoover's  cabinet  and  now  the  university  president.  Although  the  children 
of  these  men  and  other  well-known  personages  have  attended  Stanford, 
Senator  Stanford's  original  purpose  of  starting  a  university  for  boys  of 
inadequate  means  still  holds.  More  than  half  the  students  are  fully  or 
partly  self-supporting. 

One  of  Stanford's  unusual  students  in  1899  was  hunch-backed  Homer  Lea, 
a  redoubtable  poker  player  and  a  student  of  military  history,  whose  favorite 
diversion  was  wandering  in  the  hills  back  of  the  campus  while  he  plotted 
military  strategy.  Told  after  a  dangerous  illness  that  he  had  only  three 
months  to  live  he  decided  to  end  his  life  in  a  burst  of  glory.  He  went  to 
China,  where  he  met  Sun  Yat  Sen.  As  general  of  60,000  Chinese  soldiers, 
he  established  a  drastic  regime;  any  officer  found  false  to  him  was 
beheaded.  His  own  staff  was  seized  by  his  enemies  and  given  the  same 
treatment.  By  appealing  for  funds  to  San  Francisco's  Chinese,  he  was  able 
to  return  to  the  United  States.  As  "Lieutenant  General  Homer  Lea  of  the 
Chinese  Army  in  command  of  the  Second  Division,"  he  drilled  Chinese  on 
vacant  lots  in  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles.  On  parade  he  wore  a  blue 
uniform  of  his  own  design,  complete  with  epaulets,  gold  braid,  brass  but- 
tons, and  a  row  of  medals.  When  the  Chinese  revolution  broke  out  in 
1911,  Lea  rejoined  Sun  Yat  Sen.  He  died  in  1912. 

On  the  rolling  hills  of  the  campus'  southeastern  outskirts  is  (R), 
32.6  m.,  an  abandoned  tunnel,  a  round  red-brick  tower,  and  an  arched 
bridge  in  a  tangle  of  weeds.  An  almost  legendary  figure — "The 
Frenchman,"  Peter  Coutts,  had  his  Matadero  (slaughterhouse)  Ranch 
here  in  1874,  with  a  race  track,  orchards,  vineyards,  a  cottage,  dove- 
cotes, thoroughbred  horses,  and  Ayrshire  cattle.  When  he  began  de- 


378        CALIFORNIA 

veloping  a  shrubbery-fringed  lake  with  green  islands  connected  by 
bridges,  neighbors  wondered  what  he  was  doing;  and  when  he  began 
digging  tunnels  into  the  hills,  their  speculations  grew  into  wild  rumors. 
Coutts  was  a  fugitive,  people  said,  and  he  was  building  a  tunnel  to 
flood  the  countryside  from  his  lake  in  case  his  enemies  found  him. 
Suddenly  in  1880  he  disappeared.  Although  many  of  his  neighbors 
never  knew  it,  he  had  merely  returned  to  France  to  resume  his  life  as 
Paulin  Caperon,  Parisian  banker  and  publisher,  interrupted  nine  years 
earlier  when  he  had  been  forced  to  flee  to  Switzerland  because  of  his 
newspaper's  opposition  to  Napoleon  Ill's  policy  in  the  Franco-Prussian 
War. 

US  101  cuts  now  through  the  fruit  trees  that  sweep  in  row  on  row 
across  SANTA  CLARA  VALLEY.  The  broad  plain  was  so  thickly 
studded  with  great  oaks  that  to  Capt.  George  Vancouver  in  1792,  it 
looked  like  "a  park  which  had  originally  been  planted  with  true  old 
English  oak."  Now  in  the  spring,  from  the  foothills  of  its  mountain 
walls — the  Mount  Hamilton  Range  on  the  east  and  the  Santa  Cruz 
Mountains  on  the  west — it  looks  more  like  an  expanse  of  snowdrifts 
because  of  the  orchards  white  with  blossoms.  The  almonds  flower  first, 
in  late  February,  and  following  them  in  succession  until  early  April, 
the  peaches,  cherries,  pears,  apricots,  prunes  and  apples.  In  summer  an 
army  of  wandering  fruit  pickers  invades  the  valley — an  army  as  large 
as  the  host  of  visitors  in  blossom  time.  The  trays  of  prunes  and  apri- 
cots drying  in  the  hot  sun  cover  acres.  The  millions  of  prune  trees 
stem  from  the  tiny  orchard  of  prune  trees  of  the  French  type,  le  petit 
pruneau  d'Agen,  planted  here  in  1856  by  Louis  Pellier. 

At  35.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  LOS  ALTOS,  2  m.  (200  alt.,  2,000  pop.),  noted  for 
its  gardens  and  country  club,  where  houses  among  oaks  overlook  the  valley 
orchards. 

The  box-cars  on  the  sidings  at  MOUNTAIN  VIEW,  37  m.  (76 
alt.,  3,308  pop.),  are  loaded  with  the  produce  of  the  town's  pre-cooling 
plant,  packing  houses,  and  canneries,  where  the  pick  of  surrounding 
orchards  and  berry  patches  is  brought  for  processing.  Before  the  rail- 
road arrived  in  1864,  the  Mountain  View  House  with  its  wide  verandah 
where  men  sat  in  tilted  chairs  with  their  feet  on  the  railing,  chewing 
tobacco  and  arguing,  was  a  main  stop  for  the  four-horse  Concord 
coaches  on  the  San  Francisco-San  Jose  line. 

At  40.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  9,  paved. 

i.  Left  on  State  9  is  SUNNYVALE,  0.4  m.  (95  alt.,  3,094  pop.),  a  quiet 
ranchers'  trade  center,  once  the  seat  of  the  tract  purchased  by  Martin 
Murphy  Jr.  from  Rancho  Pastoria  de  las  Borregas  (shepherds  of  the 
lambs).  Among  fig  trees  grown  from  mission  cuttings  stands  the  two-story 
white  MARTIN  MURPHY  JR.  HOUSE,  framed  in  Boston  and  shipped  round 
the  Horn  when  the  Murphy  family  settled  here  in  1849.  A  room  with  an 
altar  was  set  aside  for  mass,  marriages,  and  christenings,  celebrated  by 
priests  from  Mission  Santa  Clara. 


TOUR    2      379 

2.  Right  on  State  9  is  CUPERTINO,  3  m.  (2,500  pop.),  a  crossroads  town 
in  flat  orchard  lands,  settled  in  the  iSso's  by  squatters  who  banded  together 
when  the  owners  of  Rancho  Quito  tried  to  chase  them  off.  In  the  i88o's 
several  sea  captains  retired  and  built  prim  New  England  cottages  here. 

From  the  foothills,  SARATOGA,  7.5  m.  (100-800  alt.,  1,191  pop.),  looks 
down  on  orchards;  its  annual  Blossom  Festival  draws  throngs.  It  began 
life  as  McCarthysville,  laid  out  by  Martin  McCarthy  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  toll  road.  It  was  rechristened  Saratoga  in  1863  because,  like  the 
New  York  watering  place  of  that  name,  it  was  near  springs.  Among  the 
noted  residents  are  novelists  Kathleen  and  Charles  Norris. 

The  last  flair  of  open-house  hospitality  in  tbe  bonanza  tradition  took 
place  at  Senator  James  Duval  Phelan's  VILLA  MONTALVO,  on  the  Saratoga- 
Los  Gatos  Highway  at  the  eastern  edge  of  Saratoga.  The  great  tile- 
roofed  two-story  California-Spanish  villa  overlooks  terraces  approached  by 
a  long  driveway  and  mounted  by  marble  steps  leading  to  a  wide  veranda. 
Roundabout  are  a  guest  house,  a  2O-car  garage,  an  oval  pool  reflecting 
wistaria-draped  pergolas,  an  amphitheater,  and  a  fountain  dedicated  to 
Ordanez  de  Montalvo,  who  in  1620  was  the  first  to  use  the  name  California. 
The  doors  were  opened  to  guests  in  1914.  Phelan  entertained  legislators, 
opera  stars,  and  the  literary  elite  with  luncheons  on  the  terraces,  open-air 
banquets  at  barbecue  pits,  and  dinners  in  the  patio  where  screaming 
macaws  vied  with  a  string  orchestra  in  the  balcony.  After  his  death  in 
1930  the  villa,  was  bequeathed  to  the  San  Francisco  Art  Association  "for 
the  development  of  art,  literature,  music,  and  architecture  in  promising 
students."  Only  a  caretaker  disturbs  the  quiet  today. 

State  9  winds  into  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains  to  CONGRESS  SPRINGS, 
8.5  m.,  in  a  wooded  canyon,  where  capitalists  who  wanted  to  make  the  spot 
a  private  vacation  place  for  themselves  opened  Congress  Hall  in  1866. 

From  the  summit  (2,650  alt.)  of  Castle  Rock  Ridge,  at  the  junction  with 
State  5  (see  TOUR  ib),  14.4  m.,  the  highway  descends  in  curves  to  the 
entrance  of  CALIFORNIA  STATE  REDWOOD  PARK,  26.8  m.  (lodge, 
campground]  in  Big  Basin,  a  io,o28-acre  reserve  of  massive,  cinnamon- 
brown  redwoods  lifting  spire-shaped  green  crests  as  high  as  300  feet.  In 
the  shadowy  depths,  tangled  with  Ceanothus,  madrone,  oak,  toyon,  and 
Tumion,  the  floor  is  carpeted  with  ferns  and  shrubs.  The  park  was  the 
first  set  aside  for  preservation  of  the  redwoods.  Its  formation  in  1901 
followed  a  long  campaign  carried  on  in  the  editorial  columns  of  the  Red- 
wood City  Times  and  Gazette  by  Ralph  Smith  and  continued  after  his 
death  in  1887  by  Andrew  P.  Hill,  early  photographer  of  the  redwoods. 

GOVERNOR'S  CAMP,  28.7  m.  (post  office,  inn  and  cottages,  store],  so 
named  in  remembrance  of  visits  by  two  Governors  of  California  and  a 
Governor  of  Utah  in  1901  and  1902,  is  the  starting  point  for  the  Redwood 
Trail,  looping  through  the  park  past  trees  of  curious  formation.  One  of 
the  tallest  is  the  ANIMAL  TREE,  deformed  by  burls  at  its  base.  Even  taller 
are  the  FATHER  OF  THE  FOREST  and  the  MOTHER  OF  THE  FOREST,  which  towers 
320  feet,  although  its  top  is  broken  off. 

State  9  follows  Boulder  Creek  to  its  confluence  with  Bear  Creek  and  the 
San  Lorenzo  River  at  the  settlement  of  BOULDER  CREEK,  37.9  (500 
pop.),  a  colony  of  summer  homes  that  began  as  a  redwood  lumber  camp. 

The  way  leads  down  the  valley  to  BEN  LOMOND,  41.8  m.  (458  pop.), 
which  grew  up  in  the  i88o's  at  the  base  of  Ben  Lomond  Mountain,  named 
by  a  Scottish  immigrant. 

FELTON,  44.9  m.  (350  pop.),  stands  within  Rancho  Zayante,  which  Isaac 
Graham  bought  in  1841 — allegedly  with  the  $36,000  indemnity  he  got  for 
the  outrage  of  having  been  arrested  at  Monterey  as  a  dangerous  foreigner 
and  shipped  to  Mexico. 

Left  from  Felton  1  m.  crossing  a  COVERED  BRIDGE  (1892)  to  MOUNT 
HERMON,  a  mountain  resort.  At  4  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  17  (see 
below). 

State  9  continues  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road.  46.5  m.;  L.  here  0.5  m. 


380        CALIFORNIA 

to  the  BIG  TREES,  a  county  park  of  Sequoia  sempervirens.  The  GIANT  (306 
feet),  the  JUMBO  (250  feet),  and  the  CATHEDRAL  GROUP  are  among  the 
tallest.  The  cavernous  opening  of  the  hollow  FREMONT  TREE  (285  feet), 
large  enough  to  hold  50  people,  is  persistently  reported  to  have  sheltered 
Capt.  John  C.  Fremont  and  his  aides  in  1846.  Fremont's  comment,  when 
he  visited  the  grove  in  later  years,  was:  "It  is  a  good  story,  let  it  stand." 

State  9  skirts  the  bank  of  the  San  Lorenzo  River  to  its  junction  with 
State  i  (see  TOUR  Ib),  51.7  m.,  on  the  edge  of  Santa  Cruz  (see  TOUR 
Ib). 

Under  the  branches  of  the  ARMISTICE  OAK  (R),  42.6  m., 
Santa  Clara  Valley's  last  anti- Yankee  uprising  ended  January  8,  1847, 
when  Francisco  Sanchez  and  his  men  gave  up  their  arms  to  the  gringos. 
The  armistice  followed  a  skirmish  nearby  on  January  2 — the  "Battle 
of  the  Mustard  Stalks,"  later  dignified  as  the  Battle  of  Santa  Clara — 
from  which  the  Californians  withdrew  into  the  hills  with  four  wounded 
and  four  dead.  They  had  taken  up  arms,  wrote  Rev.  Walter  Colton, 
the  Yankee  alcalde  at  Monterey,  "not  to  make  war  on  the  American 
flag,  but  to  protect  themselves  from  the  depredations  of  those  who, 
under  color  of  that  flag,  were  plundering  them  of  their  cattle,  horses, 
and  grain  .  .  ."  Colton  could  find  no  excuse  for  plundering  "the 
Californian  to  procure  the  means  of  fighting  him  .  .  .  Let  foreigners 
land  on  our  own  coast,  and  do  among  us  what  Americans  have  done 
here,  and  every  farmer,  in  the  absence  of  a  musket,  would  shoulder  his 
pitchfork  and  flail." 

SANTA  CLARA,  45.9  m.  (83  alt.,  6,303  pop.),  settled  by  miners 
who  invested  their  stakes  in  the  valley's  fertile  farmlands,  has  gleaned 
more  wealth  from  its  orchards  than  the  richest  "diggin's"  yielded.  From 
its  canneries  and  packing  houses  go  carload  lots  of  canned  and  dried 
fruit.  The  first  orchards  in  the  neighborhood  were  set  out  by  the  padres 
of  Mission  Santa  Clara  de  Asis,  founded  January  12,  1777  by  the 
Rio  Guadalupe.  Padre  Palou  wrote:  "Besides  an  abundance  of  water 
in  the  river,  there  are  several  springs  which  fill  the  ditches  made  to 
carry  the  water  to  the  fields  for  irrigation."  The  "abundance  of  water" 
proved  the  mission's  undoing,  for  the  river  overflowed  into  it.  On 
higher  ground  the  padres  built  a  new  church  (1781-84),  only  to  have 
it  come  crashing  about  their  heads  in  the  earthquakes  of  1812  and  1818. 
The  third  church  was  dedicated  in  1822. 

On  March  19,  1851,  Father  John  Noboli,  S.J.,  began  adapting  the 
mission  to  the  requirements  of  Santa  Clara  College  (chartered  1855), 
now  the  UNIVERSITY  OF  SANTA  CLARA.  The  church,  which  became 
the  college  chapel,  was  so  badly  damaged  by  the  earthquakes  of  1865 
and  1868  that  it  finally  had  to  be  demolished.  When  the  frame  church 
that  replaced  it  burned  in  1926,  a  fifth  church  reproducing  in  concrete 
the  adobe  third  was  built  to  house  relics  rescued  from  the  ashes.  Among 
its  most  sacred  mementoes  is  the  memorial  to  Fray  Maguin  de  Catala, 
"The  Holy  Man  of  Santa  Clara,"  reputed  to  have  prophesied  the  con- 
quest of  California  by  the  United  States,  the  discovery  of  gold,  and  the 
destruction  of  San  Francisco  by  earthquake.  All  that  remains  of  the 
third  MISSION  SANTA  CLARA  is  a  remnant  of  the  adobe  cloisters  in  the 


TOUR     2        381 

olive-shaded  rear  garden.  The  three  bells,  dated  1789,  I799>  and  1805, 
were  replaced  by  a  new  set  through  a  gift  from  Alphonso  XIII  of 
Spain. 

The  Spanish-style  buildings  of  the  University  form  a  series  of 
quadrangles.  The  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY  exhibits  old  missals,  vest- 
ments, breviaries,  paintings,  and  chairs,  rescued  from  the  various 
churches.  In  the  THEATER,  students  enact  a  Passion  Play  every  fifth 
year.  The  University  of  Santa  Clara  is  best  known  for  the  meteorologi- 
cal and  astronomical  observations  of  its  scientists.  Weather  predictions 
of  the  late  Father  Ricard,  called  "The  Padre  of  the  Rains,"  were  so 
nearly  infallible  that  farmers  used  to  telephone  each  evening  for  the 
next  day's  forecast. 

Along  the  Alameda  (tree-lined  road)  now  followed  by  US  101, 
once  stretched  three  lanes  of  willow  trees  with  dovecotes  in  their 
branches.  On  festival  days  the  doves  were  unloosed  with  trailing  rib- 
bons fastened  to  their  feet  to  fly  in  front  of  little  girls  scattering  wild 
flowers. 

At  SAN  JOSE,  49.6  m.  (85  alt.,  57,651  pop.)  (see  SAN  JOSE), 
is  the  junction  with  US  lOi-Alt.  (see  above). 

i.  Left  from  San  Jose  on  E.  Santa  Clara  St.,  which  becomes  Alum  Rock 
Ave.,  to  the  junction  with  Mount  Hamilton  Rd.,  6.5  m.;  L.  here  on  Alum 
Rock  Ave.  2  m.  to  ALUM  ROCK  PARK  (picnicking,  swimming,  dancing, 
and  other  facilities],  San  Jose's  629-acre  park,  spreading  up  oak-studded 
Penitencia  Creek  canyon,  with  footpaths  and  bridle  trails.  The  park, 
named  for  an  "alum  rock"  in  the  lower  canyon,  is  known  for  its  27  mineral 
springs. 

Right  from  Alum  Rock  Ave.  on  Mount  Hamilton  Rd.  and  up  the  moun- 
tainside, making  365  turns  in  5  miles.  In  January  and  February,  when 
the  first  flowers  are  blooming  in  the  valley,  the  peak  is  often  still  snow- 
capped, dazzlingly  white  against  a  blue  sky.  The  summit  of  MOUNT 
HAMILTON,  18.8  m.  (4,029  alt.),  a  mile-long  ridge,  commands  far  reach- 
ing views. 

On  the  western  peak  rise  the  domes  of  LICK  OBSERVATORY  (guides; 
visitors  permitted  to  took  through  large  telescope  on  clear  Sat.  nights,  #-/0), 
founded  with  a  $700,000  endowment  a  year  before  his  death  in  1876  by 
James  Lick,  eccentric  millionaire  real  estate  speculator,  whose  Body  lies 
under  one  of  the  telescope's  supporting  pillars.  Before  the  county  built  the 
road  that  Lick  demanded  as  a  condition  in  making  his  endowment,  equip- 
ment and  supplies  had  to  be  freighted  up  in  a  rough  trip  requiring  five 
days.  The  observatory,  costing  $610,000,  was  completed  in  1888.  It  has  a 
36-inch  equatorial  refractor  with  a  photographic  attachment,  a  12-inch 
equatorial  refractor,  a  6. 5-inch  meridian  circle  instrument,  a  36.25-inch 
reflecting  telescope,  a  37.25-inch  Cassegrain  reflecting  telescope,  a  6. 5-inch 
comet  seeker,  and  other  instruments,  including  seismographs,  spectroscopes, 
and  photometers.  A  Carnegie  Foundation  gift  has  made  possible  construc- 
tion of  a  2o-inch  astrographic  telescope  of  12-foot  focal  length.  A  movable 
floor  in  the  main  dome,  60  feet  in  diameter,  has  a  rise  of  16.5  feet.  One 
of  the  observatory's  most  dramatic  discoveries,  made  in  1892  with  the 
36-inch  reflecting  telescope,  was  the  fifth  satellite  of  Jupiter — the  first 
discovered  since  Galileo's  time;  since  then  watchers  have  discovered  five 
more.  Lick  astronomers  took  the  first  really  successful  photographs  of 
comets  and  the  Milky  Way.  The  modern  study  of  nebulae  was  begun 
here  in  1898.  More  than  33  comets  and  4,800  double  stars  have  been  dis- 
covered and  charted. 


382        CALIFORNIA 

2.  Right  from  San  Jose  on  State  17  (San  Carlos  St.)  2  m.  to  the  junction 
with  San  Jose-Los  Gatos  Rd.  Straight  ahead  here  on  Stevens  Creek  Rd. 
2  m.  to  the  WINCHESTER  MYSTERY  HOUSE  (adm.  50^),  a  crazy-quilt,  6-acre, 
i6o-room  mansion  resembling  a  small  city  more  than  a  house.  It  was  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Winchester,  widow  of  a  son  of  the  firearms  manu- 
facturer. Arriving  in  California  in  the  i88o's  she  bought  the  ly-room 
mansion,  then  under  construction,  and  assumed  command  of  a  corps  of  16 
or  more  carpenters  and  artisans.  It  was  destined  never  to  be  finished, 
for  Mrs'.  Winchester,  who  had  become  a  spiritualist  (following  the  death 
of  her  husband  and  two  children  within  a  short  space  of  time),  was 
informed  by  a  medium's  message  that  as  long  as  she  kept  on  building,  death 
would  never  overtake  her.  As  the  rambling  mansion  began  to  take  on 
gargantuan  proportions,  she  bought  more  land  to  accommodate  it.  Every 
weekday  for  38  years  the  structure  resounded  with  the  noise  of  hammering 
and  sawing,  as  she  poured  the  Winchester  fortune  into  operations  that 
finally  reached  a  cost  of  more  than  $5,000,000.  But  in  1922,  death  overtook 
Mrs.  Winchester  and  the  hammering  and  sawing  stopped. 

The  mansion  stands  in  parklike  grounds,  hidden  from  prying  eyes  by 
dense  hedges,  an  unscalable  fence,  and  grim  iron  gates.  The  reception 
room  scintillates  with  thousands  of  prisms  amid  silver  and  gold  leaf.  The 
ballroom  is  a  vast  maple-paneled  chamber  equipped  with  a  pipe  organ 
and  fireproof  vaults — but  no  ball  has  ever  been  held  in  it.  The  "white 
satin  chamber,"  its  walls,  ceiling,  and  floor  covered  with  the  sumptuous 
fabric,  was  entered  by  no  one  but  Mrs.  Winchester,  who  shut  herself  up 
in  it  for  hours  at  a  time  to  commune  with  her  departed  mate.  When  the 
oldest  part  of  the  house  was  shattered  by  the  1906  earthquake,  Mrs.  Win- 
chester, convinced  that  malign  spirits  were  warning  her  to  abandon  these 
rooms,  had  them  padlocked.  The  embossed  plaster  still  hangs  by  shreds, 
the  beveled  windows  are  still  broken,  the  inlaid  floors  lie  thick  under  dust. 

So  labyrinthine  are  the  miles  of  corridors  that  a  stranger  is  in  danger  of 
losing  himself  completely.  The  mansion  is  a  fantastic  patchwork  of  trap.- 
doors,  crooked  halls,  steps  leading  nowhere,  doors  opening  into  space. 
Forty  stairways  twist  in  and  out,  up  and  down ;  2,000  doors  open  at  unex- 
pected places,  some  of  them  on  blank  walls,  into  cellars,  or  into  space 
from  upper  stories;  10,000  windows  of  almost  as  many  varieties  appear  in 
walls,  floors,  ceilings,  and  chimneys,  hundreds  of  them  looking  out  on  blank 
partitions.  Electric  push  buttons,  gongs,  and  switches  form  an  electrical 
network  impossible  to  trace.  Rare  polished  woods  and  stained  glass  gleam 
beside  rough  screen  doors  and  strips  of  bare  lath  and  plaster. 

State  17  turns  L.  from  the  junction  with  Stevens  Creek  Rd.  on  San 
Jose-Los  Gatos  Rd.  to  LOS  GATOS,  10  m.  (412  alt.,  3,168  pop.),  spilling 
over  sheltered  foothills  at  the  mouth  of  a  forest-choked  canyon  within  the 
confines  of  the  former  Rancho  Rinconada  de  los  Gatos  (little  corner  of  the 
cats).  The  heights  above  were  formerly  infested  with  mountain  lions  and 
wildcats. 

As  State  17  rises  through  the  canyon  past  pleasant  foothill  homes,  it 
passes  the  cloistered  Jesuit  SACRED  HEART  NOVITIATE  (L),  rising  like  a 
medieval  monastery  from  terraced  St.  Joseph's  Hill.  From  the  summit  of 
the  range  at  INSPIRATION  POINT  (1,600  alt.),  the  road  drops  down  the' 
western  slopes  to  the  junction  with  State  i  (see  TOUR  lb)y  32.8  m.,  at  the 
northern  edge  of  SANTA  CRUZ  (see  TOUR  Ib). 

At  51.5  m.  on  US  101  is  the  junction  with  asphalt-paved  Almaden 
Rd. 

Right  on  Almaden  Rd.  along  the  windings  of  the  Arroyo  de  los  Alamitos 
to  NEW  ALMADEN,  12.3  m.  (473  alt.),  a  long-abandoned  mining  town. 
The  reddish  hillsides  are  scarred  with  abandoned  shafts,  flumes,  and 
chimneys,  for  New  Almaden  in  its  day,  produced  more  quicksilver  than 
any  other  place  in  America.  As  early  as  1824,  the  Robles  brothers, 


TOUR     2        383 

Secundino  and  Teodoro,  and  Antonio  Sunol  had  followed  the  Indian  trail 
to  the  hill  of  cinnabar  here  where  the  short,  dark  Olhones  of  the  Santa 
Clara  Valley  delighted  to  smear  themselves  with  the  powdered  red  pig- 
ment; but  finding  neither  gold  nor  silver,  they  traded  their  claim  for  a 
rancho.  A  shrewd  Mexican  engineer,  Andres  Castillero,  gained  title  to  the 
deposits  in  1845  and  began  recovering  mercury  with  whalers'  try-pots  for 
retorts.  When  gold  miners  found  a  sudden  need  for  quicksilver  to  use  in 
gold  recovery  processes  after  1848,  long  pack  mule  trains  loaded  with 
heavy  flasks  of  mercury  began  following  the  trail  from  New  Almaden  to 
the  port  of  Alviso  on  San  Francisco  Bay.'  The  2O-room  CASA  GRANDE  of 
the  mine  superintendent,  at  the  head  of  the  street  (L),  with  wide  balconies, 
two-foot-thick  walls,  and  hand-carved,  inlaid  fireplaces,  was  one  of  the 
great  mansions  of  its  time.  The  mines  were  worked  until  after  the  turn 
of  the  century,  when  the  price  of  mercury  fell.  New  Almaden's  peace  was 
undisturbed  until  its  revival  as  a  week-end  resort  in  the  late  1920'$. 

As  US  101  crosses  lower  Santa  Clara  Valley's  orchard  stretches, 
passing  through  a  string  of  fruit-shipping  centers — COYOTE,  60.8  m. 
(253  alt.,  100  pop.),  MADRONE,  66.7  m.  (344  alt.,  37  pop.),  MOR- 
GAN HILL,  68.7  m.  (348  alt.,  908  pop.),  and  SAN  MARTIN,  72.4 
m.  (287  alt.,  375  pop.) — it  cuts  across  the  vast  domain  of  the  Murphy 
family.  Head  of  the  Murphy  dynasty  was  Irish  immigrant  Martin 
Murphy,  Sr.,  who  in  1844  led  his  sons  and  daughters  and  grandchildren 
with  their  household  goods  over  the  mountains  to  California  with  the 
first  party  to  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada  through  Truckee  Pass.  Murphy 
bought  8,927-acre  Rancho  Ojo  de  Agua  de  la  Coche  (sight  of  water 
from  the  coach)  and  built  the  adobe  family  headquarters  at  the  foot 
of  Murphy's  Peak  (officially  Nob  Hill)  overlooking  the  settlement  of 
Morgan  Hill.  Around  the  chapel  that  he  built  on  his  sons'  neighboring 
rancho  grew  the  village  of  San  Martin.  The  sons  and  daughters  went 
on  acquiring  more  and  more  land  until  in  1883  their  holdings  totaled 
3,000,000  acres  in  California,  Nevada,  and  Arizona. 

GILROY,  78.6  m.  (190  alt.,  3,502  pop.),  is  headquarters  for 
ranchers  of  the  lower  Santa  Clara  Valley's  truck  garden  and  berry 
patches,  prune  and  apricot  orchards,  dairy,  hog,  and  poultry  farms.  It 
celebrates  its  cattle-raising  industry  with  an  annual  gymkhana,  a  display 
of  bronco  busting,  cattle  roping,  and  trick  riding  that  recalls  Mexican 
days  when  the  whole  countryside  turned  out  for  fiestas  and  rodeos. 
Gilroy  owes  its  name  to  California's  first  English-speaking  settler,  the 
Scotchman,  John  Cameron,  who  took  the  name  Gilroy  when  he  jumped 
ship  at  Monterey  in  1814,  ill  of  scurvy;  he  settled  here,  acquiring 
Rancho  San  Ysidro  by  marrying  Ygnacio  Ortega's  daughter,  but  before 
his  death  in  1869  he  had  lost  his  cattle  and  land  and  had  to  live  on 
charity. 

At  Gilroy  is  the  junction  with  State  152. 

Right  from  Gilroy  on  paved  State  152,  up  the  slopes  of  the  Santa  Cruz 
Mountains  to  the  junction  with  a  winding  dirt  road,  8.5  m. ;  R.  here  3  m.  to 
MOUNT  MADONNA  COUNTY  PARK  on  the  summit  of  MOUNT 
MADONNA  (1,897  alt.);  the  terraces,  fountains,  and  trees,  around  the 
mansion  built  here  by  the  cattle  king  Henry  Miller  are  being  overrun  by 
a  wilderness  of  fern,  madrone,  -nanzanita,  and  live-oak.  Henry  Miller  was 
born  Heinrich  Kreiser  in  Germany;  in  1858 — the  year  in  which  he  formed  a 


384        CALIFORNIA 

partnership  with  Charles  Lux — he  took  the  name  of  a  chance  acquaintance 
whose  ticket  he  had  used  on  the  voyage  to  California.  For  58  years  the 
partners  went  on  acquiring  lands  and  cattle  until  the  "Kingdom  of  Miller 
and  Lux"  included  more  than  1,000,000  acres,  in  California,  Oregon, 
Nevada  and  Arizona.  The  vast  herds — all  marked  with  the  Miller  and 
Lux  Double-H  brand — were  driven  all  the  way  to  market  in  San  Fran- 
cisco from  one  feeding  and  resting  place  on  the  firm's  property  to  another. 
From  the  summit  of  Hecker  Pass  (1,300  alt.),  11  m.,  State  152  descends 
the  western  slopes  to  WATSON VILLE  (see  TOUR  Ib),  17  m.,  at  the 
junction  with  State  i  (see  TOUR  Ib). 

At  86.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  narrow  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  SAN  JUAN,  3.7  m.  (200  alt.,  772  pop.),  a  ranching 
community  with  galleried  adobe  dwellings  along  tree-arched  sandy  streets 
at  the  base  of  the  Gabilan  Range.  The  gnarled  trees  of  its  plaza  still 
have  the  hitching  rings  that  once  tethered  the  horses  of  caballeros.  Every 
year  during  the  St.  John's  Day  weekend  the  inhabitants  don  Spanish 
costumes  for  a  two-day  fiesta  with  a  barbecue,  a  parade,  dancing,  and 
pageantry  in  the  OPEN-AIR  THEATER  to  commemorate  the  founding  on  St. 
John's  Day,  1797,  and  the  completion  on  the  same  day  15  years  later  of 
MISSION  SAN  JUAN  BAUTISTA,  fifteenth  and  largest  of  the  California 
missions. 

The  mission  church,  cruciform  in  shape,  with  a  squat  corner  belfry, 
stands  beside  a  low  quadrangle  with  a  sweeping  red  tile  roof,  facing  the 
Plaza.  The  massive  walls  are  of  adobe  up  to  the  2o-foot  level  and  of 
brick  above.  In  the  interior,  designed  with  unusual  restraint,  the  murals 
have  disappeared  beneath  coats  of  whitewash.  On  the  floor  are  the 
original  clay  tiles,  worn  smooth.  The  ceiling  is  modern,  but  the  heavy 
beams  are  those  that  Indian  laborers  set  in  place  and  bound  with  rawhide 
thongs.  Beside  the  old  high  altar,  fashioned  of  redwood  and  painted  with 
vegetable  dyes  by  Indian  artisans,  are  chairs,  candelabra,  an  altar  rail  and 
figures  of  saints  brought  from  Mexico.  The  niched  reredos  in  back  was 
carved  by  Thomas  Doak,  California's  first  Yankee  settler,  in  return  for 
board  and  lodging.  A  little  rear  room  contains  two  baptismal  fonts  carved 
in  1797  from  limestone.  In  other  rooms  are  embroidered  ceremonial  robes, 
old  books,  tools,  religious  paraphernalia,  and  hand-inscribed  music  on 
parchment.  The  old  music  box,  said  to  have  been  given  by  Capt.  George 
Vancouver,  was  carried  to  Indian  encampments  by  Padre  Felipe  Arroyo 
on  muleback  in  an  effort  to  tempt  erring  converts  back  to  the  mission  with 
its  tinkling  eighteenth-century  tunes.  Behind  the  mission,  under  gnarled 
olive  trees  that  date  from  the  mission's  founding,  more  than  4,000  Indian 
victims  of  the  white  man's  diseases  lie  buried  in  a  big  trench. 

San  Juan's  oldest  building,  now  protected  along  with  others  as  part  of 
the  San  Juan  Bautista  State  Monument,  is  the  PLAZA  HOTEL,  W.  side  of  the 
Plaza,  probably  built  about  1792  as  a  one-story,  tiled  adobe  and  enlarged 
with  a  second  story  of  wood  in  1856  when  Angelo  Zanetta  opened  it  as  a 
hotel.  A  stopping  place  for  as  many  as  n  stage  lines  on  the  San  Francisco- 
Los  Angeles  route,  it  made  a  name  for  its  wines  and  cuisine.  The  CASTRO 
HOUSE  next  door,  a  typical  two-story  tile-roofed  early  California  mansion 
with  an  overhanging  balcony  around  its  upper  floor,  was  built  in  1825  by 
Gen.  Jose  Castro,  afterwards  acting  governor  (1835)  and  comandante 
general  of  the  northern  California  forces  (1846).  In  1849  lt  was  Pur' 
chased  by  Patrick  Breen,  a  Donner  Party  survivor,  and  used  as  an  inn. 
As  a  guest  here  in  later  years,  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  began  to  write  Ramona 
— until  the  Breens'  house  manager  discovered  she  was  not  a  Catholic  and 
put  her  out.  On  the  south  side  of  the  Plaza  is  the  ZANETTA  HOUSE,  a  two- 
story  edifice  with  the  usual  second-floor  balcony,  where  gay  balls  were  held 
in  the  sixty's  and  seventy's  when  its  owner  was  Angelo  Zanetta. 


TOUR     2        385 

Above  San  Juan  on  PAGAN  HILL  a  gigantic  cross  of  concrete  marks 
the  site  of  a  great  wooden  cross  erected  by  the  mission  fathers  to  ward 
off  evil  when  they  discovered  their  Indian  neophytes  secretly  practicing 
pagan  religious  rites  on  the  spot.  Above  it  rises  GABILAN  PEAK 
(3,169  alt.),  highest  in  the  range,  now  part  of  FREMONT  PEAK  STATE 
PARK,  where  Lt.  Col.  John  C.  Fremont  retreated  with  his  forces  March 
6,  1846,  defying  orders  by  Mexican  officials  to  leave  the  country.  For 
three  days  the  flag  of  the  United  States  flew  over  the  log  fort  he  erected, 
while  Gen.  Jose  Castro  gathered  forces  in  San  Juan  to  dislodge  him. 
Castro's  proclamation  against  Fremont's  "band  of  robbers"  read:  ".  .  .  we 
will  prepare  to  lance  the  ulcer  which  (should  it  not  be  done)  would  destroy 
our  liberty  and  independence  .  .  ."  Since  Castro's  men  soon  outnumbered 
his  by  five  to  one,  Fremont  withdrew,  retreating  northward  to  Sutler's  Fort. 

The  main  side  route  turns  R.  from  Hollister  on  State  25  down  the  San 
Benito  Valley  to  TRES  PINOS,  19.1  m.,  among  hay,  grain  and  thorough- 
bred stock  ranches.  A  ranch  in  the  neighborhood,  where  Frank  Norris 
spent  two  months  studying  large-scale  wheat-farming,  provided  local  color 
for  The  Octopus. 

The  Rancho  Cienega  de  los  Paicines  of  which  PAICINES,  24.1  m.,  is 
headquarters,  is  still  intact;  on  its  thousands  of  acres  are  alfalfa  patches, 
prune  orchards,  and  herds  of  pure-bred,  short-horn  cattle.  The  rugged 
fastnesses  of  the  badlands  roundabout  were  long  the  haunt  of  the  bandit 
gang  led  by  Tiburcio  Vasquez,  and  here  at  Paicines'  crossroads  store 
Vasquez,  second  only  to  Joaquin  Murrieta  in  the  annals  of  California  out- 
lawry, made  his  last  robbery.  Vasquez'  career  had  begun  in  1854,  when 
as  a  youth  of  15  he  stabbed  a  constable  during  a  quarrel  at  a  Monterey 
fandango  and  escaping  into  the  hills  joined  a  band  of  horse  thieves. 
Mounted  on  a  beautiful  cream-white  horse,  he  was  soon  leading  his  own 
company  in  a  daring  succession  of  rapes,  pillages,  robberies,  and  murders. 
For  years,  sheriffs'  posses  and  vigilantes  were  unable  to  bring  him  to  jus- 
tice, hindered  somewhat  in  their  efforts  by  the  aid  rendered  to  him  from 
a  disgruntled  peasantry.  According  to  modern  standards,  however,  his 
monetary  rewards  were  trifling,  for  his  men  never  divided  more  than 
$2,000  among  themselves.  The  robbery  at  Paicines  in  August  1873  was 
his  undoing;  he  left  three  dead  men  behind — a  deaf  man  who  had  not 
heard  his  orders,  a  Portuguese  who  had  not  understood  the  language  he 
was  speaking,  and  a  hotel  keeper  who  had  stood  in  the  way  of  a  bullet 
sent  through  his  door  when  he  refused  to  open  it.  When  the  neighbors 
became  angry  the  gang  fled  south,  trailed  by  sheriffs.  A  colleague 
cuckolded  by  Vasquez  betrayed  his  hideout.  Brought  back  to  Hollister  in 
May  1874,  he  was  tried  and  hanged  at  San  Jose  March  19,  1875.  The  calm 
and  dignity  that  he  showed  before  witnesses  of  the  hanging  bore  out  his 
proudest  boast — that  he  was  "muy  caballero." 

At  43.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  improved  road ;  R.  here  5  m.  to  the 
eastern  entrance  of  PINNACLES  NATIONAL  MONUMENT  (guides, 
cabins,  campgrounds],  10,000  acres  of  crags,  rocks,  pinnacles,  and  forests 
among  the  Chalones  peaks  of  the  Gabilan  Range.  The  weird,  theatrically 
colored  rock  formations  of  dark  red  conglomerate  found  nowhere  else  in 
North  America,  have  been  carved  into  long  twisting  caverns,  narrow 
gorges  between  precipitous  walls  with  spire-like  abutments,  and  great 
terraced  domes  fluted  with  vertical  grooves.  The  spires  rise  from  600  to 
1,000  feet.  The  walls  of  the  BRIDAL  CHAMBER,  a  semi-circular  amphi- 
theater overgrown  with  thickets  of  live-oak  and  wild  cherry,  rise  a  sheer 
500  feet. 

State  25  continues  southward  to  the  junction  with  a  paved  road,  54.8  m.; 
R.  here  to  KING  CITY  (see  below),  69.8  m.,  on  US  101. 

US  101  twists  over  the  slopes  of  a  low  divide  and  across  the  broad 
plains  near  the  mouth  of  the  Salinas  Valley,  so  named  for  the  Salinas 


386         CALIFORNIA 

River's  salt  pools  along  its  lower  course.  The  sandy  river  bed,  virtually 
dry  in  summer  when  the  river  flows  partly  underground,  stretches  south- 
eastward a  hundred  miles  between  the  Santa  Lucia  Range  on  the  west 
and  the  Gabilan  and  Diablo  Ranges  on  the  east.  In  the  early  days, 
wild  oats  and  yellow  mustard  grew  so  tall  on  the  Salinas  Plain  that 
horsemen  traveling  across  it  had  to  stand  on  their  saddles  to  see  ahead. 
Over  the  valley  bottoms  and  foothill  slopes  roved  the  herds  of  a  long 
string  of  ranchos.  The  valley  is  still  cattle  country — although  most  of 
the  bottom  land  is  covered  now  with  rows  of  lettuces  and  sugar  beets, 
grain  and  alfalfa  fields,  berry  patches  and  orchards — and  many  of  the 
ways  of  the  rancho  era  linger  on. 

California's  biggest  rodeo,  held  every  July  in  the  SALINAS  RODEO 
FIELD  (L),  104.6  m.,  keeps  alive  a  tradition  dating  from  pre-American 
times,  when  the  rodeo  held  first  place  among  the  events  that  enlivened 
the  dull  everyday  routine.  Once  a  year  the  whole  countryside  joined  in 
rounding  up  the  range  cattle  into  corrals,  where  they  were  slaughtered 
— not  for  meat,  because  there  was  no  way  of  shipping  it,  but  for  hides 
and  tallow.  After  the  work  was  done,  there  were  horse  races,  bull  and 
bear  fights,  and  singing  and  dancing.  The  trick-riding  exhibitions  of 
today's  rodeos  would  have  provided  few  thrills  for  the  men  of  those 
days,  who  grew  up  on  their  horses.  One  of  their  stunts  was  to  pick  up 
a  coin  from  the  ground  while  riding  at  a  dead  run;  another  was  to 
snatch  off  the  head  of  a  chicken,  buried  up  to  its  neck  in  the  ground, 
while  galloping  past ;  and  another,  to  carry  a  trayf ul  of  brimming  glasses 
at  a  gallop  and  deliver  it  without  spilling  a  drop. 

SALINAS,  105.6  m.  (44  alt.,  10,263  pop.),  seat  of  Monterey 
County,  is  still  a  cattle-raising  center,  as  it  was  in  the  days  when  nothing 
stood  here  but  the  buildings  of  one  of  the  Ranchos  del  Rey,  where  the 
stock  of  the  mission  at  Carmel  and  of  the  presidio  at  Monterey  were 
pastured.  The  town  dates  from  1856,  when  Deacon  Elias  Howe  erected 
the  Half- Way  House,  an  inn,  store,  and  county  meeting  hall.  In  1869 
Salinas  had  a  population  of  600 — including  10  Chinese,  3  Negroes,  and 
50  Mexicans — and  the  first  newspaper  in  the  section,  the  Salinas 
Standard,  then  a  year  old.  Today  its  bustling  modern  business  district 
is  the  market  center  for  dairy  farms,  truck  gardens,  and  lettuce  fields. 

The  Salinas  area  has  more  than  50,000  acres  in  lettuce.  In  and 
about  the  town  cluster  the  ice-making  plants  and  packing  sheds  that 
prepare  the  crop  for  shipment  to  eastern  markets.  More  than  2,000 
field  workers  move  in  to  plant,  cultivate,  and  harvest  the  spring,  sum- 
mer, and  fall  crops.  In  1936,  when  lettuce  workers  struck  for  higher 
wages  and  better  working  conditions,  Salinas  burst  into  the  Nation's 
headlines  as  the  scene  of  tear-gas  battles  between  State  Highway  Patrol 
officers  and  strikers.  Highlight  of  this  strike  was  the  mobilization 
which  followed  a  report  to  the  Highway  Patrol  that  a  Communist 
advance  on  Salinas  was  under  way.  Red  flags  proving  the  statement 
were  taken  from  the  highway  and  rushed  to  Sacramento.  Airplanes 
were  sent  up  to  reconnoiter.  Embattled  growers  prepared  to  de- 
fend life  and  property.  In  the  meantime,  an  indignant  highway  com- 


TOUR     2        387 

mission  requested  that  the  flags  placed  as  markers  on  roadsides  by  its 
workmen  be  returned  to  serve  their  purpose  of  warning  motorists. 

An  unusual  Salinas  industry  is  the  AMERICAN  RUBBER  PRODUCERS 
GUAYULE  PLANT,  opened  in  1931  with  a  daily  production  capacity  of 
15,000  pounds,  which  manufactures  rubber  for  automobile  tires  from 
the  Mexican  guayule  shrub.  It  was  established  here  after  14  years  of 
experimentation  had  determined  that  the  valley  offered  proper  condi- 
tions for  raising  the  plant.  Since  1926,  15,000  acres  have  been  planted 
with  guayule.  After  four  years'  growth  the  plant  is  harvested  and  its 
trunk  and  roots  are  cleaned,  chopped,  and  ground  into  fine  particles. 
The  rubber  is  skimmed  from  the  fiber,  refined,  then  dried  and  com- 
pressed. 

Left  from  Salinas  on  a  paved  road  is  NATIVIDAD,  5.7  m.  (161  alt.), 
a  bustling  station  on  the  Coast  Stage  Line  in  the  fifty's  now  falling  into 
ruin  since  the  railroad  and  the  highw'ay  were  laid  out  to  the  west.  The 
two-story  adobe  CASA  DE  JOAQUIN  GOMEZ  overlooks  it  from  the  Gabilan 
foothills.  Here  one  winter  night  in  1847  young  William  T.  Sherman  and 
a  companion  from  Monterey  hitched  their  horses  "and  went  in  just  as 
Gomez  was  about  to  sit  down  to  a  tempting  supper  of  stewed  hare  and 
tortillas  .  .  .  The  allowance,  though  ample  for  one,  was  rather  short  for 
three,"  wrote  Sherman,  "and  I  thought  the  Spanish  grandiloquent  polite- 
ness of  Gomez,  who  was  fat  and  old,  was  not  over-cordial  ...  I  was 
helped  to  a  dish  of  rabbit,  with  what  I  thought  to  be  an  abundant  sauce 
of  tomato.  Taking  a  good  mouthful,  I  felt  as  though  I  had  taken  liquid 
fire;  the  tomato  was  chile  Colorado,  or  red  pepper,  of  the  purest  kind. 
It  nearly  killed  me,  and  I  saw  Gomez'  eyes  twinkle  for  he  saw  that  his 
share  of  supper  was  increased." 

The  chile  was  perhaps  Gomez'  way  of  retaliating  for  the  losses  suffered 
by  his  fellow  countrymen  in  the  Battle  of  Natividad,  fought  here  November 
16,  1846,  when  150  Californians  mustered  to  attack  60  or  70  Yankees  on 
their  way  with  300  horses  to  join  Fremont  at  Monterey.  A  scouting  party 
sent  ahead  by  the  Yankees  was  ambushed  and  several  of  the  men  were 
wounded  or  killed;  one  of  its  members,  a  Delaware  Indian,  who  brought 
news  of  the  battle  to  Alcalde  Walter  Colton  at  Monterey,  "was  attacked 
by  three  Californians — one  of  whom  he  shot  with  his  rifle,  another  he  killed 
with  his  tomahawk,  and  the  third  fled."  In  the  sharp  skirmish  that 
followed  when  the  main  detachment  of  Americans  came  up,  the  Cali- 
fornians inflicted  rather  serious  damage  on  their  opponents  before  retiring. 
The  Americans  saved  their  horses,  but  at  the  cost  of  four  or  five  wounded 
and  as  many  killed. 

At  108  m.  on  US  101  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  SPRECKELS,  2  m.,  a  company  town  around  a  large 
sugar  beet  factory  (visitors  9:30-1:30;  guides;  plant  closed  Dec.-July). 
The  factory's  slicing  capacity  is  4,800  tons  a  day.  It  was  built  in  1899  by 
Claus  Spreckels. 

As  US  101  cuts  southeast  in  an  arrow-straight  line  through  trim 
rows  of  yellow-green  lettuce  heads,  blue-green  alfalfa  patches,  carrot 
fields  and  flower-seed  farms,  the  valley  begins  to  narrow.  The  pepper- 
tree-shaded  village  of  CHUALAR  (a  place  abounding  in  wild  pig- 
weed), 116.2  m.,  stands  among  lettuce  fields.  GONZALES,  122.4  m. 
(127  alt.,  910  pop.),  is  a  dairy  center;  thousands  of  cows  in  surround- 
ing pastures  supply  its  milk-condensing  plant.  SOLEDAD  (Sp.,  soli- 


388        CALIFORNIA 

tude),  130.2  m.   (189  alt.,  594  pop.),  is  a  farming  and  stock-raising 
center. 

At  132.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  1  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  here  2  m. 
to  the  crumbling,  roofless  mud  walls  in  vacant  lonely  fields  of  MISION  DE 
NUESTRA  SENORA  DE  LA  SOLEDAD  (Our  Lady  of  Solitude),  whose  founders 
named  it  more  fittingly  than  they  knew.  The  thirteenth  of  the  missions, 
it  was  founded  October  9,  1791,  by  Fray  Fermin  Francisco  de  Lasuen;  the 
thatched  adobe  chapel  was  finished  in  1797.  It  was  so  impoverished  after 
its  secularization  in  1835  that  Padre  Vincente  Sarria,  who  refused  to  leave, 
died  on  the  altar  steps  before  mass  one  Sunday  morning  of  starvation. 

The  main  side  route  continues  on  a  graveled  road  to  PARAISO  HOT 
SPRINGS,  5.8  m.  (1,160  alt.),  a  report  in  the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains,  where 
the  mission  padres  used  to  come  to  drink  the  sparkling  mineral  waters. 
"Eternal  Paradise"  was  the  name  they  gave  a  2o-acre  tract  here,  granted 
to  them  in  1791. 

US  101  parallels  the  sandy  river  bed  of  the  Salinas  River,  choked 
with  cottonwoods  and  willows.  The  jagged  peaks  of  the  Pinnacles 
National  Monument  (see  above)  appear  (L),  in  sharp  contrast  to  the 
rounded  brown  Gabilan  Mountains.  Long  files  of  eucalypti,  planted  as 
windbreaks,  crisscross  the  fields. 

Around  GREENFIELD,  139.6  m.  (287  alt.,  150  pop.),  stretch  the 
alfalfa  fields,  green  the  year  round,  for  which  it  is  named,  and  seed 
farms,  gooseberry  patches,  and  orchards. 

At  150.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  through  rolling  grain  and  cattle  country,  where  the 
hot  summer  sun  bakes  out  a  pungent  smell  of  dry  grass,  tarweed,  and  dust, 
to  the  summit  of  Jolon  Grade,  10.3  m.  (1,343  alt.),  and  down  into  seques- 
tered Jolon  Valley.  Over  the  rough  route  in  a  rattling  spring  wagon  came 
George  Atherton  and  his  wife  Gertrude  with  their  child  and  its  nurse  and 
their  Chinese  cook  in  the  eighty's  sent  here  by  George's  father,  Faxon  Dean 
Atherton,  to  evict  squatters  from  his  43,ooo-acre  Rancho  Milpitas.  At 
JOLON,  17.4  m.  (978  alt.),  "a  straggling  village  on  the  edge  of  a  ranch," 
as  Gertrude  wrote — now  a  mere  remnant  of  a  town  with  little  left  but  a 
country  store,  church,  and  school — they  stayed  in  a  room  that  had  neither 
a  fireplace  nor  a  window  at  the  two-story  ADOBE  HOTEL,  built  in  1870 
to  house  stagecoach  travelers.  (It  is  still  standing,  its  upper  balcony 
shaded  by  an  ancient  grapevine.)  The  next  morning,  "armed  to  the 
teeth,"  George  set  out  with  two  sheriffs  to  evict  the  squatters. 

Right  from  Jolon  on  a  dirt  road  6.5  m.  to  MISION  SAN  ANTONIO  DE 
PADUA,  where  "the  squatters  had  herded  their  families  and  livestock  .  .  . 
while  they  went  off  to  seek  a  warmer  hospitality  elsewhere"  when  Gertrude 
Atherton  visited  the  place  several  days  later.  "It  was  a  strange  sight. 
The  church  and  yard  were  crowded  with  women,  children,  sheep,  and 
goats.  Winter  was  approaching  and  it  was  already  very  cold,  but  the 
immensely  fat  Mexican  women  wore  but  a  single  calico  garment.  The 
brown  children,  playing  with  the  goats,  were  stark  naked.  It  was  no 
warmer  in  the  tottering  church  and  the  first  rain  would  add  to  their 
miseries." 

When  Fray  Junipero  Serra  founded  San  Antonio  de  Padua,  third  of  the 
missions,  July  14,  1771,  in  an  oak-dotted  glen,  he  began  ringing  the  bells 
hung  from  an  oak  branch,  crying:  "Hear,  O  Gentiles!  Come!  Oh  come 
to  the  holy  Church  of  God!  Come,  Oh  come,  and  receive  the  Faith  of 
Christ!"  A  lone  Indian  appeared  to  watch  him  celebrate  mass  at  the 


TOUR     2        389 

rustic  altar.  The  mission  grew  rapidly  in  wealth,  until  its  fine  horses, 
its  50,000  cattle  and  50,000  sheep  began  to  tempt  horse  and  cattle  thieves; 
a  stone  mill,  operated  with  water  brought  for  miles  through  a  stone 
zanja,  was  built  to  grind  its  wheat.  All  that  remains  today  is  the  crum- 
bling brick-faced  church  (1810-21)  with  its  arched  portals  and  bell  opening 
flanked  by  low  bell  towers  and  the  crumbling  colonnade  with  clinging  rose 
vines  stretching  off  to  two  burnt-brick  wine  presses  above  a  wine  cellar. 
A  modern  shingle  roof  protects  the  interior,  where  benches,  an  altar  and 
organ,  and  some  old  wooden  statues  have  been  placed.  Every  year  St. 
Anthony's  Day,  June  13,  is  celebrated  with  masses  and  a  fiesta. 

A  long  bridge  carries  US  101  across  the  sandy  wash  of  the  Salinas 
River  to  KING  CITY,  152.4  m.  (338  alt.,  1,483  pop.),  chief  market- 
ing center  of  the  southern  Salinas  Valley,  lying  at  the  edge  of  barren, 
wind-swept  hills.  Along  the  sidewalks  are  still  a  few  old  hitching  posts, 
used  occasionally  by  cowboys  in  from  the  ranges.  King  City,  named 
for  one  of  its  first  settlers,  was  founded  in  1868.  Its  surrounding  farms 
produce  pink  beans,  fruit,  grain,  and  cattle.  At  King  City  is  a  junction 
with  the  paved  road  leading  to  Pinnacles  National  Monument  (see 
above). 

As  US  101  crosses  the  Salinas  Valley's  lower  reaches,  the  blue  and 
purple  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Mountains  dominate  the  landscape.  Since 
Mexican  days  SAN  LUCAS,  161.7  m.  (408  alt.,  75  pop.),  has  had  a 
tradition  of  raising  fine  thoroughbred  horses.  As  the  highway  continues 
through  cattle  ranges  between  low,  bare  hills,  the  valley  narrows.  SAN 
ARDO,  172.2  772.  (458  alt.,  in  pop.),  lies  among  rolling  acres  of  wheat 
field  and  pasture.  Along  the  river  bank  through  low  hills  US  101  con- 
tinues to  BRADLEY,  187.4  m.  (552  alt.,  no  pop.),  which  ships 
diatomaceous  earth. 

The  village  of  SAN  MIGUEL,  198.3  m.  (615  alt.,  300  pop.),  sur- 
rounded by  almond  orchards,  clusters  near  MISION  SAN  MIGUEL 
ARCANGEL,  sixteenth  of  the  missions  and  probably  the  most  unspoiled, 
founded  July  25,  1797,  on  St.  James  Day  but  dedicated  to  St.  Michael 
because  another  mission  had  already  been  named  for  St.  James.  The 
mission  buildings  include  the  church  (1816-18)  and  a  row  of  low  build- 
ings all  opening  on  a  court  bordered  by  a  corridor  with  arches  of  varying 
shape  and  size.  The  inside  walls  of  the  chapel  are  decorated  with 
simple  designs — fret  borders,  painted  columns  and  a  low  dado,  in  imita- 
tion of  marble,  the  work  of  Indians  under  the  direction  of  a  Spanish 
artist,  Murros.  Especially  notable  are  the  beamed  ceiling,  the  choir 
gallery  above  the  entrance  and  the  pulpit  with  its  old  sounding  board, 
decorated  in  soft  purples,  blues  and  greens.  Over  the  altar  is  a  statue 
of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel.  In  the  adjoining  quarters  Indian  relics 
and  implements  are  displayed. 

The  rolling  land  around  PASO  ROBLES,  207.2  m.  (721  alt., 
2,573  POP-)>  is  still  dotted  with  the  great  spreading  oaks  that  led  the 
first  Spanish  explorers  to  name  the  place  El  Paso  de  los  Robles.  Its 
almond  trees  are  more  famous  now  than  its  oaks,  for  Paso  Robles  is 
surrounded  by  a  large  almond  acreage;  the  trees  blossom  in  February, 
turning  the  countryside  into  one  of  those  scenes  so  often  photographed 


39°        CALIFORNIA 

for  State  advertising  literature.  Long  before  Paso  Robles  was  a  town, 
the  spot  was  known  for  its  hot  springs,  by  which  the  padres  of  Mission 
San  Miguel  placed  a  wall  of  rude  logs  to  impound  a  pool.  Even  grizzly 
bears  are  said  to  have  resorted  to  its  warm  waters  for  bathing;  old- 
timers  told  of  a  grizzly  who  made  regular  nocturnal  trips  to  cure  a  lame 
leg,  grasping  with  forepaws  an  overhanging  limb  while  he  dipped  his 
posterior  with  evident  enjoyment.  The  MUNICIPAL  BATH  HOUSE  is 
built  over  the  main  sulphur  spring  and  the  hotel  mud-bath  house  and 
hot  sulphur  pool  over  the  original  lithia  springs. 

ATASCADERO  (Sp.,  bog),  218.3  m.  (849  alt.,  932  pop.),  rimmed 
by  a  semi-circle  of  wooded  hills,  was  conceived  in  1913  as  a  model 
community,  designed  on  paper  to  conform  to  uniform  architectural 
standards  and  laid  out  on  a  scale  large  enough  to  accommodate  a 
metropolis — so  large  that  its  scattered  residences  could  never  get  close 
enough  together  to  compose  a  town  in  the  usual  sense.  Following  the 
failure  of  the  enterprise,  its  grandiose  rococo  civic  center  was  converted 
into  a  school,  and  its  small-scale  farms  went  to  seed,  until  eventually 
the  town  found  its  salvation  in  chicken  and  turkey  raising. 

Atascadero  is  the  junction  with  US  466  (see  TOUR  lib). 

On  a  knoll  near  the  cattle-shipping  center  of  SANTA  MAR- 
GARITA, 225.8  m.  (998  alt.,  211  pop.),  is  the  ASISTENCIA  OF  SANTA 
MARGARITA,  an  outpost  of  Mission  San  Luis  Obispo,  of  which  Capt. 
Alfred  Robinson  wrote  in  1831:  "It  was  divided  into  store  rooms  for 
different  kinds  of  grain,  and  apartments  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
mayordomo,  servants,  and  wayfarers.  At  one  end  was  a  chapel,  and 
snug  lodging-rooms  for  the  priest  .  .  .  and  the  holy  friars  of  the  two 
missions  occasionally  met  there  to  acknowledge  to  each  other  their  sins." 
The  massive  stone  doorway,  several  arched  windows,  and  the  side  and 
end  walls  remain,  patched  together  now  in  a  ranch  barn. 

Left  from  Santa  Margarita  on  State  178,  paved,  up  Pozo  Valley,  through 
the  fruit  and  dairy  centers  of  POZO,  18.5  m.  (264  pop.),  and  LA  PANZA, 
34.3  m.  (16  pop.),  and  across  the  high  plateau  of  Carisa  Plain  (1,400  alt.). 
In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  plain  rises  a  lonely  sandstone  butte  enclos- 
ing a  great  oval  cavity  with  overhanging  walls,  entered  by  a  narrow 
opening  on  the  east,  which  Spanish  settlers  called  the  PAINTED  ROCK.  Along 
the  walls  for  a  length  of  60  feet  are  a  number  of  rude  aboriginal  paintings 
in  bright  red,  white,  and  black  lines,  representing  men,  birds,  suns,  and 
other  indecipherable  figures.  The  place,  believed  to  have  been  an  ancient 
temple,  has  been  used  as  a  cattle  corral. 

US  101  twists  up  the  wild,  wooded  slopes  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Moun- 
tains to  CUESTA  PASS  (1,570  alt.),  125.7  m.,  in  sharp  hairpin  curves. 
Over  this  pass,  in  November  1846,  John  C.  Fremont  led  his  small  army 
at  night  in  a  pelting  rain  to  attack  the  town  of  San  Luis  Obispo,  believ- 
ing it  to  be  heavily  garrisoned.  Only  the  sleeping  villagers  were  there 
when  the  gallant  Fremont  rode  down  the  main  street  and  made  them 
prisoners.  Fremont  reported  that  he  had  "brilliantly  captured  San  Luis 
Obispo  without  bloodshed."  A  historian  reviewing  the  incident  re- 
marked: "It  detracted  somewhat  from  its  brilliancy  that  there  was 


TOUR     2         391 

nothing  to  surrender,  and  nobody  authorized  to  do  it  if  there  had  been, 
and  the  army  was  uncomfortably  wet." 

In  a  bowl-shaped  valley  at  the  southern  base  of  the  Santa  Lucia 
Mountains  is  SAN  LUIS  OBISPO,  243.3  m.  (201  alt.,  8,276  pop.), 
seat  of  San  Luis  Obispo  County.  The  town  grew  up  around  MISION 
SAN  Luis  OBISPO  DE  TOLOSA  (St.  Louis,  Bishop  of  Toulouse),  Chorro 
and  Montgomery  Sts.,  which  is  said  to  have  been  so  named  because  two 
of  the  pyramidal  volcanic  peaks  in  the  neighborhood  suggested  a  bishop's 
mitre.  When  Fray  Junipero  Serra  established  the  mission,  fifth  of  the 
chain,  September  I,  1772,  he  found  the  Indians  of  the  place  friendly 
because  soldiers  of  the  Caspar  de  Portola  expedition  three  years  before 
had  killed  with  their  carbines  and  spears  several  of  the  great  bears  that 
were  terrorizing  the  Indian  rancherias.  Padre  Jose  Cavalier  began  his 
work  with  four  soldiers  and  two  Lower  California  Indians  for  company, 
his  provisions  limited  to  50  pounds  of  flour,  three  pecks  of  wheat,  and 
one  barrel  of  brown  sugar.  The  burning  of  the  tule-thatched  mission 
roofs  three  times  in  a  row  led  the  friars  to  experiment  with  making  tiles, 
which  proved  so  sucessful  that  they  became  the  fashion  after  1784  for 
all  California  missions.  Most  noted  of  Padre  Cavalier's  successors  was 
the  rugged  individualist,  Fray  Antonio  Martinez  who,  in  1818,  drilled 
and  equipped  Indian  troops  to  help  fight  the  pirate,  Hippolyte  de  Bou- 
chard, and  got  up  out  of  a  sick-bed  to  lead  them.  Later  Fray  Martinez 
grew  friendly  with  Yankee  skippers  engaged  in  smuggling  goods  into 
California,  often  entertaining  them  with  his  best  wines.  The  mission 
was  formed  in  1844  mto  a  pueblo  that  was  incorporated  in  1856  as  a  city, 
but  the  settlement  kept  the  attributes  of  a  sleepy  Mexican  village  until 
1894,  when  the  railroad  pierced  the  mountains  from  Santa  Margarita. 
Many  of  its  streets  still  follow  the  winding  trails  beaten  by  Spanish 
horsemen. 

The  church  of  Mission  San  Luis  Obispo  (1793)  has  been  so  hemmed 
in  by  modern  buildings  and  so  disfigured  by  its  protective  sheathing  of 
white-painted  boards  and  the  addition  of  a  shingled  roof  and  a  steeple 
that  none  of  its  original  grace  remains.  Among  its  relics  are  a  wooden 
statue  of  its  patron  St.  Louis  wearing  his  mitre,  a  cope  and  stole  of 
Fray  Serra's,  an  ancient  cross  said  to  have  been  used  at  the  first  mass, 
and  a  collection  of  paintings,  images,  hand-wrought  silver,  vestments 
and  altar-cloths. 

At  San  Luis  Obispo  is  the  junction  with  State  I  (see  TOUR  Ic). 

Section  c.  SAN  LUIS  OBISPO  to  LOS  ANGELES;  203.6  m.  US  101 

This  section  of  US  101,  heavily  traveled  both  by  private  motor  cars 
and  by  trucks,  swings  briefly  to  the  coast  south  of  San  Luis  Obispo 
and  then  weaves  inland  across  a  broad  river  valley  and  into  typical 
barren  hills.  Returning  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific,  which  it  follows 
for  many  miles,  it  swings  inland  again  over  low  hills  and  descends  to 
the  San  Fernando  Valley.  Its  way  into  Los  Angeles  is  disfigured  with 
roadside  stands  and  advertisements. 


392        CALIFORNIA 

Southwest  of  SAN  LUIS  OBISPO,  0  m.,  US  101  passes  through 
a  small  valley  and  reaches  the  Pacific,  where  it  skirts  the  beach  of  San 
Luis  Obispo  Bay  for  several  miles. 

PISMO  BEACH,  12.2  m.  (35  alt.,  600  pop.),  well  advertised  by 
posters  and  banners,  is  a  busy  seaside  resort  during  the  summer,  popular 
for  its  Pismo  clams.  This  variety  is  seldom  found  elsewhere  to  any 
extent,  and  unrestricted  digging  had  made  them  almost  extinct  until 
State  regulations  conserved  them. 

US  101  leaves  the  sea  and  runs  through  Arroyo  Grande  Valley, 
where  much  of  the  once  rich  topsoil,  improperly  cultivated,  has  been 
washed  away.  In  October,  1934,  CCC  workers  began  erecting  check 
dams  and  contour  ditches  to  catch  the  silt  and  restore  fertility  to  7,000 
acres.  Banks  were  seeded  with  a  grass  mixture,  mostly  red  barley,  to 
hold  the  soil.  Thousands  of  trees  and  shrubs  were  planted. 

ARROYO  GRANDE,  16.2  m.  (114  alt.,  892  pop.),  once  merely 
a  stagecoach  station,  sprang  into  life  in  1877  because  of  a  land  rush. 
Surrounding  it  are  cattle  and  grain  ranches. 

NIPOMO,  24.6  m.  (114  alt.,  750  pop.),  is  on  one  of  the  few  early 
land  grants  that  have  remained  in  the  hands  of  one  family. 

SANTA  MARIA,  32.6  m.  (204  alt.,  7,057  pop.),  is  the  market 
center  for  ranchers  in  Santa  Maria  Valley.  Grain,  beans,  and  seed  are 
the  leading  crops.  Trees  and  shrubs  line  most  of  the  town's  streets, 
though  until  the  late  i86o's  the  area  was  so  desolate  that  adjoining 
ranchos  scorned  the  sandy  flats.  The  first  building,  erected  in  1871, 
was  a  small  general  store  to  accommodate  farmers  who  had  begun  irri- 
gating the  land.  Santa  Maria  owes  much  of  its  more  recent  develop- 
ment to  large  oil  districts  nearby.  The  town  has  notably  wide  streets 
because  four  pioneer  farmers,  laying  out  the  townsite,  wanted  plenty 
of  space  to  turn  their  eight-mule  teams. 

For  miles  the  countryside  along  US  101  is  planted  with  beans. 
The  lanes  of  eucalypti  along  the  road  lead  to  LOS  ALAMOS,  49.4  m. 
(569  alt.,  600  pop.). 

BUELLTON,  66.4  m.  (490  alt.,  107  pop.),  is  called  the  Mission 
Cross  Roads  because  it  lies  on  the  route  between  two  missions. 

Left  from  Buellton  on  a  paved  road  to  the  MISSION  SANTA  YNEZ,  4  m., 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  hamlet  of  SOLVANG.  The  nineteenth  mission, 
established  September  17,  1804,  by  Fra  Estevan  Tapis  and  three  other 
brothers,  its  prosperity  reached  a  peak  in  1820,  when  it  owned  12,000  head 
of  stock.  After  1850  the  buildings  began  to  crumble.  They  are  of  adobe, 
low,  painted  white,  and  roofed  with  red  tile,  with  an  arched  colonnade  in 
front.  The  walls  are  five  or  six  feet  thick,  to  support  the  big,  hand-hewn 
beams  of  the  roof.  In  the  mission  are  vessels  of  beaten  copper,  parchment 
volumes  of  church  music,  bound  mission  records,  and  carved  wooden 
crucifixes. 

US  101  crosses  the  Santa  Ynez  River,  66.9  m.,  and  winds  through 
heavily  wooded  country  to  Nojugui  Pass  (900  alt.)  in  the  Santa  Ynez 
Mountains.  At  places  the  hills  are  almost  solid  rock  with  massive 
blocks  towering  over  the  highway.  Sycamores  with  mottled  gray  trunks 
grow  along  creek  beds. 


TOUR    2      393 

LAS  CRUCES,  75.9  m.  (339  alt.),  at  a  junction  with  State  I 
(see  TOUR  Ic)  is  a  postoffice  for  numerous  farmers. 

The  lovely  GAVIOTA  (seagull)  PASS  (200  alt.),  between  Las 
Cruces  and  the  ocean,  was  named  by  the  Caspar  de  Portola  expedition 
when  one  of  his  soldiers  shot  a  seagull  here  in  1769.  The  shore  at  the 
lower  end  was  once  a  favorite  spot  for  the  landing  of  goods  smuggled 
in  to  evade  the  high  tariffs  imposed  by  the  Mexican  Government. 
Yankee  ships  anchored  in  the  small  coves  and  sent  their  cargoes  inland 
for  sale  to  missions  and  landholders. 

US  101  runs  on  a  narrow  shelf  above  the  sea  to  GOLETA,  102.4  m. 
(50  alt.,  519  pop.),  named  for  a  schooner  built  by  Captain  William  G. 
Dana  of  Nipomo  in  1828. 

Passing  between  small  farms,  the  highway  is  lined  for  several  miles 
with  poplars  and  bordered  at  intervals  by  walnut  orchards.  In  the 
purplish  blue  Santa  Ynez  Mountains  (L),  the  peak  of  La  Cumbre 
(3,985  alt.)  stands  out. 

SANTA  BARBARA,  108.4  m.  (37  alt.,  33,613  pop.)  (see  SANTA 
BARBARA}. 

US  101  follows  narrow  and  unattractive  streets.  An  alternate  route 
follows  broad  palm-lined  Cabrillo  Boulevard,  skirting  the  bay,  passing 
the  yacht  harbor  and  the  bird  refuge  lagoon,  and  connecting  with  US 
101  at  the  eastern  city  limits. 

In  the  low  wooded  hills  to  the  south  is  the  millionaire  colony  of 
MONTECITO,  112.6  m.  (250  alt.,  3,500  pop.).  Signs  marked 
"Private"  bar  the  paved  roads  leading  to  the  estates  of  such  living  trade- 
marks as  Stetson,  Fleischmann,  Armstrong,  Pillsbury,  and  Du  Pont. 
(Adm.  to  many  estates  on  special  tours  conducted  periodically  by  Santa 
Barbara  Garden  Club.)  The  four-lane  highway  is  divided  by  a  park- 
way overgrown  with  iceplant,  a  flat-leaved  plant  (genus  Mesembryan- 
themum),  found  along  the  southern  coast  from  Mann  County  to  the 
Mexican  Border,  with  stout  stems  and  large  leaves  encrusted  by  shining 
beads  of  a  gummy  substance  that  glistens  like  frost  in  the  sunlight. 

The  transition  from  the  ornate  houses  near  Santa  Barbara  to  the  old 
frame  ones  of  SUMMERLAND,  114.9  m.  (32  alt.,  300  pop.),  comes 
suddenly.  The  colony  was  founded  by  spiritualists  but  soon  became 
an  oil  town,  with  a  cluster  of  derricks  rising  from  the  water. 

Near  the  ocean  just  east  of  CARPINTERIA,  118.4  m.  (12  alt., 
1,000  pop.),  are  several  pits  of  asphalt,  used  by  the  natives  to  water- 
proof their  houses  and  canoes.  A  spreading  Torrey  pine  (L),  some  60 
feet  high,  was  transplanted  from  the  island  of  Santa  Cruz  about  1900. 

Right  from  Carpinteria  on  Linden  Avenue  into  the  CARPINTERIA 
STATE  BEACH  PARK,  0.5  m.  Under  a  roof  about  300  yards  (L)  is  the 
dead  trunk  of  a  grapevine,  planted  in  1846.  Before  the  vine  died,  in  1916, 
the  circumference  of  its  trunk  measured  nine  feet;  it  covered  a  quarter  of 
an  acre  and  yielded  eight  tons  of  grapes  each  year. 

Leaving  the  flat  plains,  US  101  mounts  the  narrow  pass  of  RIN- 
CON  CAPE,  121.4  m.  In  1838,  would-be  Governor  Alvarado  sent 
out  a  hundred  men  with  three  cannons  against  the  slightly  larger  army 


394        CALIFORNIA 

of  Governor  Carrillo,  Mexican  appointee,  who  was  advancing  from 
Mission  San  Buenaventura  to  the  south.  After  an  opera  bouffe  rattle 
of  musketry  and  booming  of  cannon  around  the  escarpments  of  the  pass, 
Carrillo  and  his  men  fled  to  the  mission.  Alvarado's  cannon  balls 
bounced  off  the  adobe  walls  for  two  days,  before  the  enemy  escaped 
under  cover  of  night.  The  sole  casualty  of  this  typical  early  California 
battle  was  one  besieger,  killed  by  a  sniper  hiding  in  the  mission  belfry, 
and  the  sole  upshot  was  a  new  governor :  Alvarado. 

Skirting  small  bays,  US  101  passes  beach  houses,  and  concrete  balus- 
trades that  protect  the  roadway  from  the  ocean.  In  former  days  El 
Camino  Real  ran  along  the  tide  flats  beneath  the  mountains,  a  space  so 
narrow  that  the  clumsy  ox-drawn  carretas  were  forced  to  synchronize 
their  schedules  with  the  ebb  of  the  tide. 

VENTURA,  135  m.  (48  alt.,  11,603  P°p.)>  is  a  busy  oil  and  lima 
bean  exporting  point.  Thoroughly  up-to-date,  the  city  retains  little  of 
the  atmosphere  of  an  old  mission  town.  Poinsettias  grow  profusely 
along  the  streets  and  in  the  private  yards. 

Two  Norfolk  pines  towering  above  the  belfry  mark  MISSION  SAN 
BUENAVENTURA  (25$  fee),  Main  and  Figueroa  Streets.  This  outpost, 
ninth  of  the  California  missions,  was  the  last  founded  by  Father  Serra, 
leader  of  the  California  missionary  campaign,  who  planted  his  huge 
cross  on  the  hill  to  the  rear  and  consecrated  the  ground  in  1782.  The 
mission  was  twice  damaged  by  fire  in  1791-92,  and  by  earthquake  in 
1812;  little  of  the  original  structure  remains.  The  low  tile  roofed 
structure  with  its  heavy  buttresses  and  large  corner  tower  is  largely  a 
restoration.  In  keeping  with  Franciscan  simplicity  the  facade  has  little 
ornamental  detail.  The  tower  with  its  double,  arcaded  belfry  is  topped 
with  a  stripe-ribbed  dome.  Perhaps  the  most  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  structure  is  its  bold  and  simple  mass.  Mission  relics  are  shown  in 
a  small  building  opening  onto  the  patio,  in  which  is  an  ancient  stone 
olive-crusher.  The  wooden  bells  that  once  hung  in  the  belfry  are  now 
in  the  museum.  Each  is  made  of  a  single  block  of  wood  with  metal 
plates  inside,  against  which  the  wooden  clappers  struck.  Such  bells  are 
common  in  certain  parts  of  Mexico. 

The  PIONEER  MUSEUM  (free),  in  the  VENTURA  COUNTY  COURT- 
HOUSE, N.  California  and  Poli  Streets,  has  a  collection  including  feather 
flowers  made  by  elderly  women  in  Vermont,  a  small  scale  model  of  the 
mission,  Eskimo  harpoons,  model  of  South  Sea  Island  canoes,  and  stone 
bowls  of  the  Canalinos.  A  suspiciously  modern  appearing  revolver  is 
reputed  to  be  that  of  Tiburcio  Vasquez,  the  bandit  (see  TOUR  2b). 
In  front  of  the  Courthouse  is  a  large  cement  STATUE  OF  JUNIPERO 
SERRA,  erected  by  the  Federal  Art  Project. 

US  101  passes  over  the  Ventura  River  delta,  a  district  of  walnut 
trees  and  orange  groves  blocked  by  long  windbreaks  of  tamarisk,  euca- 
lyptus, and  other  evergreens.  The  windbreaks  are  favorite  nesting  spots 
of  western  mocking-birds,  slim  and  graceful,  with  slaty  black  wings  and 
tail,  and  a  prominent  white  wing  patch. 

At  137.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  126,  paved. 


TOUR    2      395 

Left  on  State  126  through  Santa  Clara  Valley,  a  fertile  strip  of  fields 
and  citrus  orchards  along  the  Santa  Clara  River,  sheltered  between  the 
San  Rafael  Range  on  the  north  and  the  Sierra  San  Fernando  on  the  south. 
The  valley  is  dotted  with  oil  wells,  still  pumping  oil  from  the  oldest  field 
in  California;  from  1866  until  discovery  of  the  Puente  Hills  district  in 
1880,  it  yielded  nearly  all  the  oil  produced  in  the  State. 

At  5.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  on  this  road  to  the 
farmers'  village  of  SATICOY  (Ind.,  I  have  found  it),  1  m.  (149  alt.,  400 
pop.),  founded  in  1861  at  SATICOY  SPRINGS,  where  a  number  of 
Chumash  Indians  headed  by  the  chieftainess  Pomposa  were  living  as  late  as 
1870.  The  springs  were  their  traditional  gathering  place  for  ceremonials  at 
which — according  to  a  gory  legend — they  made  human  sacrifices. 

State  126  continues  through  oil  fields  and  lemon  orchards  to  SANTA 
PAULA,  132  m.  (288  alt.,  7,452  pop.).  Laid  out  in  1875,  it  boomed  rapidly 
with  the  oil  industry.  From  refineries  here,  the  oil  was  carried  by  pipeline 
to  the  coast  for  shipment.  The  nearby  lemon  orchard  of  the  Limoneria 
Rancho  is  one  of  the  largest  ever  planted. 

The  countryside  around  FILLMORE,  24.3  m.  (460  alt.,  2,893  pop.),  pro- 
duces oil,  lemons,  and  oranges.  The  town  lies  at  the  mouth  of  wooded 
Sespe  Canyon,  a  favorite  resort  for  trout  fishermen  and  quail  and  deer 
hunters. 

The  home  place  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  Ramona  was  CAMULOS  RANCHO, 
33.7  m.,  the  Moreno  Rancho  of  the  novel,  which  Mrs.  Jackson  observed 
with  such  an  eye  for  detail  during  a  two-hour  visit  in  1882  that  she  was 
able  to  describe  it  later  with  complete  fidelity.  It  remains  as  it  was  when 
she  saw  it,  "one  of  the  best  specimens  to  be  found  in  California  of  the 
representative  house  of  the  half-barbaric,  half-elegant,  wholly-generous, 
and  free-handed  life  led  by  the  Mexican  men  and  women  of  degree  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.  .  .  ."  Camulos  Rancho  was  the  heart  of  the 
2,ooo-acre  Rancho  San  Francisco  granted  in  1839  to  St.  Antonio  del  Valle, 
on  which  the  first  California  gold  was  discovered — March  9,  1842.  The 
rancho  passed  to  his  son,  Don  Ygnacio  del  Valle,  whose  wife,  Senora  Dona 
Ysabel,  was  the  original  of  Ramona's  Senora  Morena,  although  Mrs. 
Jackson  never  saw  her,  and  to  his  grandson,  Reginald  F.  del  Valle,  the 
original  of  the  boy  Felipe.  The  severely  simple  whitewashed  adobe  house 
(1852)  encloses  on  three  sides  a  patio  with  graveled  walks  between  flower 
beds,  rose  and  cypress  hedges,  and  a  fountain,  overlooked  by  wide 
verandas.  The  oldest  part  of  the  house  is  the  front  wing,  containing  the 
chief  apartments,  where  Mrs.  Jackson  placed  the  rooms  of  Ramona  and 
Father  Salvierderra  in  the  novel;  the  wing  on  the  west  and  the  cocma 
(kitchen)  on  the  north  were  added  ten  years  later.  The  "greater  part  of 
the  family  life  went  on"  on  the  verandas,  wrote  Mrs.  Jackson.  "All  the 
kitchen  work,  except  the  actual  cooking,  was  done  here,  in  front  of  the 
kitchen  doors  and  windows.  Babies  slept,  were  washed,  sat  in  the  dirt, 
and  played  on  the  veranda.  The  women  said  their  prayers,  took  their 
naps,  and  wove  their  lace  there.  .  .  .  The  herdsmen  and  shepherds  smoked 
there,  lounged  there,  trained  their  dogs  there."  The  family  chapel,  near 
the  house,  is  a  tiny  frame  structure  with  an  altar  containing  santas  (saints) 
brought  from  Spain.  Nearby  are  an  orange  grove  with  an  old  fountain, 
two  ancient  bells  hanging  from  a  wooden  frame,  a  brick  winery  and  a 
grape-arbor,  and  an  olive-mill.  In  the  family  graveyard,  a  square  white 
vault  contains  the  grave  of  Ygnacio  del  Valle. 

At  43.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  Sd}. 

At  139.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  Mulligan  Alley,  a  dirt  road. 

Right  here  to  the  OLIVAS  ADOBE,  1.4  m.,  once  the  dwelling  of  Don  Ray- 
mundo  Olivas,  who  took  a  leading  part  in  suppressing  a  native  uprising. 
The  house  is  now  the  Old  Adobe  Gun  Club. 


396        CALIFORNIA 

South  of  MONTALVO,  140.7  m.  (93  alt.,  215  pop.),  a  lonely 
railroad  station  and  cluster  of  seedy  frame  buildings  that  ships  large 
quantities  of  walnuts,  US  101  crosses  the  Santa  Clara  River,  in  the 
willows  of  which  Tiburcio  Vasquez  is  said  to  have  hidden  while  evading, 
in  accredited  will-o'-the-wisp  fashion,  the  punitive  efforts  of  the  com- 
bined constabulary  of  five  counties. 

At  EL  RIO,  143.2  m.,  a  few  frame  houses  squatting  around  a 
store  in  the  midst  of  fields  and  orchards,  is  the  junction  with  US 
lOi-Alt.  (see  TOUR  2B).  The  general  store  of  its  founder  is  still 
standing  (L),  with  the  black  letters  on  its  brick  wall  reading  "New 
Jerusalem — Simon  Cohn,  Proprietor." 

Tree-shaded  CAMARILLO,  151.4  m.  (150  alt.,  300  pop.),  was 
named  for  an  early  ranchero. 

Right  from  Camarillo,  a  paved  road  leads  to  CAMARILLO  STATE  HOSPITAL, 
4.6  m.,  a  large  group  of  white  buildings  in  California-Spanish  style.  The 
hospital's  normal  capacity  is  1,925,  although  at  present  (1939)  it  houses 
2,094  persons. 

US  101  continues  inland,  following  the  old  Camino  Real  into  the 
higher  inland  valleys,  cultivated,  irrigated,  hemmed  by  mountains,  and 
cut  by  streams.  From  the  summit  of  Conejo  Grade  (778  alt.)  is  a  view 
of  the  patterned  mountains  and  valley  drained  by  the  Santa  Clara  River. 

At  157.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  HIDDEN  VALLEY,  5.5  m.,  a  mountain-hemmed 
district  of  grazing  lands  approached  through  walnut  groves  and  a  narrow 
pass. 

SHERWOOD  FOREST,  9  m.,  takes  its  name  from  the  scattered  clusters 
of  oaks  on  the  northern  shore  of  SHERWOOD  LAKE.  Large  houses  cling 
to  the  steep  hillsidesl  including  the  palatial  home  of  the  movie  czar,  Will 
Hays.  The  signs,  "Private  Road,"  forbid  circling  the  lake,  but  the  view 
from  the  hillside  reveals  the  body  of  water  below.  This  was  the 
location  for  parts  of  the  movies  Robin  Hood  and  Tarzan  of  the  Apes. 
East  of  the  lake  settlement  is  the  dam  that  creates  the  lake  and  a  slight 
divide  from  which  the  road  turns  L.  into  Potrero  Rd.  and  to  a  junction  with 
US  101  at  13  m. 

The  two-story  white  clapboarded  house  (R)  with  green  jaloisies, 
in  NEWBURY  PARK,  158.4  m.  (700  alt,  135  pop.),  was  once  a 
stage  coach  station. 

THOUSAND  OAKS,  161.9  m.  (250  pop.),  is  a  gathering  of 
tourist  accommodations  around  the  GOEBEL  LION  FARM  (adm.  25$), 
which  supplies  many  animals  used  by  movie  studios.  In  the  afternoon 
between  3 130  and  5  the  trainer  sometimes  obliges  spectators  by  putting 
his  head  into  a  lion's  mouth. 

US  101  continues  through  huge  oak  trees,  whose  acorns  supplied  the 
Oak  Grove  Indians  with  their  chief  foodstuff — acorn  meal.  Since  these 
trees  took  root  two  centuries  -ago,  the  water  level  has  dropped  to  such 
an  extent  that  no  young  growth  can  take  hold. 

At  164.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  Potrero  Road  (see  above)  and  at 
168.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 


TOUR    2      397 

Right  on  this  second  road  to  PARAMOUNT  MOTION  PICTURE 
SETS,  1  m.,  make-believe  western  cow  town,  Spanish  haciendas,  African 
native  huts,  and  Colonial  villages  sprawling  in  false-front  arrays  in  the 
valley  below  the  road. 

MALIBU  LAKE,  3  m.,  small,  irregular,  and  deep  in  the  crotch  of  steep 
and  grotesquely-shaped  mountains,  is  surrounded  with  homes  and  gardens. 
The  MALIBU  MOUNTAIN  CLUB  (R)  is  a  favored  resort  of  the  cinema  world. 

East  of  the  CALABASAS  POST  OFFICE,  174.9  ra.,  is  the  Los  ANGELES 
PET  CEMETERY,  approached  by  a  private  gravel  road  up  a  gentle  slope 
of  the  Simi  Hills.  Visible  from  US  101  are  a  small  white  mausoleum 
and  the  name  in  huge  recumbent  cement  letters.  At  this  point  is  a  view 
of  the  San  Fernando  Valley,  a  fertile  farming  area  approximately  25 
miles  long.  It  is  entirely  encompassed  by  the  low  but  impressive  Santa 
Susana  and  San  Gabriel  Mountains,  the  Verdugo  Hills,  the  Santa 
Monica  Mountains,  and  the  Simi  Hills. 

CALABASAS,  177.1  m.  (928  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  now  a  collection 
of  tourist  facilities  but  once  was  southern  California's  tough  town.  On 
the  outskirts,  in  an  area  of  orange  and  walnut  groves,  US  101  crosses 
the  extraordinary  city  limits  of  Los  Angeles. 

TARZANA,  182.4  m.,  is  a  copyrighted  name  used  by  permission  of 
Edgar  Rice  Burroughs,  the  author,  on  whose  estate  the  town  grew. 
East  of  Tarzana  are  the  semiurban  skirtings  of  Hollywood  and  Los 
Angeles,  a  region  of  heavy  traffic,  small  gardens  and  subdivisions,  mar- 
kets, oil  stations,  and  various  small  businesses  that  continues  for  some 
30  miles. 

At  the  intersection  of  Radford  Avenue,  191.1  m.,  is  the  REPUBLIC 
STUDIO  (L),  with  a  large  tile- roofed  headquarters  with  large  white 
barn-like  structures  behind  it.  Many  Westerns  and  other  "B"  movies 
are  made  here. 

At  193  m.  is  a  junction  with  Lankershim  Boulevard. 

Left  on  Lankershim  Boulevard  is  UNIVERSAL  CITY,  0.5  m.  (550  alt., 
2,500  pop.),  an  independent  municipality  of  235  acres  around  the  UNIVERSAL 
PICTURES  CORPORATION  STUDIO.  Universal,  like  most  large  companies,  main- 
tains everything  from  its  own  fire  department  to  a  school  for  child  actors. 
In  the  grounds  and  studios — the  heart  of  an  organization  with  72  inter- 
national branches — more  than  9,000  pictures  have  been  shot,  among  them 
The  Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,  Dracula,  Frankenstein,  The  Phantom  of 
the  Opera,  All  Quiet  on  the  Western  Front,  Back  Street,  and  Imitation  of 
Life. 

South  of  the  junction  US  101  follows  Cahuenga  Boulevard  and 
descends  through  Cahuenga  Pass  to  HOLLYWOOD,  195.5  m.  (400 
alt.,  153,294  Pop.)  (see  HOLLYWOOD).  Hollywood  is  at  a  junc- 
tion with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12c). 

LOS  ANGELES,  203.6  m.  (250  alt.,  1,238,048  pop.)  (see  LOS 
4NGELES). 


CALIFORNIA 

Section  d.    LOS  ANGELES  to  MEXICAN  BORDER;  141.4  m. 

US  101 

Leaving  Los  Angeles'  outskirts,  this  section  of  US  101  passes 
through  oil  fields,  truck  gardens,  and  miles  of  the  most  extensive  citrus 
groves  in  California.  It  returns  to  the  sea  at  Doheny  Park  and  skirts 
a  barren  coastline  edged  by  brush-clad  hills,  passing  occasional  resort 
towns,  south  to  San  Diego  and  the  Mexican  border. 

US  101  follows  N.  Spring  St.  in  the  center  of  LOS  ANGELES, 
0  m.,  then,  after  several  turns  follows  Whittier  Blvd.  to  MONTE- 
BELLO,  8.9  m.  (600  alt.,  5,498  pop.),  surrounded  by  an  incongruous 
mixture  of  flower  gardens  and  oil  fields.  It  has  fifty-two  nurseries  en- 
gaged in  the  wholesale  ornamental  shrub  and  flower  business,  and  holds 
the  annual  State  Flower  and  Horticultural  Show.  Nine  thousand 
barrels  of  oil  are  pumped  daily  from  wells  in  the  vicinity. 

Right  from  Montebello  on  First  Street,  which  becomes  Bluff  Road,  to 
the  SITE  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  SAN  GABRIEL,  1  m.,  where  on  January  8,  1847, 
the  decisive  engagement  in  the  conquest  of  California  by  the  Yankees  was 
fought.  Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kearny  and  Commodore  Robert  F.  Stockton, 
with  a  company  of  600,  engaged  a  band  of  several  hundred  Californians 
under  Gen.  Jose  Flores.  Typical  of  the  skirmishes  throughout  the  United 
States  conquest  of  California,  this  battle  lasted  less  than  an  hour,  and  the 
total  number  killed  on  each  side  was  two,  the  number  injured,  eight.  The 
occupation  of  Los  Angeles  followed  the  engagement. 

At  9.3  m.  on  US  101  is  the  junction  with  Rosemead  Boulevard. 

Left  on  Rosemead  Boulevard  to  San  Gabriel  Boulevard;  L.  on  San 
Gabriel  to  the  FIRST  SITE  OF  MISSION  SAN  GABRIEL,  1.5  m.,  established  in 
1771  by  two  padres  from  Mission  San  Diego  but  in  1776  moved  five  miles 
north. 

US  101  runs  eastward  across  the  San  Gabriel  River,  passing  the 
Pio  Pico  MANSION,  11.9  m.  (R),  a  State  monument  identified  by  two 
markers.  Tall  trees  hide  the  two-story  adobe  from  the  road.  The 
house  was  built  in  the  i86o's  by  Pio  Pico,  last  Mexican  Governor  of 
California. 

At  12.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  Norwalk  Boulevard. 

Right  here  to  the  DOWNEY  HOME,  1847  Norwalk  Boulevard,  with  white 
vine-covered  arches  along  the  one-story  front.  The  adobe  house  was  built 
to  serve  as  a  fortress,  with  thick  walls,  barred  windows,  and  huge  locks 
on  the  door.  John  Gately  Downey,  California's  seventh  Yankee  governor 
(1860-62),  lived  in  this  house,  which  is  hidden  behind  Monterey  pine, 
cypress,  pepper  trees,  and  palm. 

LOS  NIETOS,  2.5  m.  (159  alt.,  1,240  pop.),  sprawls  in  the  midst  of 
orchards,  fields,  and  truck  gardens.  Three-fifths  of  the  residents  are  of 
Spanish  or  Mexican  descent. 

A  thick  forest  of  derricks  identifies  SANTA  FE  SPRINGS,  3.6  m.  (147 
alt.)  one  of  the  most  productive  oil  fields  in  California.  The  Santa  Fe 
Railroad"  purchased  the  newly  platted  town  of  Fulton  Sulphur  Springs  in 
1886  and  renamed  it.  The  Los  Angeles  Pioneer  Oil  Company  abandoned 
its  lease  when  experimental  wells  here  failed  to  produce,  unaware  that 


TOUR    2      399 

a  billion-dollar  pool  waited  tapping.  Lots  that  had  sold  for  $200  in  the 
i88o's  soared  to  dizzy  figures  in  the  igao's  after  the  drilling  of  spectacular 
gushers. 

The  NORWALK  STATE  HOSPITAL  (L),  4.6  m.,  a  group  of  two-story  tile- 
roofed  buildings,  was  opened  in  1916.  After  this  site  had  been  selected, 
one  of  the  considered  sites,  Signal  Hill,  was  discovered  rich  in  oil.  Had 
the  hospital  been  built  on  the  latter,  oil  proceeds  would  have  paid  for 
almost  all  State  hospitals. 

WHITTIER  (L),  12.4  m.  (246  alt.,  14,822  pop.),  is  a  wealthy 
residential  city  in  a  citrus,  avocado,  and  walnut  district  named  for  John 
Greenleaf  Whittier,  the  Quaker  poet,  by  Friends  who  founded  it  in 
1 88 1.  WHITTIER  COLLEGE,  with  more  than  700  students,  is  a  co- 
educational institution  of  liberal  arts. 

Near  US  101  is  (R)  the  WHITTIER  STATE  SCHOOL  for  delinquent 
boys,  a  group  of  two-story  Normandy-style  buildings,  cottages,  a  library, 
gymnasium,  and  athletic  field,  surrounded  by  lawns  and  gardens.  The 
boys  are  taught  the  rudiments  of  agriculture  and  raise  sufficient  vege- 
tables for  the  school's  needs. 

US  101  runs  through  the  rolling  Puente  Hills,  covered  with  groves 
of  avocados  (alligator  pears).  This  fruit,  sensitive  to  the  sun  and  dry 
winds,  grows  in  a  humid  atmosphere  without  intense  heat  or  cold.  Lat- 
ticed windbreaks  and  sun  shades  must  often  be  erected  to  protect  the 
trees.  Avocados  do  not  soften  on  the  trees  but  even  though  picked 
when  quite  hard,  great  care  must  be  exercised  in  harvesting  as  the 
slightest  bruise  will  spread  rapidly  and  cause  complete  rot.  Indigenous 
from  Mexico  to  South  America,  the  fruit  attracted  little  attention  in 
southern  California  until  the  1890*8,  when  trees  were  imported  by  ama- 
teurs. About  1900  emphasis  was  first  given  to  commercial  development, 
and  in  1910  growers  organized  the  present  marketing  group,  the  Calavo 
association. 

From  LA  HABRA,  17.9  m.  (325  alt.,  2,273  pop.),  the  derricks  of 
an  oil  field  can  be  seen  to  the  south.  The  active  wells  pump  their 
output  into  twelve  big  tanks  that  feed  a  pipe  line  extending  southwest  to 
San  Pedro. 

US  101,  in  a  region  of  low  hills,  passes  through  part  of  the  5,ooo- 
acre  BASTANCHURY  RANCH,  now  covered  chiefly  with  orange  groves. 

At  21.2  rn.  is  a  junction  with  Cedar  Street  (Imperial  Highway). 

Left  on  Imperial  Highway  is  BREA,  2  m.  (363  alt.,  2,435  P<>P-)»  trade 
center  of  the  oil  industry  in  Orange  County. 

FULLERTON,  25.9  m.  (161  alt.,  10,860  pop.),  is  the  second 
largest  oil-producing  center  in  Orange  County.  Citrus  fruits,  walnuts, 
persimmons,  avocados,  and  a  variety  of  field  crops  are  grown  in  the 
vicinity. 

Fullerton  has  22  industrial  and  citrus-packing  plants.  Manufac- 
tured products  include  machinery  used  for  refrigeration  and  in  petro- 
leum production,  and  plate  glass  used  in  industrial  construction. 

HILLCREST  PARK,  eight  blocks  left  of  the  business  center,  covers 
40  acres  and  has  an  open-air  theater.  COMMONWEALTH  PARK,  three 


4OO        CALIFORNIA 

blocks  left  of  the  center,  contains  a  ball  park,  a  children's  pool,  and  play- 
ground. 

ANAHEIM,  27.9  m.  (165  alt.,  10,995  POP-)>  is  the  second  oldest 
California  town  founded  as  an  experiment  in  communal  living.  Ger- 
man settlers  arrived  in  1857.  The  name  is  a  union  of  "Ana,"  from 
Santa  Ana  River,  with  the  German  word  for  home.  In  the  CITY  PARK, 
bounded  by  Lemon,  Palm  Cypress,  and  Sycamore  Streets,  is  a  Greek 
theater. 

Left  from  Anaheim  on  Center  Street  to  the  RANCHO  SANTA  ANA  BOTANI- 
CAL GARDENS,  9  m.  (adm.  by  card  from  Mrs.  Susanna  Bryant,  Los  Angeles). 
Founded  in  1926,  the  gardens  contain  plants  indigenous  to  California.  The 
characteristics  of  more  than  40,000  now  growing  on  the  tract  have  been 
studied  and  recorded. 

On  US  101  is  the  junction  with  Chapman  Avenue,  30.9  m. 

Left  on  Chapman  Avenue  to  ORANGE,  1.8  m.  (176  alt.,  8,066  pop.),  a 
city  depending  almost  wholly  on  the  great  orange  industry.  It  was  founded 
as  Richland  in  1868  by  A.  B.  Chapman  on  land  he  had  accepted  in  settle- 
ment of  attorney's  fees  from  Abel  Stearns,  of  Los  Angeles.  In  1875 
Chapman  determined  to  change  the  name.  Undecided  between  a  choice 
of  Orange,  Lemon,  Olive,  or  Almond,  he  played  a  poker  game  with  three 
associates,  and  the  orange,  appropriately,  won. 

Two  varieties  of  orange — the  navel  and  the  Valencia — which  ensure 
fruit  ripening  throughout  the  year,  are  grown  to  the  virtual  exclusion  of 
the  few  other  existing  varieties.  The  Valencia,  production  of  which  is 
favored  over  the  navel,  is  a  summer-ripening  variety  grown  in  the  cooler 
coastal  regions;  it  hangs  in  full  color  on  the  tree  in  spring  along  with  the 
new  blossoms.  The  navel  is  a  winter-ripening  fruit  grown  in  the  warmer 
inland  areas.  It  is  seedless,  more  highly  colored  than  the  Valencia,  and 
is  distinguished  from  all  other  varieties  by  the  navel  formation  of  the 
skin  at  the  blossom  end,  which  gives  the  fruit  its  name. 

The  orange,  introduced  into  Spain  from  China,  was  brought  into  the 
State  from  Lower  California  by  the  Franciscan  padres.  The  first  orchard 
of  any  size  was  planted  at  San  Gabriel  Mission  near  Los  Angeles  about 
1805.  In  1873  two  small  navel  orange  trees  were  planted  at  Riverside 
(see  TOUR  13b).  In  1876,  when  the  first  Valencia  seedlings  arrived  from 
London,  the  citrus  industry  was  already  established.  Today  it  is  one  of 
California's  most  important  resources. 

Citrus  growing  in  California  is  probably  the  most  intensively  developed 
crop-culture  in  the  world.  Every  tree  in  the  important  groves  of  the  State 
is  of  pedigreed  stock.  Careful  records  of  the  performance  of  each  tree  are 
kept,  and  only  those  known  to  produce  high  quality  fruit  in  quantity  are 
used  as  parent  trees.  When  a  tree,  or  even  a  single  limb,  has  been  found 
inferior,  it  is  removed  or  cut  back  and  re-budded  with  grafts  from  good 
parent  trees.  There  are  several  strains  of  each  variety  of  orange,  but  only 
one  or  two  strains  of  each  are  considered  fit  for  propagation.  When 
tangerines — a  small,  thin-skinned,  heavily-seeded,  highly-colored  variety  of 
orange — were  first  grown  in  the  orchards,  the  other  orange  trees  in  their 
vicinity  became  cross-pollinated  with  tangerine  and  the  fruit  produced  was 
off-type.  Growers  learned  to  cover  the  offending  plants  with  great  cheese- 
cloth tents  that  lessened  the  cross-pollinization  hazard. 

Seed  for  the  root  stock  is  selected  from  some  hardy,  strong-rooted, 
disease-resisting  variety — usually  the  sour-orange — and  planted  in  lath- 
house  beds.  (Sweet  orange  rootstock  has  been  found  best  for  lemons.) 
The  rootstock  seedling  tree  is  removed  from  the  seed-bed  after  a  year  or 
more  of  growth,  when  it  is  about  twelve  inches  high,  and  replanted  in  an 


TOUR     2        4OI 

outdoor  nursery,  where  it  grows  a  year  or  two  longer  before  being  budded. 
In  this  operation,  a  twig  bearing  a  healthy  bud  is  cut  from  a  heavy- 
yielding  parent  tree  that  is  an  inherent  bearer  of  a  stable  type  and 
inserted  in  a  slit  made  in  the  bark  of  the  young  seedling  about  four  inches 
above  the  ground.  When  the  grafted  bud  has  grown  into  a  branch,  the 
seedling's  own  top  is  cut  off,  and  the  grafted  branch  is  trained  to  form 
another  top  for  the  tree,  which  is  ready  for  transplanting  in  the  orchard  the 
following  year.  It  grows  another  three  years  before  it  is  ready  to  bear 
commercially,  making  a  minimum  of  six  years  from  the  sprouting  of  the 
sour-orange  seed.  Meanwhile  control  of  the  tree's  shape  is  continued  by 
pruning.  Bearing  commercially  in  its  sixth  year,  an  orange  tree  does  not 
reach  full  bearing  age  until  its  tenth  year.  It  continues  to  increase  in  size 
and  yield  for  fifty  or  more  years  if  well  cared  for. 

The  war  against  citrus  pests  is  costly  and  difficult,  since  the  use  of 
tree  medicines  varies  according  to  the  soil,  tree,  and  climatic  types  and 
conditions.  Citrus  red  spider,  most  destructive  and  hardest  to  control,  and 
the  various  types  of  scale  insects  are  the  commonest  pests.  About  once 
a  year  the  orchard  trees  are  covered  with  a  canvas  tarpaulin  and  fumigated 
to  kill  scale.  Insecticides  of  various  types  are  sprayed  upon  the  trees  to 
eliminate  other  pests. 

On  every  cold  night  in  winter  the  grower  must  be  ready  with  his  orchard 
heaters.  The  heaters  in  commonest  use  (1939)  are  oil-burning  stack  pots, 
which  are  placed  between  the  tree  rows,  one  to  a  tree.  With  the  broadcast 
of  a  frost  warning  the  watchman  in  charge  of  an  orchard  stays  up  all 
night,  keeping  crews  ready  to  light  the  heaters  with  gasoline  torches 
resembling  an  engineer's  long-spouted  oil-can.  The  burners  must  be 
watched  and  regulated  at  intervals.  Where  the  smudge-pot  heating  method 
is  used,  a  thick  blanket  of  black  smoke  produced  by  the  fuel  protects  the 
trees  from  frost.  Threat  of  frost  is  greatest  about  an  hour  before  sunrise. 
During  a  cold  period  everything  within  miles — clothing,  furniture,  faces — 
is  covered  with  the  greasy  soot. 

During  southern  California's  rainless  summers  the  orchards  must  receive 
a  48-hour  irrigation  at  three  to  five  week  intervals,  depending  upon  the 
type  of  soil  and  the  climate.  Orchard  lysimeters  are  used  for  frequent 
tests  of  the  soil  to  measure  the  percolation  of  water  through  it,  for  the 
crop  is  as  easily  ruined  by  too  much  water  as  by  too  little.  Water  is 
usually  carried  to  the  edge  of  the  orchards  by  an  underground  iron  or 
concrete  conduit,  and  brought  above  ground  from  this  by  a  concrete  stand 
pipe  that  empties  directly  into  the  rows  of  furrows  passing  between  the 
trees. 

Fertilization  of  the  orchard  is  another  problem  thoroughly  studied  by 
citrus  experts.  The  growing  of  a  "cover  crop,"  such  as  vetch  or  clover,' 
which  is  plowed  under  in  the  spring,  adds  nitrogen  to  the  soil.  Stable 
manure  and  various  other  organic  fertilizers  are  used.  Inorganic  fertilizers 
are  necessary  in  some  soils  to  add  minerals  or  to  counteract  soil  acidity. 
As  in  the  base  of  insecticides,  unless  orchard  conditions  are  correctly 
diagnosed  and  the  proper  materials,  quantities,  and  methods  used,  harm 
to  tree  or  fruit  or  both  results. 

Finally,  the  trees  in  windy  areas  must  be  protected  by  the  planting  of 
orchard-bordering  rows  of  tall-growing  evergreens.  The  eucalyptus  is 
commonly  used  because  it  grows  rapidly,  resists  disease,  and  is  adapted  to 
the  climate,  but  it  is  a  heavy  surface  feeder,  retarding  the  growth  of 
nearby  orchard  trees;  the  Monterey  cypress  grows  less  rapidly,  but  is  also 
less  injurious  to  adjacent  orchard  growth;  the  athel  is  even  more  injurious 
to  the  grove  than  the  eucalyptus,  but  because  of  its  excessively  rapid  growth 
it  is  used  as  a  preliminary  windbreak  while  slower-growing  trees  are 
maturing. 

As  picking  time  approaches  a  few  typical  fruits  from  the  trees  are 
tested  and  analyzed  as  to  sugar  content,  and  the  time  of  picking  determined 
thereby.  Nearly  every  California  citrus  orchardist  belongs  to  a  growers' 


4O2        CALIFORNIA 

cooperative  association  (most  of  them  to  the  giant  California  Fruit  Growers' 
Exchange),  and  the  fruit  of  these  orchard  owners  is  harvested  by  specially- 
trained  picking-crews  sent  out  by  the  association's  nearest  packing  house. 
As  in  the  growing  of  the  orange,  the  utmost  care  is  used  in  its  handling 
from  the  moment  it  is  cut  from  the  tree  until  it  reaches  its  market.  The 
skin  of  the  orange,  although  it  is  a  perfect  seal  for  the  fruit,  is  very  easily 
harmed  by  scratching  or  bruising,  and  blue  mold  may  set  in  before  the 
market  is  reached,  or  even  before  the  fruit  can  be  packed.  Therefore,  the 
orange  "picker" — who  does  no  actual  picking  but  nips  the  stem  with  a  pair 
of  clippers  close  enough  to  the  fruit  that  no  sharp  protrusion  is  left  to 
scratch  against  other  oranges — wears  soft  gloves  and  has  a  sack  specially 
designed  with  a  buttoned  flap  that  releases  the  fruit  from  the  bottom  into 
the  field  box.  (In  gathering  lemons,  the  picker  also  carries  a  ring  and  cuts 
only  the  fruit  which  is  too  large  to  pass  through  it;  lemons  are  thus  picked 
by  size  every  month  while  still  a  dark  green  color.) 

After  being  picked,  oranges  are  allowed  to  stand  a  day  or  two  at  the 
packing  house.  During  this  time  some  of  the  moisture  in  the  rind  evapo- 
rates, making  the  skin  less  liable  to  injury  in  handling.  The  fruit  is  soaked 
in  deep  trays  of  warm  water,  then  passed  through  long  rows  of  revolving 
brushes  that  wash  away  traces  of  dirt,  then  rinsed  in  cold  water,  and 
finally  passed  over  rollers  or  more  brushes  under  a  blast  of  air  that  dries 
them  for  the  grading  table.  As  they  roll  on  canvas  belts  past  the  trained 
operators  (usually  women),  they  are  sorted  into  grades  according  to  certain 
standards  of  quality  and  appearance.  Many  packing  houses  now  employ  a 
recently  invented  citrus  fluoroscope,  with  which  frost  damage,  granulation 
and  other  internal  imperfections  are  detected  by  X-ray.  The  size  or  the 
condition  of  the  skin  of  an  orange  does  not  determine  the  inner  quality  of 
the  fruit.  Often,  in  the  season  when  Valencias  are  on  the  market,  oranges 
with  a  greenish  tinge  on  the  rind  are  mistaken  for  immature  fruit.  Ac- 
tually, fruit  in  this  condition  is  in  its  maximum  stage  of  maturity. 

After  citrus  fruits  have  been  graded,  stamped  in  vegetable  dye  with  the 
name  of  the  grade,  and  separated  according  to  size  and  grade,  they  are 
wrapped  in  tissue  paper  and  packed  in  boxes  in  a  symmetrical  pattern  that 
allows  a  certain  number  of  oranges  of  a  certain  size  to  be  packed  in  each 
box.  There  are  ten  principal  sizes  of  oranges:  zoo's,  packed  100  to  a  box, 
are  the  largest;  344*8,  packed  344  to  a  box,  are  the  smallest.  In  the  bigger 
packing  houses,  the  crates  are  thoroughly  cooled  before  shipment  in  cars 
that  are  iced  in  summer  and  sometimes  heated  in  winter.  In  recent  years 
the  large  growers'  cooperative  associations  have  begun  to  use  cull — below 
merchantable  grade — fruit  in  various  by-products,  such  as  canned  juice, 
juice  concentrate,  orange  oils  and  acids,  citrate  of  lime,  lemon  oil,  and 
citrus  pectin.  Research  laboratories  conducted  by  the  associations  are 
studying  methods  of  putting  the  citrus  fruits  to  other  uses. 

The  non-profit  growers'  cooperatives  have  contributed  considerably  to 
the  reduction  of  the  high  cost  of  orange  growing  in  California  by  facilitat- 
ing picking,  hauling,  packing,  and  marketing  and  standardizing  costs  all 
along  the  line.  The  fruit  of  the  grower-members  is  sold  in  a  pool  and  the 
proceeds  are  divided  among  the  orchardists  on  the  basis  of  the  quality, 
quantity,  and  grades  of  fruit  each  has  put  into  the  pool. 

EL  MODENA,  4.5  m.  (250  alt.,  510  pop.),  is  a  small  trading  center  on 
the  outskirts  of  Orange. 

East  of  El  Modena,  Chapman  Avenue  becomes  County  Park  Road,  which 
with  its  various  continuations  rises  into  the  cactus-covered  foothills  of  the 
Santa  Ana  Mountains.  From  this  road  other  roads  follow  canyons  into 
recreational  areas. 

At  7.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  Santiago  Canyon  Road;  L.  (straight  ahead) 
1  m.  to  IRVINE  PARK,  a  recreational  area  with  oak-shaded  picnicking  and 
camping  facilities.  SANTIAGO  RESERVOIR  AND  DAM,  3  m.  (700  alt.), 
160  feet  high  and  1,400  feet  long,  is  a  private  reserve  for  irrigation  pur- 
poses, Orange  County's  largest  water  conservation  structure. 


TOUR     2        403 

The  main  side  route  continues  southeastward  on  Santiago  Canyon  Road 
to  a  junction  with  Silverado  Canyon  Road,  14.3  m.  Left  (straight  ahead) 
to  ROME  SHADY  BROOK,  3.5  m.  (accommodations,  and  small  swimming 
pool}.  Numerous  summer  homes  line  the  canyon  and  hiking  and  horseback 
trails  run  through  the  surrounding  CLEVELAND  NATIONAL  FOREST, 
a  reserve  of  815,000  acres  formed  in  1910  to  insure  watershed  protection; 
millions  of  gallons  of  water  are  piped  from  its  springs  and  rivers  to  supply 
the  surrounding  country. 

Santiago  Canyon  Road,  the  main  side  road,  continues  southeastward  to  a 
junction  with  Modjeska  Grade  Rode,  18.9  m. ;  L.  here  0.7  m.  to  the  FOREST 
OF  ARDEN,  once  the  home  of  Mme.  Helene  Modjeska,  the  Polish  actress. 
The  large  white  house  across  the  creek  is  well  hidden  among  high  trees 
and  other  greenery.  In  1876  Modjeska  came  here  with  a  group  of  refugee 
Polish  artists.  The  colony  failed.  Modjeska  learned  English  in  a  few 
months,  turned  to  the  American  stage  and  began  a  new  career  that  carried 
her  to  her  greatest  triumphs.  Named  for  a  scene  in  a  favorite  play,  her 
home  became  a  Mecca  for  well-known  artists  and  actors.  Shortly  before 
her  death  in  1909,  she  moved  to  Modjeska  Island. 

On  the  main  side  route,  surrounded  by  fields  of  black-eyed  peas,  is  EL 
TORO  (the  bull),  27.8  m.  (144  alt.,  108  pop.),  a  ranch  and  farming  village 
founded  in  1891  by  twelve  English  families. 

At  29  m.  is  the  junction  of  the  main  side  route  with  US  101. 

SANTA  ANA,  34.9  m.  (133  alt.,  30,322  pop.),  founded  in  1869 
and  the  seat  of  Orange  County,  contains  44  manufacturing  plants, 
employing  1,200  workers,  including  one  of  the  largest  sugar-beet  refin- 
eries in  southern  California.  Carloads  of  canned  chile  peppers  and 
pimentos  are  packed  here,  and  walnuts  are  shipped  to  many  markets. 

The  business  section  is  for  the  most  part  modern,  since  much  of  it 
was  rebuilt  following  a  severe  earthquake  in  1933.  SANTA  ANA  JUNIOR 
COLLEGE,  N.  Main  at  Tenth  Street,  conducts  the  Fine  Arts  Press. 
BOWERS  MUSEUM,  N.  Main  at  Twentieth  Street,  houses  a  comprehen- 
sive exhibit  of  early  California  relics.  The  four-story,  sandstone  COURT- 
HOUSE, 6th  and  Broadway,  was  a  southern  California  Gretna  Green 
prior  to  the  enactment  (1927)  of  the  marriage  law  requiring  a  three-day 
interval  between  the  issuance  of  the  license  and  the  performance  of  the 
ceremony.  The  old  courthouse  was  the  scene  of  many  runaway  mar- 
riages, a  number  of  them  couples  from  the  motion  picture  colony,  per- 
formed by  Santa  Ana's  expeditious  and  obliging  "marrying  parsons." 

On  the  main  route  are  a  number  of  houses  designed  and  decorated 
in  the  Victorian  manner.  Suburban  sections  of  the  city  have  more  mod- 
ern houses  in  the  California-Spanish  style,  with  tropical  and  subtropical 
trees  and  shrubbery  in  front  of  them. 

Large  pepper  trees  line  the  main  street  of  TUSTIN,  37.9  m.  (122 
alt.,  926  pop.),  which  rivaled  Santa  Ana  before  the  extension  of  the 
railroad  to  the  latter  city. 

South  of  Tustin  is  RED  HILL  (325  alt.),  known  to  the  Spanish 
pioneers  as  Cerrito  de  las  Ranas  (hill  of  the  frogs).  It  was  a  landmark 
to  Indians,  missionaries,  and  Spanish  and  Mexican  rancheros ;  and  served 
as  a  direction  finder  for  early  map  makers.  The  twin  peaks  of 
MODJESKA  (5,481  alt.),  and  SANTIAGO  (5,680  alt.),  on  the 
eastern  horizon,  are  the  highest  in  the  Santa  Ana  Mountains. 

At  48.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  paved  El  Toro  Rd.  (see  above). 


404        CALIFORNIA 

SAN  JUAN  CAPISTRANO,  57.9  m.  (103  alt.,  1,200  pop.), 
grew  up  around  Mission  San  Juan  Capistrano,  and  is  populated  with  the 
descendants  of  early  Mexican  settlers.  The  village  declared  war  on 
Mexico,  during  the  early  mission  days,  because  of  harsh  treatment  in- 
flicted upon  the  Indians  by  Mexican  officials. 

The  much-pictured  ruins  of  MISSION  SAN  JUAN  CAPISTRANQ 
(adm.  2$$}  are  dear  to  the  hearts  of  California  mission  romanticists. 
The  church  is  in  much  the  same  condition  to  which  the  1812  and  1918 
earthquakes  reduced  it;  few  of  the  subsidiary  structures  have  been  re- 
stored. The  mission  was  formally  dedicated  on  Nov.  i,  1776,  by  Father 
Junipero  Serra,  and  named  for  St.  John  of  Capistrano,  the  Crusader. 
Construction  was  begun  in  1797  and  completed  in  1806.  The  church 
was  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  180  feet  long  and  90  feet  wide;  in  its 
day  it  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  California  missions,  with  an 
arched  roof,  seven  domes,  and  a  tall  campanario  (belfry)  that  could 
be  seen  for  10  miles.  An  official  record  says  that  a  Mexican  sculptor 
was  sent  by  the  Franciscans  to  carve  the  stone  arches,  cornices,  and 
doorways. 

The  church  was  occupied  only  six  years  and  three  months.  In  1812 
an  earthquake  wrecked  the  roof,  the  cloisters,  the  nave,  five  of  the 
domes,  and  leveled  the  tall  campanario,  killing  29  persons.  Enforce- 
ment of  the  Secularization  Act  severed  the  Indians  from  the  mission 
settlements.  In  1865  a  rebuilding  of  the  walls  with  adobe  bricks  was 
followed  by  a  heavy  rainstorm  that  reduced  the  building  to  mud. 

The  mission  is  widely  known  for  the  "Capistrano  swallows"  that 
have  built  their  homes  in  the  ruins  from  Spanish  Colonial  times.  It 
is  said  that  for  nearly  a  century  the  swallows  have  left  the  mission  on 
St.  John's  Day,  October  23,  and  returned  again  in  the  spring  on  St. 
Joseph's  Day,  March  19.  Only  once  have  they  been  late,  delayed  by 
storm  at  sea,  but  they  arrived  only  four  hours  behind  their  schedule. 
In  the  fall  of  1936  elaborate  preparations  were  made  by  the  National 
Broadcasting  Company  to  give  listeners-in  the  fluttering  sounds  of  their 
departure,  but  the  birds  muffed  the  chance,  disappearing  before  neces- 
sary connections  could  be  made. 

Melodramatic  tales  of  the  supernatural  woven  about  Capistrano  are 
too  well  patterned  to  do  the  relic  justice.  These  generally  involve  a 
dark-robed  and  rope-girdled  Franciscan  ghost  that  reputedly  walks,  then 
melts  into  the  garden  twilight,  and  of  bells  that  once  rang  in  the  mission 
campanario  despite  the  motionless  bell  ropes,  coiled  as  usual  on  their 
pegs.  The  climax — recited  con  agitato — came  with  the  discovery  that 
a  young  Indian  girl,  a  neophyte,  had  expired  at  the  very  moment  of  the 
reverberations  of  the  self-tolling  bells. 

Within  the  entrance  to  the  mission  enclosure  is  a  small  garden 
beside  the  ruins  of  the  church.  The  curious  diamond-shaped  tiles  on 
the  floor  of  the  sanctuary  were  made  on  the  hillside  north  of  the  mission. 
Opening  on  the  garden  is  a  museum  with  old  Spanish  vestments,  sheep- 
skin and  parchment  bound  manuscripts,  Mexican  and  Spanish  paintings 
and  statues,  an  ancient  confessional,  Indian  frescoes,  and  a  golden  altar. 


TOUR     2        405 

Left  from  San  Juan  Capistrano  on  State  74  to  SAN  JUAN  HOT 
SPRINGS,  12.4  m.,  a  spot  of  green  in  a  narrow  canyon  formed  by  pre- 
cipitous chaparral-covered  mountains.  Steaming  sulphur  waters  pour  into 
various-sized  baths  and  concrete  pools  belonging  to  a  resort. 

State  74  continues  to  the  Olympic  Fields  Nudist  Colony,  27  m.  (see 
TOUR6e). 

The  thick-walled  adobe  CAPISTRANO.  MISSION  TRADING  POST, 
60.4  m.t  overlooking  the  ocean  was  built  in  1820.  It  was  headquarters 
for  an  extensive  trade  in  hides  and  other  commodities  between  the  mis- 
sion and  the  Yankee  clippers. 

At  DOHENY  PARK,  60.9  m.  (15  alt.,  549  pop.),  is  the  junction 
with  US  101  Alt.  (see  TOUR  2B).  Doheny  Palisades  (L),  high 
above  the  surf-level  road,  was  developed  as  a  restricted  residential  area 
by  E.  L.  Doheny,  the  oil  magnate.  The  precipitous  sea  cliffs  are 
attractively  landscaped,  terraced  with  ice  plant  and  bougainvillea. 

SAN  CLEMENTE  (St.  Clement),  64.4  m.  (5  alt.,  667  pop.), 
sometimes  referred  to  as  the  "Spanish  Village,"  was  founded  in  1925 
by  a  Los  Angeles  realtor.  The  unvarying  white  stucco  of  all  buildings 
and  houses  in  this  model  village  is  surmounted  by  equally  unvarying  red 
tile  roofs.  A  resident  finds  relief  from  this  regimentation  of  color  in 
the  marine  views,  since  streets  conform  to  natural  contours  and  each 
house  is  so  placed  that  it  is  in  sight  of  the  sea.  Strict  building  codes 
permit  only  replicas  of  Spanish  dwellings — as  a  modern  realtor  conceives 
them — within  the  city. 

A  pueblo-style  gateway  leads  into  SAN  CLEMENTE  STATE 
PARK,  66.3  m.  (camping,  picnicking  facilities)  on  the  cliffs  overlook- 
ing the  Pacific,  and  a  broad  beach. 

A  tiny  hexagonal  toolhouse  (L)  marks  LAS  FLORES,  78.4  m.,  a 
station  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  serving  the  Santa 
Margarita  Rancho.  The  stockyards  and  chute  for  loading  cattle  into 
railroad  cars  have  almost  become  a  landmark  of  the  past,  for  trucks  are 
now  the  favored  method  of  transporting  cattle. 

At  86.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  private  dirt  road. 

Left  here  through  a  wire  gate  to  the  headquarters  of  the  RANCHO  SANTA 
MARGARITA,  9.5  m.,  in  an  adobe  hacienda  erected  by  Pio  Pico  in  1837,  now 
a  ranch  office  and  residence.  The  large  one-story  house,  with  a  wide  porch 
on  two  sides,  stands  on  a  slight  knoll  near  the  Santa  Margarita  River. 
After  numerous  divisions  and  sales,  the  rancho  still  contains  132,310  acres 
in  San  Diego  County  and  51,000  acres  in  Orange  County.  The  present 
owner,  a  corporation,  engages  in  diversified  farming  and  ranching.  Con- 
trolled by  Mission  San  Luis  Rey,  the  rancho  was  returned  to  the  Indians 
in  1835.  In  the  same  year,  through  political  manipulations,  the  influential 
Picos  acquired  the  property.  Here  they  lived  until  1862,  when  Andres  sold 
his  share,  66,500  acres,  to  his  brother  Pio  for  $1,000  plus  a  San  Diego 
residence.  Pio — according  to  the  story — shortly  afterward  acquired  the 
adjoining  44,ooo-acre  Las  Flores  Rancho  from  its  Indian  owners  and  added 
it  to  his  extensive  holdings.  Last  of  the  Mexican  governors  of  California, 
Pio  Pico  was  an  inveterate  gambler.  It  is  said  that  when  he  rode  to  the 
races  he  was  followed  by  a  mule  loaded  with  silver  coin  to  be  used  on  bets. 
The  fluctuations  of  gambling  eventually  led  to  the  sale  of  Rancho  Santa 
Margarita.  John  Forster,  who  had  assumed  the  more  Spanish  name  of 
Don  Juan  Forster  and  had  married  Ysidora,  sister  of  Pio,  paid  $14,000  for 


406       CALIFORNIA 

the  rancho.  (In  1931  its  value  was  $6,800,000.)  Forster  and  his  family 
lived  on  the  Santa  Margarita  for  more  than  30  years.  Here  he  reigned  in 
baronial  style,  surrounded  by  a  host  of  vaqueros  and  Indian  domestics.  He 
allowed  only  Spanish  to  be  spoken  at  the  hacienda. 

OCEANSIDE,  87.4  m.  (45  alt.,  3,508  pop.),  is  a  residential  town, 
beach  resort,  and  agricultural  produce  distributing  point.  Its  early 
inhabitants  were  composed  largely  of  a  group  of  English  gentry  who  had 
first  settled  in  the  San  Luis  Rey  Valley  four  miles  inland. 

Left  from  Oceanside  on  paved  Second  St.,  to  MOUNT  ECCLESIA,  1.3  m., 
headquarters  of  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship,  landscaped  grounds  with  white 
buildings,  easily  identified  by  the  startling  pale  heliotrope  and  jade  green 
coloring  of  the  roofs.  This  organization  is  not  affiliated  with  the  Rosi- 
crucian Order  but  is  a  group  originated  by  Max  Heindel  in  1911.  The 
Fellowship  differs  from  the  other  group  in  that  it  is  a  religious  organization 
instead  of  a  secret  fraternal  order.  A  healing  temple  is  maintained  at 
Oceanside;  lectures  are  open  to  the  general  public;  astrological  theories 
are  taught;  and  the  majority  of  its  members  are  gained  and  instructed 
through  correspondence.  Mrs.  Max  Heindel  has  headed  the  organization 
since  the  death  of  her  husband  in  1919. 

The  white  campanario  of  MISSION  SAN  Luis  REY,  4.7  m.,  is  a  pleasing 
part  of  the  landscape  of  the  hilly  valley  and  fixes  the  position  of  the  church 
in  the  cloistered  establishment.  The  mission  was  founded  in  1798,  com- 
pleted in  1802,  and  dedicated  to  San  Luis,  Rey  de  Francia.  It  was  designed 
to  serve  a  tribe  of  the  Shoshone  later  known  as  the  Luiseno. 

Architecturally,  San  Luis  Rey  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  impressive 
of  all  the  California  missions.  Its  style  was  a  composite  of  Spanish- 
Moorish  and  Mexican,  built  of  adobe  faced  with  brick.  The  brick-red 
delineaments  of  the  facade  and  belfry  and  the  cloisters  of  the  long  monas- 
tery running  west  of  the  church  form  a  well  proportioned  whole.  Farther 
west  are  remains  of  cloisters — rows  of  plaster-chipped  arches  high  above 
the  spread  of  the  valley.  Remains  of  the  extensive  adobe  wall  that  once 
surrounded  the  mission  are  near  the  highway. 

The  church  has  been  partly  restored.  The  murals  on  the  interior  columns 
and  beams  are  not  vivid  in  color,  but  rich  with  small  detail  and  paganistic 
patterning.  The  emblem  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  a  cross  and 
the  stigmata  (five  wounds  of  Christ),  is  over  the  arched  entrance  to  the 
Mortuary  Chapel  (R). 

At  10.3  m.  is  a  junction  of  the  main  side  road  with  US  395  (see  TOUR 
6e). 

CARLSBAD,  90.4  m.  (42  alt.,  2,600  pop.),  in  a  winter  vegetable 
growing  district,  ships  green  vegetables,  flowers,  and  bulbs.  CARLS- 
BAD BEACH  STATE  PARK,  immediately  south  of  town,  possesses 
a  bathing  beach,  picnic  grounds,  and  campsites. 

South  of  Carlsbad  the  highway  passes  between  ocean  and  lagoon, 
surf  and  clifT,  and  for  approximately  a  mile  the  four  lanes  are  divided 
and  lined  by  three  rows  of  large  eucalypti. 

At  97.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road;  across  the  railroad  tracks  is  a  large  yellow  sign 
pointing  to  PAXTON'S  PAPAYA  CONSERVATORIES,  0.5  m.,  containing  600  papaya 
trees  under  three-quarters  of  an  acre  of  glass.  A  truly  tropical  fruit,  the 
"tree  melons"  will  ripen  outdoors  in  the  more  favorable  sections  of  Cali- 
fornia but  require  artificial  heat  for  commercial  production. 


TOUR     2        407 

ENCINITAS,  99.4  m.  (85  alt.,  500  pop.),  produces  large  quanti- 
ties of  blossoms  and  bulbs  that  are  shipped  east  in  refrigerator  cars. 
The  National  Midwinter  Flower  Show  is  held  here  in  March.  En- 
cinitas  was  settled  in  1854  by  a  SrouP  of  Germans  from  Chicago,  111. 

SOLANA  BEACH,  103.4  m.  (65  alt.,  259  pop.),  is  in  a  small-farm 
area  growing  citrus  fruits,  avocados,  flowers,  and  bulbs. 

DEL  MAR,  105.9  m.  (100  alt.,  430  pop.),  is  a  shore  line  residen- 
tial town  and  the  scene  of  the  annual  San  Diego  County  Fair,  usually 
held  in  August. 

Left  from  Del  Mar  to  the  SAN  DIEGO  COUNTY  FAIRGROUNDS  AND  RACE 
TRACK,  0.6  m.  Horse  racing  is  conducted  by  the  Del  Mar  Turf  Club,  with 
Bing  Crosby,  film  and  radio  star,  as  president. 

Eucalypti,  date  palms  and  peppertrees  almost  completely  hide  the  SEC- 
OND OSUNA  ADOBE  (L),  4.8  m.,  built  in  the  iSso's  and  now  part  of  the 
country  home  of  Bing  Crosby.  The  white  posts  of  the  porch  and  the  low 
reveals  of  the  regularly-placed  windows  disclose  the  California-Mexican 
origin  of  the  reconstructed  house.  It  was  a  California  headquarters  in  the 
war  with  Mexico  (1846),  and  its  owner,  who  was  the  first  alcalde  of  San 
Diego  under  Mexican  rule,  fought  in  the  Battle  of  San  Pasqual. 

The  RANCHO  SANTA  FE  Civic  CENTER,  6.5  m.,  is  a  block-long  landscaped 
business  district  with  one-story  mission-type  buildings  and  many  eucalyptus 
trees  to  alleviate  the  commercial  character  of  the  spot.  Rancho  Santa  Fe 
is  the  home  of  wealthy  ranchers,  among  them  Douglas  Fairbanks,  Sr., 
whose  3,ooo-acre  tract  contains  300  acres  of  Valencia  oranges  irrigated  by 
an  expensive  overhead  sprinkling  system. 

Multiple-arch  HODGES  DAM,  11.7  m.,  creates  LAKE  HODGES,  a  unit 
in  the  San  Diego  city  water  system.  East  of  the  dam  the  road  passes  high 
above  the  lake  and  a  cluster  of  cottages,  and  enters  a  region  of  reddish  soil 
and  orange  groves. 

ESCONDIDO,  18  m.  (650  alt.,  3,400  pop.),  (see  TOUR  6e),  is  at  the 
junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6e). 

At  107.9  m.,  US  101  climbs  a  bluff  to  TORREY  PINES  MESA, 
part  of  which  has  been  preserved  as  a  park.  Unlike  most  pines  the 
branches  of  the  Torrey  pine  spread,  creating  a  tree  of  a  rangy  irregular 
shape.  The  needles  are  exceptionally  long,  ranging  between  five  to 
seven  inches,  and  grow  in  clusters  of  five. 

At  109.3  m.j  is  a  junction  with  several  roads. 

1.  Left  here  to  the  UNITED  STATES  MARINE  RIFLE  RANGE,  0.3  m.,  in  Rose 
Canyon,  where  recruits  are  given  an  intensive  6-weeks  training  in  the  use 
of  small   arms.     A  large   group  of  green  barracks  surrounds  the   central 
quadrangle. 

At  7  m.,  is  CAMP  KEARNY,  used  during  the  World  War  as  a  training 
camp  for  recruits,  and  at  7.5  m.,  is  a  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6e). 

2.  Right  from  US  101  on  a  concrete  road  1.7  m.t  down  hairpin  curves  to 
SCRIPPS  INSTITUTION  OF  OCEANOGRAPHY,  containing  a  museum  and  aquarium 
(open  8  to  5).    The  establishment  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  University 
of  California. 

The  beach  below  the  institution  and  the  rocky  stretch  to  the  north  harbor 
most  of  the  marine  life  characteristic  of  this  section.  Perhaps  the  most 
common  fish  seen  along  shore  is  the  wriggling,  fast-swimming  tidepool  fish 
or  sculpin,  which  darts  about  in  rocky  pools.  The  sting  ray  or  stingaree, 
a  flat  fish  with  a  long,  whiplike  tail,  is  occasionally  encountered  in  quiet 


408        CALIFORNIA 

water  at  very  low  tide,  particularly  on  muddy  bottoms.  Its  sharp,  barbed 
spine  can  inflict  a  painful  wound. 

The  beach  south  of  the  institution  is  a  favorite  spawning  ground  of 
grunion,  a  small,  slender  smelt  that  comes  up  on  the  sandy  shore  to  lay 
its  eggs  a  few  minutes  after  the  high  tides  of  March,  April,  May,  and  June. 
On  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  nights  after  the  full  of  the  moon  during 
these  months,  the  female  grunion  rides  in  on  the  advancing  wave,  and  then 
squirms  and  flops  back  into  the  wash  of  the  next  wave.  In  the  brief  time 
she  is  out  of  the  water  —  about  30  seconds  —  the  grunion  digs  tail  first  into 
the  sand  for  about  half  the  depth  of  her  body  and  deposits  her  eggs.  Two 
weeks  later,  at  the  time  of  the  next  high  tide,  the  waves  loosen  the  ripened 
eggs  from  the  sand.  As  the  eggs  are  freed  the  baby  grunion  hatch  and  are 
washed  back  into  the  sea. 

The  spawning  habits  of  this  striped  smelt  provide  a  popular  southern 
California  sport.  About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  high  tide  on  the  nights 
the  grunion  run,  the  long  sandy  beaches  are  crowded  with  people  gathering 
the  fish  by  moonlight,  bonfires,  and  flashlights.  Some  nights,  during  the 
height  of  the  season,  thousands  of  grunion  are  visible  at  one  time.  No 
license  is  required,  but  the  fish  must  be  taken  by  hand  in  the  brief  seconds 
it  is  out  of  the  water. 

LA  JOLLA,  3.9  m.  (90  to  800  alt.,  5,000  pop.),  occupies  a  small  rocky 
promontory  popular  with  easterners  who  have  built  lovely  homes  and 
gardens  on  top  of  its  sheer  cliffs  overlooking  the  sea.  The  name  is 
variously  explained  as  a  corruption  of  la  joya  (the  jewel),  and  la  hoya 
(the  hollow).  The  seven  LA  JOLLA  CAVES,  now  accessible  from  Coast 
Blvd.  (adm.  25$),  were  formerly  visited  only  by  boat.  In  the  contrast  of 
light  and  darkness  from  within  the  caves  the  openings  to  the  sea  show 
strange  and  distinct  forms,  sometimes  human  in  aspect. 

La  Jolla's  most  popular  spot  is  the  cove,  with  a  small  beach  beneath  the 
cliffs  and  a  miniature  marine  garden  off  the  rocks. 

Prominent  in  the  town's  development  was  Ellen  Browning  Scripps,  who 
endowed  the  Scripps  Institution  of  Oceanography  and  several  other  insti- 
tutions. 

PACIFIC  BEACH,  7.4  m.  (65  alt.,  1,626  pop.),  is  a  small  farming  dis- 
trict and  resort  suburb.  A  section  of  its  beach  is  exclusively  for  Negroes. 
MISSION  BEACH,  8.9  m.  (25  alt.,  1,092  pop.),  a  narrow  strand  between 
Mission  Bay  and  the  ocean  is  popular  for  paddle-boarding.  OCEAN 
BEACH,  10.4  m.  (20  alt.,  4,012  pop.),  is  a  residential  and  resort  area  that 
has  an  indoor  salt  water  plunge.  A  State  fish  and  game  refuge  is  on  the 
northern  edge  of  town,  along  Mission  Bay. 

The  route  winds  back  to  a  junction  with  US  101  (Pacific  Highway)  at 
13.5  m. 

US  ioi  continues  south  to  SAN  DIEGO,  123.8  m.  (687  alt., 
147,995  Pop.)  (see  SAN  DIEGO)  at  junctions  with  US  395  (see 
TOUR  6e)  and  US  80  (see  TOUR 


Right  (straight  ahead)  from  San  Diego  on  Pacific  Blvd.  to  the  CORONADO 
FERRY  (25$  per  auto),  0.1  m.,  and  across  San  Diego  Bay  (0.7  m.)  to 
CORONADO,  1.5  m.  (25  alt.,  5,412  pop.),  a  residential  and  resort  com- 
munity named  for  the  Coronado  Islands.  The  town's  most  notable  feature 
is  the  HOTEL  DEL  CORONADO,  a  well-maintained  but  rambling-towered  and 
ornate  building  designed  by  Stanford  White.  It  is  noted  for  the  beauty  of 
its  patio  with  the  immense  flame-colored  bougainvillea  vine. 

From  the  beach  part  of  the  CORONADO  ISLANDS  are  seen,  some  20 
miles  to  the  south  in  Mexican  territory.  This  group  of  three  is  the  southern- 
most of  the  California  Channel  Islands,  all  rough,  barren,  and  without 
fresh  water.  They  had  no  permanent  Indian  population  and  are  at  present 
uninhabited,  though  sportsmen  frequently  visit  them  for  the  excellent  big- 


TOUR     2        409 

game  fishing.  Discovered  by  the  Cabrillo  expedition  in  1542,  the  islands 
are  named  for  the  Spanish  explorer  Coronado. 

South  of  Coronado  on  State  75  is  "Tent  City,"  conspicuously  lacking  in 
tents,  but  having  an  abundance  of  straight-row  frame  shacks ;  and  the 
SILVER  STRAND,  a  narrow  bar  of  sand  and  sand  growth,  some  8  miles  long 
and  in  places  less  than  half  a  city  block  wide  over  which  the  highway  leads 
to  Mexico. 

SILVER  STRAND  STATE  PARK,  5.8  m.,  has  campgrounds  and  picnic 
tables.  At  the  south  end  of  the  strand  is  IMPERIAL  BEACH,  9.3  m.,  a 
resort. 

At  12.9  m.  State  75  meets  US  101. 

South  of  San  Diego  US  101  runs  through  a  dismal  stretch  of  fac- 
tories, ancient  frame  buildings  and  tide  flats,  and  passes  among  orange 
and  lemon  groves  and  fields  of  celery.  The  celery  farms  in  southern 
California,  ranging  from  I  to  80  acres,  are  operated  almost  exclusively 
by  Japanese.  Seed,  fertilizer,  and  water  are  expensive  and  the  inherent 
thrift  and  industry  of  the  Japanese  farmer  is  an  absolute  necessity  for 
successful  celery  cultivation.  Japanese  orderliness  is  clearly  evidenced 
in  the  clean  look  of  the  farms.  Celery  seed  is  usually  planted  in  green- 
houses but  when  started  outside,  cheesecloth  must  occasionally  be  used 
to  protect  the  young  plants  from  the  cold.  In  either  case,  from  five 
to  seven  weeks  growth  is  necessary  before  it  is  transplanted.  Some  areas 
along  the  coast  harvest  throughout  the  year,  with  the  principal  harvest 
between  December  and  April. 

CHULA  VISTA,  133.9  m.  (74  alt.,  3,869  pop.),  is  in  an  agricul- 
tural district  called  the  South  Bay  Region.  Flowers  and  bulbs  are 
raised  here  commercially  and  an  annual  flower  show  is  held. 

At  137.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  75  (see  above). 

The  southern  boundary  of  SAN  YSIDRO,  140.9  m.  (70  alt.,  1,368 
pop.),  one  of  the  principal  ports  of  entry  from  Mexico,  is  the  INTER- 
NATIONAL BOUNDARY,  141.4  m.,  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico. 


%&&&^^^^ 


Tour  2  A 


Junction  with  US  101 — Lakeport — Middletown — Calistoga — St.  Helena 
— Napa — Vallejo — Junction  with  US  40;  124.9  m.  State  20  and 
State  29. 

Roadbed  partly  oil  surfaced,  partly  paved;  easy  grades. 
Accommodations  adequate. 

Into  the  wooded   glens  of   hermit-like   Lake   County — never  pene- 
trated by  a  railroad — lead  State  20  and  29.     From  the  rocky  hillsides 


4IO        CALIFORNIA 

gush  mineral  springs,  and  in  the  sheltered,  oak-dappled  valleys,  clear- 
ings are  green  with  bean  vines  on  poles,  pear  and  walnut  orchards. 
The  road  hugs  the  shore  of  hill-encompassed  Clear  Lake,  largest  sheet 
of  fresh  water  lying  wholly  within  the  State.  From  narrow  defiles  it 
climbs  over  the  slopes  of  soaring  Mount  St.  Helena.  The  vineyard- 
mantled  slopes  of  widening  Napa  Valley  border  it  as  it  continues  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Napa  River  on  San  Pablo  Bay. 

State  20  branches  eastward  from  US  101  (see  TOUR  2a) ,  0  m.f 
at  a  point  2  miles  north  of  Ukiah,  along  the  course  of  upper  tributaries 
of  the  Russian  River  through  rising  foothills.  It  skirts  twin  BLUE 
LAKES,  14.5  m.,  (summer  resorts}  whose  deep  blue  waters  mirror 
steep-walled  wooded  heights.  At  the  trading  and  resort  village  of 
UPPER  LAKE,  22.9  m.  (1,350  alt.,  400  pop.),  the  route  turns  R. 
from  State  20  on  State  29. 

The  placid  reaches  of  CLEAR  LAKE  are  embraced  by  undulating, 
oak-forested  hill  slopes.  The  Porno  Indians  who  dwelt  on  the  islands, 
ferrying  across  on  tule  balsas  (rafts),  had  a  legend  about  the  region 
that  told  how  the  mighty  chief  Konochti  was  so  angry  when  his  enemy, 
the  chief  Kahbel,  asked  for  his  daughter  Lupiyomi  in  marriage  that  he 
took  up  his  stand  at  the  Narrows — where  a  long  tongue  of  land  almost 
cuts  the  lake  in  two — to  do  battle.  Across  the  water  the  two  chiefs 
hurled  at  each  other  the  huge  boulders  that  strew  the  mountainside  until 
Kahbel  lay  dead  and  Konochti,  dying,  sank  back  to  form  great  MOUNT 
KONOCHTI  (4,200  alt.),  which  towers  between  the  two  arms  of  the 
lake  east  of  the  Narrows.  The  Pomos  dwelt  here  undisturbed,  chipping 
their  spearheads  out  of  black  obsidian  and  weaving  the  plumes  of  the 
blue  quail  into  their  baskets,  until  white  men  came,  trappers  and  cattle 
herders,  in  the  i84O's.  Before  the  end  of  the  decade  they  had  run  afoul 
of  the  white  man's  justice  when  United  States  soldiers,  to  punish  them 
for  slaying  two  of  their  fellow  countrymen,  surrounded  them  on  an 
island  and  shot  them  down.  They  forgave  the  white  man,  however, 
and  signed  a  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Friendship  with  him  in  August  1851 
— a  treaty  giving  up  their  lands,  for  which  they  received  a  gift  of  "Ten 
head  of  beef  cattle,  three  sacks  of  bread  and  sundry  clothing." 

The  resort  and  farming  center  of  LAKEPORT,  31.1  m.  (1,350 
alt.,  1,318  pop.),  seat  of  Lake  County,  once  known  as  Forbestown  for 
William  Forbes,  who  deeded  40  acres  of  his  land  for  a  county  seat  in 
1 86 1,  looks  over  the  great  expanse  of  the  upper  lake  toward  the  hazy 
hills  of  the  far  shore. 

Hidden  from  the  lake  by  Mount  Konochti's  orchard-mantled  slopes 
is  KELSEYVILLE,  39  m.  (1,500  alt.,  200  pop.),  called  Peartown  by 
its  boosters,  where  Salvador  and  Antonio  Vallejo  built  a  log  cabin  for 
the  mayordomo  and  the  ten  vaqueros  who  herded  the  cattle  of  their 
Rancho  Laguna  de  Lu-Pi-Yo-Mi  over  the  ranges.  In  1847  tnev  drove 
their  cattle  away  and  sold  their  land  to  Benjamin  Kelsey,  a  man  named 
Stone,  and  others.  When  Kelsey  and  Stone  had  an  adobe  built  here, 
they  earned  the  enmity  of  their  Indian  laborers  by  their  unkindness,  and 
in  revenge  the  Indians  killed  them  both  in  1849. 


TOUR     2  A        411 

At  44.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  farming  center  of  LOWER  LAKE,  9.3  m.  (1,350 
alt.,  870  pop.),  dating  from  1858,  and  L.  from  Lower  Lake  on  State  53,  0.8  m., 
to  CACHE  CREEK,  near  the  outlet  to  the  lake,  where  a  dam  built  in  1866  by 
the  Clear  Lake  Water  Company  raised  the  lake  level  until  it  flooded 
houses,  farm  lands  and  orchards.  When  repeated  appeals  for  redress  went 
unheeded,  the  farmers  on  Sunday  morning,  November  15,  1868,  after  a 
prayer  service  led  by  their  pastor,  began  to  destroy  the  dam — a  job  that 
required  two  days  and  two  nights.  It  was  never  rebuilt. 

State  29  continues  through  narrow,  twisting  valleys  past  hot  springs 
resorts  to  MIDDLETOWN,  64.2  m.  (1,300  alt.,  450  pop.),  serving 
the  farming,  dairying,  and  poultry-raising  region  of  the  Loconomi  Val- 
ley. It  was  named  Middletown  because  it  lies  exactly  midway  between 
Lower  Lake  and  Calistoga  (see  below). 

Along  St.  Helena  Creek  State  29  winds  up  a  long  grade  at  the  base 
of  MOUNT  ST.  HELENA  (4,343  alt.),  which  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son called  "the  Mont  Blanc  of  the  Coast  Range."  At  the  summit  of 
the  grade  (2,960  alt.),  73.2  m.,  is  the  ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON 
MONUMENT  (R),  a  pillar  on  a  rock  base  holding  an  open  book  carved 
from  Scotch  granite.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  the  bunk-house  where 
Stevenson  spent  his  honeymoon  with  his  bride,  Fannie  Van  de  Grift 
Osbourne,  in  the  summer  of  1880.  "The  mountain,"  Stevenson  ob- 
served in  the  notes  for  The  Silverado  Squatters  which  he  wrote  here, 
".  .  .  feeds  in  the  springtime  many  splashing  brooks.  From  its  summit 
you  must  have  an  excellent  lesson  in  geography.  .  .  .  Three  counties, 
Napa,  Lake,  and  Sonoma,  march  across  its  cliffy  shoulders.  Its  naked 
peak  stands  nearly  4,500  feet  above  the  sea.  Its  sides  are  fringed  with 
forest,  and  the  soil,  where  it  is  bare,  glows  warm  with  cinnabar." 

At  the  head  of  upper  Napa  Valley's  vineyard  stretches  is  its  trading 
center,  CALISTOGA,  82.2  m.  (365  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  the  watering 
place  laid  out  by  the  enterprising  Mormon,  Samuel  Brannan,  in  1859, 
on  the  site  which  the  Indians  called  Colaynomo  (oven  place),  knowing 
that  underground  heat  warmed  its  hot  springs.  Planning  a  popular 
spa,  he  built  a  hotel  and  20  cottages  and  christened  his  development 
Calistoga — a  compound  from  the  names  California  and  Saratoga.  It 
was  Brannan  who  first  cultivated  the  surrounding  hillsides,  the  terraced, 
vine-covered  slopes  whose  grapes  provide  such  excellent  dry  wines 
today. 

Right  from  Calistoga  on  State  28,  0.9  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  paved 
road;  L.  here  to  the  PETRIFIED  FOREST,  5  m.,  a  tract  one  mile  long 
and  one-quarter  mile  wide  covered  mostly  by  silicified  and  opalized  red- 
woods. The  trees  lie  in  two  tiers  with  their  tops  pointing  away  from 
Mount  St.  Helena,  indicating  that  lava  from  that  mountain  killed  them  and 
preserved  them  in  stone  form.  The  conversion  from  wood  to  stone  was  so 
perfect  that  the  texture  and  fiber  are  completely  preserved.  Most  of  the 
trees  are  broken  but  the  pieces  retain  their  relative  positions.  Many  are  of 
great  size,  the  largest  having  been  uncovered  in  1919  at  a  depth  of  90  feet. 
The  Queen  of  the  Forest  is  80  feet  long  and  12  feet  in  mean  diameter; 
The  Monarch,  126  feet  long  and  8  feet  in  mean  diameter. 


412        CALIFORNIA 

State  29  continues  southeastward  past  hillside  meadows  where  sheep 
and  cattle  graze. 

At  86.7  m.  the  highway  passes  the  field  (L)  in  which  stands  the 
old  BALE  MILL  built  in  1846  by  the  English  settler  Dr.  Edward  Bale, 
nephew-in-law  of  Gen.  Mariano  Vallejo  and  owner  of  the  Carne 
Humana  (Sp.,  human  flesh)  Rancho.  The  vine-covered  water  wheel, 
40  feet  in  diameter,  dwarfs  the  weatherbeaten  mill — a  small,  two-story, 
gabled-roofed  frame  building,  dignified  by  the  false  front  typical  of  its 
era.  The  mill  was  restored  in  1925  by  the  Native  Sons  of  Napa 
County. 

ST.  HELENA,  90.2  m.  (299  alt.,  1,582  pop.),  is  proud  of  the 
great  quantity  of  rich  wine-grapes  grown  in  the  district  it  serves  and  of 
its  many  old  wine  cellars.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Helena  and 
its  environs  are  Swiss,  Germans,  and  Italians  from  vineyard  sections  of 
Europe.  Here  as  abroad  they  hold  their  new-wine  festivals  each  fall — 
with  certain  American  additions  in  the  form  of  floats  with  figures  of 
Bacchus  and  his  followers.  Beside  State  29  on  the  northern  outskirts 
is  the  BERINGER  BROTHERS  WINERY  (open),  in  whose  underground 
storage  cellars,  hewn  a  half  century  ago  from  solid  limestone  in  the 
hillside,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  gallons  of  wine  are  aging  in  great 
casks. 

Left  from  St.  Helena  on  a  paved  road  7.3  m.  to  the  PACIFIC  UNION 
COLLEGE,  conducted  by  the  Seventh  Day  Adventist  Conference,  which  trains 
about  500  ministers,  doctors,  nurses,  and  teachers  on  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano.  The  mountain  has  been  drilled  to  a  depth  of  600  feet,  where 
water  at  a  temperature  of  97°  was  tapped. 

Southeast  of  St.  Helena  the  highway  skirts  walnut,  fig,  and  olive 
groves;  apricot,  cherry,  plum,  pear,  peach,  and  prune  orchards,  and 
innumerable  extensive  vineyards;  it  then  passes  RUTHERFORD, 
94.2  m.  (183  alt.,  350  pop.),  and  OAKVILLE,  96.2  m.  (153  alt., 
219  pop.),  small  wine-producing  centers. 

YOUNTVILLE,  99.6  m.  (150  alt.,  360  pop.),  stands  on  what  was 
once  the  southern  section  of  the  n,8i4-acre  Rancho  Caymus,  granted 
in  1836  to  George  C.  Yount,  who  came  to  California  from  North 
Carolina  with  the  Wolfskill  party.  Two  miles  north  of  here,  Yount 
built  the  first  white  habitation  in  Napa  Valley.  Yount's  Kentucky  log 
blockhouse  was  unquestionably  the  first  in  California.  In  the  walls  of 
the  1 8-foot  square  lower  room  portholes  were  placed  for  defense.  A 
year  later  Yount  replaced  the  blockhouse  with  a  narrow  adobe  structure, 
IOO  feet  long;  the  walls  of  this,  too,  he  pierced  with  portholes. 

Left  from  Yountville,  3.1  m.,  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  0.1  m. 
to  the  STATE  GAME  FARM,  where  15,000  pheasants  are  hatched  and  released 
annually. 

War  veterans  have  been  cared  for  in  the  VETERANS  HOME  (R)  on 
the  southern  outskirts  of  Yountville  since  1881.  Opened  for  disabled 
veterans  of  the  Mexican  War  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  the 
institution  was  privately  operated  until  taken  over  by  the  State  in  1897. 


TOUR     2A        413 

NAPA,  108.6  m.  (20  alt.,  6,437  POP-)*  seat  of  Napa  County,  serves 
the  ranchers  and  grape-growers  of  the  valley,  tans  leather  and  manufac- 
tures leather  goods,  ships  valley  products  by  barge  down  the  Napa 
River.  In  spite  of  its  bustling  air,  its  neon  lights,  and  automobiles, 
Napa  has  an  old,  settled  air,  emphasized  by  venerable  shade  trees  and 
buildings  of  another  era.  Its  courthouse  square  is  an  oasis  of  peace. 
Napa's  history  goes  back  to  1832,  when  the  first  settlers  arrived, 
though  the  town  did  not  come  into  existence  until  1848,  when  Nathan 
Coombs  erected  its  first  building,  a  saloon. 

Napa  is  at  a  junction  with  State  12  (see  TOUR  2a),  which  unites 
with  State  29  to  a  junction  at  114.4  m.,  where  it  branches  east  6.2  m. 
to  a  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9b). 

The  land  east  of  Napa  belonged  to  the  Rancho  Tulucay,  where 
Cayetano  Juarez  stocked  his  herds  in  1837  and  built  the  first  of  the  two 
JUAREZ  ADOBES  (L),  110  m.,  in  1840.  The  second  and  larger  one  was 
built  in  1845.  During  the  Bear  Flag  Rebellion  at  Sonoma  (see  TOUR 
2b)  of  which  he  was  alcalde  at  the  time,  Juarez  distinguished  himself 
by  swimming  nine  miles  to  escape  capture. 

The  NAPA  STATE  HOSPITAL  FOR  THE  INSANE,  110.7  m.,  occupies 
a  i,9OO-acre  tract  of  tree-shaded  lawns  dotted  with  buildings  in  a  weird 
confusion  of  architectural  styles.  The  first  building  (1875)  is  a  jumble 
of  gingerbread  gables,  turrets,  and  cupolas,  embodying  the  architectural 
extravagances  of  its  age.  The  institution,  housing  more  than  3,000 
patients,  is  considered  a  model  asylum.  A  25O-acre  farm,  tended  by 
male  patients,  produces  much  of  the  hospital's  food  supply.  As  occupa- 
tional therapy  plays  an  important  part  in  the  treatment,  the  male  in- 
mates engage  also  in  dairying,  hog-  and  poultry-raising,  shoe-  and  brush- 
making;  the  female  patients,  in  painting,  sketching,  and  allied  activities. 
State  29  continues  southward  to  VALLEJO,  123  m.  (10  alt.,  14,- 
476  pop.),  situated  at  the  point  where  the  Napa  River  flows  into  San 
Pablo  Bay.  The  town  is  built  on  low  hillsides,  its  streets  reaching 
down  to  the  water's  edge.  Far-seeing  Gen.  Mariano  G.  Vallejo,  under- 
taking a  pilgrimage  with  his  young  bride  in  the  late  l83o's  across  the 
99,ooo-acre  domain  of  his  Rancho  Suscol  (inhabited  in  those  days  only 
by  Indians  and  wild  beasts),  declared  that  here  he  would  found  a  city 
to  bear  his  name.  When  the  Yankee  conquerors  set  up  their  State  of 
California  in  1850,  Vallejo  welcomed  the  new  regime  with  an  offer  of 
156  acres  for  a  State  capital.  Here  he  proposed  to  endow  a  university, 
erect  a  museum,  churches,  schools,  and  asylums,  and  lay  out  public 
parks.  Since  his  was  the  highest  bid,  the  new  government  accepted  it, 
and  a  town  was  laid  out.  But  Vallejo's  ambitions  had  proved  too  great 
a  strain  for  his  purse.  When  the  State  Legislature  assembled  on  Jan. 
5,  1852,  they  found  their  promised  State  building  still  unfinished. 
Disgruntled  at  being  compelled  to  sit  on  boxes  and  barrels  and  to  spend 
the  night  on  the  river  steamer  Empire,  they  moved  away  precipitately 
on  January  12  to  Sacramento,  only  to  leave  there  with  equal  haste 
when  a  flood  sent  them  scuttling.  Vallejo  finally  was  inaugurated  as 
the  seat  of  government  with  an  elaborate  Christmas  ball,  and  in  Jan- 


414        CALIFORNIA 

uary  1853,  the  peripatetic  government  returned;  but  on  February  4,  it 
left  for  good,  first  going  to  Benicia  and  finally  to  Sacramento.  Vallejo 
himself,  giving  up  his  cherished  project  as  a  bad  job,  petitioned  to  be 
released  from  his  obligation.  In  spite  of  these  initial  handicaps,  the 
town  grew  and  flourished,  because  of  the  purchase  in  1853  of  nearby 
Mare  Island  for  a  United  States  navy  yard  (see  below). 

Right  from  Tennessee  and  Wilson  Sts.,  in  Vallejo,  1  m.,  over  a  great, 
million-dollar  causeway  to  MARE  ISLAND  NAVY  YARD,  which  covers 
the  narrow,  8y6-acre  spit  of  land  between  the  Napa  River  channel  and  San 
Pablo  Bay.  The  San  Carlos,  first  Spanish  ship  to  sail  through  the  Golden 
Gate,  sighted  the  low-lying  island,  and  Capt.  Don  Juan  Perez  de  Ayala 
christened  it  Isla  Plana  (flat  island).  Later  the  crude  cattle  ferry  that 
plied  across  Carquinez  (Ind.,  great  serpent)  Strait  was  caught  in  a  squall 
and  overturned  by  the  stampeding  animals;  some  of  them  swam  ashore, 
among  them  General  Vallejo's  prized  white  mare,  which  he  found  a  few 
days  later,  peacefully  grazing  on  the  island.  Overjoyed,  he  named  the 
place  La  Isla  de  la  Yegua  (the  island  of  the  mare).  So  fond  was  Vallejo's 
young  wife  of  the  view  from  the  island  shore  that  she  once  said  she  wished 
it  were  hers.  "My  dear,  it  is  yours,"  replied  the  General ;  and  it  was 
acknowledged  as  her  property.  The  island  was  sold  for  $7,000  in  1850, 
and  a  year  later  for  $17,000. 

Since  1869  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard  has  built  86  ships;  today  repair  and 
maintenance  of  Navy  vessels  is  its  chief  function,  requiring  the  labor  of 
5,000  employees.  Along  the  waterfront  rise  giant  cranes,  drydocks,  and 
shipbuilding  ways,  warehouses,  and  stone  quays;  the  foundry,  riggers' 
lobby,  power  plant,  and  the  great  shops  of  the  industrial  plant — electrical, 
sheet  metal,  pattern,  paint,  pipe  and  copper,  structural,  and  boat.  Irwin 
Park,  the  central  esplanade,  runs  near  naval  officers'  residences,  the  Marine 
Barracks,  and  the  Naval  Hospital.  On  Navy  Day  (October  27)  the  ships 
and  government  buildings,  including  the  OLD  MARINE  BARRACKS,  iath  Ave. 
and  Cedar  St.,  are  open  to  visitors. 

At  124.8  m.  on  State  29  is  the  junction  with  a  narrow  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.3  m.  to  MORROW  COVE  (fishing,  swim- 
ming, boating  facilities;  moderate  rates),  a  grassy  hollow  framed  by  tall 
eucalypti,  facing  Carquinez  Strait  and  the  rugged  Contra  Costa  (Sp., 
opposite  coast)  County  Hills  beyond.  The  hulls  of  old  ships  form  a 
breakwater  for  the  bathing  beach,  among  them  the  Contra  Costa  (one 
of  the  twin  Southern  Pacific  ferries  that  carried  whole  trains  across  the 
strait)  and  a  small  masted  sailing  vessel  salvaged  from  the  Alaska  fishing 
fleet,  one  of  the  so-called  "Bangor  ships"  that  came  from  the  Maine 
port's  shipbuilding  yards. 

State  29  terminates  at  the  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9b) , 
124.9  m. 


TOUR     2  B        415 


Tour  2B 


Junction  with  US   101 — Oxnard — Santa  Monica — Long  Beach — Do- 
heny  Park;  113.6  m.  US  lOi-Alt. 

Paved  roadbed. 

All  types  of  accommodations. 

Branching  southward  from  US  IOI  just  south  of  the  Santa  Clara 
River  crossing,  US  lOiA  leaves  the  bean  and  beet  fields,  orange  groves 
and  walnut  orchards  of  the  river  delta  and  swings  out  to  the  shore  of 
the  Pacific.  As  the  route  continues  along  the  smooth,  curving  beach,  a 
rampart  of  rain-cut  cliffs  on  the  inland  side  hides  the  brush-covered 
Santa  Monica  Mountains  paralleling  the  coast.  The  highway  swings 
around  Santa  Monica  Bay,  cuts  across  the  neck  of  the  Palos  Verdes 
peninsula,  and  continues  down  the  coast,  passing  a  long  string  of  sea- 
side resorts. 

South  of  a  junction  with  US  101,  0  m.,  at  a  point  7  miles  south 
of  Ventura,  US  lOiA  leads  through  walnut  groves  to  OXNARD, 
2.9  m.  (48  alt.,  6,285  pop.),  a  town  of  wide  streets,  founded  in  1898 
with  the  establishment  of  the  American  Beet  Sugar  Company's  convert- 
ing plant  and  named  for  the  company's  owners.  Beet  sugar  is  still  the 
town's  principal  product ;  next  in  importance  is  lima  beans.  Dairy  farms 
provide  orchard  growers  with  a  ready  fertilizer  source  and  the  sugar 
factory  with  a  market  for  dried  beet-pulp. 

Right  from  Oxnard  on  Fifth  Ave.  to  Ventura  Rd.,  1  m.;  L.  on  Ventura 
Rd.  to  Hueneme  Rd.,  3  m.;  R.  on  Hueneme  Rd.  to  HUENEME  (Ind.,  place 
of  security),  4  m.,  a  seaport  settlement  by  a  natural  harbor  with  a  large 
citrus  packing  plant  and  a  fish  cannery.  On  Point  Hueneme  is  a  light- 
house. 

SILVER  STRAND  and  HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE-SEA,  5.5  m.,  and 
HOLLYWOOD  BEACH,  6  m.,  are  seaside  resorts  at  the  end  of  sand  dunes 
still  pointed  out  as  a  film  "location"  for  Rudolph  Valentino's  The  Sheik. 

Across  lagoon  lands,  scarred  with  white  patches  of  alkali  and 
planted  here  and  there  with  oats,  US  loiA  travels  seaward.  From  the 
beetling  bluffs  of  Point  Mugu  it  winds  above  breakers,  on  a  ledge  cut 
from  rocky  cliffs  so  steep  that  road  surveyors  had  to  be  lowered  by  ropes 
in  places. 

MALIBU  (Ind.,  deer),  36.8  m.,  favorite  beach-spot  of  cinema 
celebrities,  is  well-protected  against  sight-seers  and  autograph  hunters 
by  uniformed  guards  stationed  at  all  entrances.  Its  dwellings,  some  of 
elaborate  scale,  sit  facing  the  beach  with  their  backs  turned  aloofly  to 
the  highway. 

South  of  Malibu,  on  a  promontory  a  mile  from  the  road,  is  (L)  the 


416        CALIFORNIA 

great  white  RINDGE  MANSION,  of  the  California  Spanish  type.  It  was 
never  completed  by  its  builder — wealthy,  eccentric  May  K.  Rindge. 
The  i6,35o-acre  Rindge  estate,  Rancho  Malibu,  was  purchased  in  1892 
by  Fred  H.  Rindge,  son  of  a  Massachusetts  manufacturer,  and  pastured 
with  great  herds  and  flocks.  In  1905,  before  he  could  realize  his  dream 
of  building  a  California  Riviera  here,  he  died,  leaving  the  estate  to  his 
wife  and  three  children.  His  widow  began  a  3O-year  series  of  bitter 
lawsuits,  violence,  and  strategy  to  prevent  the  building  of  railroads  and 
highways  on  her  vast  property.  She  hired  armed,  mounted  guards  to 
patrol  her  boundaries,  built  high  wire  fences  with  barred  and  chained 
gates,  plowed  county-built  highways  under,  turned  droves  of  hogs  upon 
cuts  for  new  roads  or  planted  them  with  alfalfa;  and  during  1915-17, 
when  her  gates  were  systematically  smashed  and  her  guards  overpowered 
every  week  by  crowds  of  farmers  and  travelers  trying  to  get  through 
to  Santa  Monica,  she  dynamited  her  roads.  She  brought  suits  to  oust 
squatters  and  to  punish  trespass,  libel,  and  defamation  of  character. 
Her  battle  with  the  State  against  its  plan  to  run  the  coast  highway 
through  her  beach  land  was  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  she 
lost.  Her  son  brought  her  into  court  with  the  charge  that  her  fights 
were  dissipating  the  estate  at  the  rate  of  more  than  $1,000,000  a  year. 
When  in  1929,  four  years  after  leasing  the  land  that  is  now  Malibu, 
she  started  building  her  mansion,  she  soon  found  herself  without  cash. 
In  1938  the  Federal  District  Court  awarded  control  of  the  estate  to  a 
trustee-corporation  authorized  to  bring  order  to  its  chaotic  financial 
condition.  The  estate  is  now  rented  to  cattle  ranchers  and  its  Malibu 
beach  lots  are  being  sold. 

South  of  MALIBU  PIER,  37.9  m.  (pier-fishing  2$$,  all  day  boat 
fishing  trips  $2),  is  a  mile-long  stretch  of  expensive  beach  homes  and 
cottages,  ranging  in  architectural  types  from  trim  shingle-roofed  New 
England  cottages  to  ingeniously  elaborate  French  chateaux.  Many  of 
the  dwellings  were  built  by  motion-picture  celebrities  when  the  seaside 
film  colony  began  to  develop  but  sold  when  Malibu  proved  more  fash- 
ionable. 

At  41.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  paved  State  27. 

Left  here  through  TOPANGA  CANYON,  a  deep  gorge  in  the  Santa 
Monica  Mountains,  where  a  four-day  brush  fire  in  1938  burned  many  of 
the  old  sycamores,  and  scores  of  mountain  cabins.  At  TOPANGA 
SPRINGS,  7.7  m.,  are  picnic  grounds.  TOPANGA  SUMMIT  (1,560  alt.), 
9.7  m.,  is  a  splendid  viewpoint  at  the  edge  of  a  sheer  precipice  (telescopes, 
10*). 

At  13  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  101   (see  TOUR  2c). 

At  42.5  m.  is  one  of  the  signs  marking  the  city  limits  of  Los  Angeles 
which  from  time  to  time  pranksters  carry  off  and  plant  in  remote  spots 
as  a  jest  at  the  city's  widespread  incorporated  area;  one  has  even  been 
found  in  the  wastes  of  Alaska. 

The  route  proceeds  past  elaborate  cliffside  homes  and  strips  of 
cottage-dotted  beach  protected  from  tides  by  long  rock-and-pile  piers. 

At  53.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  Sunset  Blvd. 


TOUR     2  B       417 

Left  on  Sunset  Blvd.  1  m.  to  the  BERNHEIMER  ORIENTAL  GARDENS 
(grounds  open  8-5:30;  adm.  10$;  house  open  Sat.  and  Sun.  12:30-5:30;  adm. 
25$),  16980  Sunset  Blvd.,  a  seven-acre  showplace  landscaped  with  shrubs, 
trees  and  flowers  and  ornamented  with  waterfalls,  artificial  lakes,  miniature 
models  of  eastern  temples  and  dwellings,  and  bronze  figures  brought  from 
China  and  Japan.  Adolph  Bernheimer's  frame  hilltop  house,  a  double  unit 
of  oriental  design  with  a  central  courtyard,  is  decorated  with  embroidered 
panels,  handpainted  screens,  tapestries,  and  art  objects. 

Facing  Santa  Monica  Bay  from  a  high  mesa  is  SANTA  MONICA, 
48.5  m.  (100  alt.,  37,146  pop.),  a  residential-resort  city  with  a  substan- 
tial business  center,  whose  summer  visitors  swell  the  population  figure 
to  more  than  100,000.  Along  the  edge  of  the  bluffs  for  3  miles 
stretches  green,  tree-shaded  PALISADES  PARK.  The  half-moon-shaped 
ocean  front,  city-owned  since  1917,  faces  a  yacht  harbor  and  break- 
water. 

The  land  here  was  once  part  of  two  ranchos,  "the  place  called  San 
Vicente,"  and  "the  place  called  Santa  Monica,"  over  whose  boundaries 
the  Sepulveda,  Reyes  and  Marquez  families  quarreled  for  many  years. 
In  the  i86o's  people  of  Los  Angeles  began  making  buggy  excursions  to 
the  beach  for  swimming,  beach  bonfires,  and  Saturday  dances  in  a  big 
tent.  Across  the  plain  where  the  town  now  stands,  ox-teams  hauled 
brea  (tar)  from  La  Brea  tar  pits  to  a  little  wharf  for  loading  on  San 
Francisco-bound  steamers.  In  1872,  Col.  R.  S.  Baker,  a  wool  grower, 
bought  the  property  and  stocked  it  with  sheep ;  and  when  two  years  later 
wealthy  Senator  John  P.  Jones  bought  a  three-fourths  interest,  the  two 
planned  construction  of  a  railroad,  a  wharf,  and  a  town.  An  adver- 
tising campaign  drew  real-estate  buyers  from  as  far  as  San  Francisco; 
within  nine  months  the  town  had  1,000  residents  and  160  houses.  A 
bitter  fight  was  waged  in  the  iSgo's  between  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road and  the  city  of  Los  Angeles  over  the  choice  of  a  seaport,  the  rail- 
road insisting  on  Santa  Monica,  the  city  preferring  San  Pedro.  With 
premature  conviction  that  its  choice  would  hold,  the  Southern  Pacific 
started  construction  of  a  million-dollar,  mile-long  pier  here;  today  it  is 
only  a  5O-foot  jetty  with  a  few  sections  of  rusty  railroad  track  running 
along  the  cliff-base. 

Santa  Monica  is  at  the  junction  with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12c). 
US  lOiA  leaves  the  ocean  and  turns  R.  on  Lincoln  Blvd. 

At  49.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  Ocean  Park  Blvd. 

Left  on  Ocean  Park  Blvd.  to  the  DOUGLAS  AIRCRAFT  FACTORY  (closed  to 
public],  1.6  m.,  adjoining  an  airport  and  testing  ground  on  Clover  Field 
(open  to  visitors}.  Clover  Field  was  the  starting  and  finishing  place  of 
the  U.  S.  Army  "  'round  the  world"  flight  in  1929. 

At  52.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  Venice  Blvd. 

Right  here  to  VENICE,  0.7  m.  (20  alt.,  19,260  pop.),  an  ocean-front 
pleasure  town  with  an  elaborate  amusement  section  on  the  beach  and  pier. 
A  flying  circus,  giant  dipper,  bamboo  slide,  and  rolling  barrels  are  among 
the  devices  that  have  given  Venice  its  title  "Coney  Island  of  the  West." 
In  the  early  i9oo's  Abbott  Kinney,  a  middle-west  manufacturer,  set  about 
creating  a  Venice  on  the  tidal  flats.  He  built  15  miles  of  concrete  canals 


4l8        CALIFORNIA 

radiating  from  a  central  artery  and  planned  to  line  their  banks  with  Italian 
Renaissance  houses.  A  few  such  structures  were  built,  gondolas  with  sing- 
ing gondoliers  were  trolled  about  the  waterways,  and  lectures,  "art" 
exhibits,  and  Chautauqua  meetings  were  held  in  an  attempt  to  make  the 
town  the  western  cultural  center.  Kinney  provided  transportation  to  bring 
prospective  lot-buyers  from  Los  Angeles  and  other  places.  They  came  in 
large  numbers,  but  unfortunately  they  preferred  the  bathing  beach  to  the 
lecture  hall.  In  a  final  desperate  effort  Kinney  brought  in  the  divine  Sarah 
Bernhardt  to  play  Camille  in  an  auditorium  at  the  end  of  a  pier.  When 
that,  too,  failed,  he  quietly  surrendered  and  imported  sideshow  freaks,  tent- 
shows,  and  flip-flop  entertainment  devices.  And  the  boom  began.  By  1930, 
when  the  town  had  been  part  of  Los  Angeles  for  five  years,  an  effort  was 
made  to  fill  in  the  smelly,  fungus-covered  ditches.  A  few  remain,  spanned 
here  and  there  by  ornately  coy  bridges. 

US  lOiA  climbs  into  the  Del  Rey  Hills  to  the  junction  with  8srd 
St.,  54.7  m. 

Left  here  to  LOYOLA  UNIVERSITY,  1  m.,  a  group  of  handsome  buildings  on 
a  large  hillside  campus,  operated  by  the  Jesuit  order. 

At  55  m.  is  the  junction  with  Manchester  Ave. 

Left  on  Manchester  Ave.  to  INGLEWOOD,  3  m.  (140  alt.,  19,480  pop.), 
a  shopping  center  and  an  industrial  town  on  the  site  of  the  Rancho  Aguaje 
de  la  Centinela  (spring  of  the  sentinel),  granted  in  1844  to  Ignacio 
Machado,  who  prized  it  so  little  that  he  traded  it  for  a  Los  Angeles  adobe 
and  threw  in  two  barrels  of  wine  to  make  it  a  bargain.  The  land,  passing 
into  the  hands  of  Yankees  in  1857,  was  acquired  in  1873  by  Daniel  Free- 
man, who  laid  out  a  town  and  sold  lots.  Although  the  ADOBE  DEL  RANCHO 
AGUAJE  DE  LA  CENTINELA,  a  simple  house  of  sun-dried  clay  with  deeply- 
recessed  windows  and  vine-clad  corridors,  is  all  that  remains  of  Ingle- 
wood's  Spanish  past,  the  town  celebrates  "Centinela  Days"  with  pageantry 
every  August. 

CENTINELA  PARK,  E.  Redondo  Blvd.  between  Centinela  Ave.  and  West 
Blvd.,  is  a  green,  pleasantly  landscaped  spot  of  40  acres  where  city  dwellers 
dip  in  a  pool,  picnic,  and  play  bowls  and  tennis. 

HOLLYWOOD  PARK  (racing  daily  except  Sun.  and  Mon.  June  i-July  31; 
adm.  clubhouse  $2.75,  grandstand  $1.10,  parking  25$},  bounded  by  Century, 
Crenshaw,  and  Manchester  Blvds.  and  Prairie  Ave.,  is  the  $2,500,000  ultra- 
modern home  of  southern  California's  mid-summer  racing  season.  The 
3i5-acre  plant  includes  a  one-mile  oval  track;  a  white  concrete-and-steel 
double-decked  grandstand  seating  12,000  people;  a  clubhouse  with  terraces, 
lounges,  and  boxes  for  8,000;  an  enclosed  paddock  equipped  with  indirect 
lighting;  and  a  projection  screen  that  flashes  pictures  of  photographic 
finishes.  The  stables  have  1,200  stalls  and  300  tack-  and  feed-rooms. 
Within  the  3,7oo-acre  infield  are  three  lakes,  covering  10  acres,  stocked 
with  ducks,  geese,  and  swans.  Opened  in  June  1938,  the  track  is  owned  and 
operated  by  the  Hollywood  Turf  Club,  which  in  turn  is  owned  by  a  group 
of  motion  picture  celebrities. 

The  mile-square  LOS  ANGELES  MUNICIPAL  AIRPORT 
(L),  57.1  m.j  with  five  huge  hangars  and  a  five-story  administration 
building,  is  used  extensively  for  pilot  training  and  plane  testing.  The 
two  airplane  manufacturing  plants  adjoining,  the  North  American 
Aviation,  Inc.  and  the  Northrup  Company,  each  employ  more  than 
1,000  workers. 

At  58.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  paved  El  Segundo  Blvd. 


TOUR     2  B        419 

Right  on  El  Segundo  Blvd.  is  EL  SEGUNDO,  1.3  m.  (35  alt.,  3,503 
pop.),  surrounded  by  huge  black  oil  tanks,  concrete  reservoirs,  and  steel- 
mast  lightning  rods,  which  grew  up  around  the  Standard  Oil  Company's 
second  (segundo)  California  refinery;  its  beach  and  surf  are  spoiled  for 
bathing  by  oil  scum. 

At  60.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  Manhattan  Beach  Blvd. 

Right  on  Manhattan  Beach  Blvd.  is  MANHATTAN  BEACH,  0.7  m.  (46 
alt.,  1,891  pop.),  a  family  seaside  resort  (bath-houses  and  fishing  tackle] 
near  the  sandy  strand  of  MANHATTAN  BEACH  STATE  PARK,  munici- 
pal regulations  forbid  establishment  of  the  less  sedate  kinds  of  amusement 
facilities. 

HERMOSA  (Sp.  beautiful)  BEACH,  61.1  m.  (43  alt.,  4,796 
pop.),  is  a  quiet  town  of  frame  bungalows  and  seaside  cottages  on  sandy 
hills,  uncluttered  by  amusement  concessions,  facing  a  broad  beach  where 
the  surf  is  free  from  undertow. 

Over  wide  seaside  terraces  sprawls  REDONDO  BEACH,  62.6  m. 
(16  alt.,  9,347  pop.),  its  handsome  palm-bordered  Esplanade  lined  with 
decrepit  mansions.  The  now  somnolent  town  began  in  1905  with  a 
frenzied  boom  when  rumors  spread  that  railroad  tycoon  Henry  E. 
Huntington  would  pour  millions  into  improvements;  for  five  days  hun- 
dreds of  people  jammed  into  real  estate  offices,  bidding  for  lots — and 
then  the  boom  collapsed.  Today  Redondo  Beach's  weatherbeaten  cav- 
ernous stucco  pavilion,  crescent-shaped  fishing  pier,  and  salt-water 
plunge  are  hemmed  by  garish  amusement  concessions.  Along  the  bluffs, 
riotous  with  green  and  reddish-purple  ice  plant,  stretches  the  MUNICI- 
PAL PARK. 

Left  from  Redondo  Beach  on  Torrance  Blvd.  is  TORRANCE,  4.1  m.  (75 
alt.,  7,271  pop.),  founded  in  1911  by  Jared  Sidney  Torrance,  wealthy  Pasa- 
dena utilities  magnate,  who  studied  the  best  city  plans  in  many  parts  of 
the  world  before  he  laid  out  his  industrial-residential  community.  The  oil 
fields,  machine  and  tool  shops,  steel  plant,  and  other  factories  are  in  a 
section  apart  from  the  quiet  tree-shaded  streets  lined  with  houses.  On 
Torrance  Blvd.  at  Arlington  Rd.  is  the  large  COLUMBIA  STEEL  PLANT,  with 
bending  and  rolling  mills,  electric  foundry,  sheet-mill,  and  four  open-hearth 
furnaces  having  a  production  capacity  of  15,000  tons  per  month. 

At  64.7  m.  on  US  lOiA  is  the  junction  with  Palos  Verdes  Dr. 

Right  here  to  PALOS  VERDES,  0.6  m.  (200  alt.,  750  pop.),  a  restricted 
residential  district  conceived  in  1922  and  developed  ambitiously  by  its 
promoter,  E.  J.  Lewis. 

Right  from  Palos  Verdes  on  Palos  Verdes  Drive  West,  winding  around 
the  rain-eroded  San  Pedro  Hills  along  the  curling  cliff  brim,  to  the  junc- 
tion with  a  dirt  road,  2  m.;  here  0.1  m.  to  the  slim  white  tower  of  POINT 
VICENTE  LIGHTHOUSE  (open  2-4  Tues.  and  Thurs.}. 

Palos  Verdes  Dr.  continues,  skirting  wide  views  of  the  Pacific,  to  the 
junction  with  Twenty-fifth  St.  2  m.;  straight  ahead  on  Twenty-fifth  St. 
to  the  junction  with  Paseo  del  Mar,  0.6  m. 

Right  on  Paseo  del  Mar  is  FORT  MCARTHUR  UPPER  RESERVATION,  0.9  m., 
its  great  guns  hidden  from  sight,  guarding  the  approach  to  Los  Angeles 
Harbor  from  the  edge  of  ocean  bluffs. 

<  Crossing  the   ubiquitous   Los   Angeles   city   limits,   Twenty-fifth    St.   con- 
tinues to  the  junction  with  Pacific  St.  in  SAN  PEDRO   (see  below),  0.8  m. 


42O       CALIFORNIA 

US  lOiA  cuts  across  the  neck  of  the  Palos  Verdes  peninsula  to  the 
junction  with  Gaffey  St.,  70.4  m. 

Right  on  Gaffey  St.  2.6  m.  to  the  junction  with  Pacific  Ave. ;  L.  on  Pacific 
Ave.  to  SAN  PEDRO,  3.7  m.  (o-ioo  alt.,  36,000  pop.),  the  city  created  by 
inland  Los  Angeles'  passion  for  calling  itself  a  port,  facing  the  western 
rim  of  San  Pedro  Bay  from  the  edge  of  the  San  Pedro  Hills.  When  the 
first  Yankee  ship,  Capt.  William  Shaler's  Lelia  Byrd,  anchored  here  in 
1805 — nearly  three  centuries  after  the  bay's  discovery  by  Juan  Rodriguez 
Cabrillo — the  place  was  an  open  roadstead  bordered  by  mud  flats,  serving 
Mission  San  Gabriel  for  an  embarcadero.  Although  foreign  trade  was 
forbidden  by  law,  settlers — and  the  padres — were  quite  willing  to  barter 
their  hides  and  tallow  for  contraband  manufactured  goods.  Even  after 
San  Pedro  was  officially  recognized  as  a  port  in  1826,  smuggling  was  con- 
tinued to  evade  custom  duties.  In  1852  the  harbor  became  a  port  of  call 
for  its  first  boat  line,  when  the  Sea  Bird  began  scheduled  trips  to  and  from 
San  Francisco.  When  Richard  Henry  Dana  returned  here  a  quarter  century 
after  the  visit  described  in  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,  however,  freight 
was  still  lightered  "up  the  creek"  from  the  bay  through  a  winding  channel 
past  Deadman's  Island  at  this  "most  desolate  place  on  the  California 
Coast." 

The  first  Government  harbor  improvement,  made  in  1877,  was  the 
deepening  of  the  channel  to  a  depth  of  16  feet.  In  1892  began  the  Free 
Harbor  fight,  carried  on  for  nearly  a  decade  between  Los  Angeles  business 
interests  and  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  who  agreed  in  de- 
manding that  Congress  should  appropriate  money  for  harbor  development 
but  disagreed  in  their  choice  of  a  harbor,  the  former  favoring  San  Pedro 
and  the  latter  Santa  Monica.  The  former  won.  In  1899  began  the  titanic 
job  of  creating  a  man-made  harbor  which  by  1939  had  cost  the  City  of  Los 
Angeles  and  the  Federal  Government  a  total  of  nearly  $60,000,000. 

The  GOVERNMENT  BREAKWATER,  extending  2.11  miles  from  the  tip  of  Point 
Fermin  to  a  concrete  lighthouse,  built  1899-1910  of  sandstone  and  granite 
blocks,  protects  the  OUTER  HARBOR,  home  base  of  14  battleships,  two  aircraft 
carriers,  14  heavy  cruisers,  and  auxiliary  vessels  of  the  Pacific  Fleet  (open 
to  visitors  Sun.  and  holidays  1-5;  free  transportation  from  East  Channel 
Landing}.  As  incoming  vessels  round  the  breakwater,  they  are  piloted  up 
the  deep-dredged,  i,ooo-foot-wide  channel  that  forms  the  tail  of  the 
Y-shaped  8o4-acre  INNER  HARBOR  to  the  i,6oo-foot-wide  TURNING  BASIN 
and  there  maneuvered  into  position  for  entrance  into  the  subsidiary  chan- 
nels, slips,  and  docks  that  sawtooth  the  waterfront.  The  FORT  McARTHUR 
LOWER  RESERVATION  (open  except  during  artillery  practice],  at  the  southern 
end  of  Pacific  Ave.,  headquarters  of  the  3rd  and  63rd  Coast  Artillery, 
guards  the  West  Channel  from  the  edge  of  steep  bluffs,  bristling  with 
anti-aircraft  service  guns,  railroad  guns  with  4O-foot  barrels,  and  the 
derricks  that  feed  them  heavy  shells.  Behind  the  piers  and  warehouses 
along  the  docks  is  a  belt  of  fish  canneries  and  industrial  plants. 

The  city,  State,  and  Federal  buildings  of  the  SAN  PEDRO  Civic  CENTER, 
bounded  by  Harbor  Blvd.,  Beacon,  6th,  and  9th  Sts.,  stand  along  a  palm- 
lined  parkway  on  a  low  bluff  near  the  center  of  the  business  district.  Over 
the  foothill  slopes,  rising  above,  ramble  the  homes  of  the  residence  area. 
At  the  landward  end  of  the  breakwater  is  CABRILLO  BEACH  PARK,  end  of 
Stephen  M.  White  Dr.  (open  6  a.m.-!2  p.m.),  created  by  pumping  sand 
dredged  from  the  harbor  over  the  rocky  shore;  the  beach,  with  a  bath  house 
(adm.  10$  to  25$)  and  boat  house  (boats  25$  to  35$  an  hour],  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  breakwater,  affords  fine  surf  bathing.  The  CABRILLO 
BEACH  MUSEUM  (open  9-5)  has  a  large  aquarium  and  collection  of  native 
and  foreign  shells  and  mounted  fish.  POINT  FERMIN  PARK,  on  Paseo  del 
Mar  at  the  tip  of  the  Peninsula  (picnicking],  is  a  27-acre  expanse  of  trees 
and  lawns  with  winding  flower-bordered  footpaths  on  the  bluffs  overlook- 
ing the  Pacific.  In  the  park  is  the  POINT  FERMIN  LIGHTHOUSE,  built  in  1876. 


TOUR     2  B        421 

WILMINGTON,  72.6  m.  (13  alt.,  15,468  pop.),  with  its  business 
streets,  warehouses,  and  shipping  offices  lies  on  the  flat  ground  facing 
Terminal  Island  across  the  San  Pedro  Inner  Harbor.  When  the  har- 
bor and  island  were  just  a  slough  and  a  sand  bar,  this  was  marshy  land, 
with  the  fish-smelling  huts  of  an  Indian  village  squatting  on  the  mud. 
In  1857  Phineas  Banning  bought  a  24OO-acre  parcel  of  old  Rancho  San 
Pedro,  laid  out  a  town  called  New  San  Pedro  (now  Wilmington)  and 
began  development  of  the  harbor,  and  ran  stages  here  to  meet  weekly 
steamers  from  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles'  first  landing-place  for  ocean- 
going freight.  Wilmington  grew  with  the  building  of  a  railroad,  link- 
ing city  with  port,  in  1869.  A  few  years  later  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  built  across  the  mud  flats  to  deep  water  at  San  Pedro.  In 
1906  Los  Angeles  inched  up  to  the  harbor  by  annexing  a  "shoestring 
strip"  to  the  very  gates  of  Wilmington,  and  in  1909  she  swallowed  both 
Wilmington  and  San  Pedro  in  her  corporate  embrace. 

BANNING  PARK  (free),  E.  M  St.  and  Banning  Blvd.,  is  a  2O-acre 
tract,  once  the  heart  of  the  Phineas  Banning  estate,  landscaped  with  a 
quiet,  old-fashioned  charm.  A  circular  walk,  lined  with  a  white  picket 
fence  and  rows  of  eucalyptus  trees,  leads  to  the  old  BANNING  HOUSE 
(not  open),  a  large  house  with  a  two-story  pillared  porch.  The  white 
frame  stable  and  carriage  house  houses  surreys  and  carriages  and  an 
old  stagecoach. 

DRUMM  BARRACKS,  1031  Gary  Ave.,  is  now  just  another  house  on 
a  residential  street,  a  two-story  white  frame  structure  with  green  shut- 
ters and  an  unkempt  hedge  around  its  small  yard.  Built  in  1861,  it 
was  a  troop  barracks  and  part  of  a  supply  depot  for  the  U.  S.  Army 
of  the  Southwest. 

The  SANTA  CATALINA  ISLAND  TERMINAL,  at  the  foot  of  Avalon 
Blvd.,  is  the  embarcadero  for  Santa  Catalina  Island  (see  TOUR  2c). 
The  CALIFORNIA  YACHT  CLUB,  on  Yacht  St.,  is  a  white  frame  building 
topped  by  a  tower  resembling  a  lighthouse. 

Wilmington  is  at  the  junction  with  US  6  (see  TOUR  7£),  which 
unites  with  US  lOiA  to  Long  Beach. 

Right  from  Wilmington  to  Henry  Ford  Ave.,  across  a  vascule  draw- 
bridge, 2  m.,  to  TERMINAL  ISLAND,  nearly  one-half  man  made,  which 
protects  Wilmington  from  the  sea.  When  Phineas  Banning  began  his 
harbor  developments,  it  was  a  sand  bar  named  Rattlesnake  Island.  During 
the  period  of  red  plush  sofas  and  stereopticons,  it  was  popular  as  a  beach 
resort  for  bathers  in  ankle-length  bathing  suits. 

Near  the  western  end  of  the  island  is  the  JAPANESE  FISHING  VIL- 
LAGE, the  home  of  Portuguese  and  Italian,  as  well  as  Japanese  fishermen. 
A  babble  of  many  tongues  is  heard  on  the  streets.  Along  the  waterfront 
and  in  the  cottage  yards  men,  women,  and  sometimes  children  squat,  mend- 
ing big  fishing  nets,  some  of  them  2,000  feet  long  and  valued  at  several 
thousand  dollars.  Along  Tuna  St.  are  little  old-world  shops,  indifferent  to 
tourist  trade,  and  small  restaurants  with  menus  in  foreign  tongues  that 
serve  excellent  fish  and  native  dishes. 

South  of  the  village  is  FISH  HARBOR,  a  small  artificial  basin  protected  by 
a  sea  wall.  It  is  headquarters  for  2,300  fishermen  who  put  out  to  sea  each 
day  in  1,200  vessels,  returning  in  the  evening  with  their  catch  which,  if 
luck  is  good,  loads  the  vessels  almost  gunwales  down.  Big  boats — such  as 


422        CALIFORNIA 

the  tuna  clippers — travel  in  fleets,  some  going  as  far  as  Panama  or  the 
Galapagos  Islands.  Sardine  fishers  go  out  on  moonless  nights  and,  finding 
schools  of  fish  by  their  phosphorescent  glow,  haul  them  in  by  net.  About 
Fish  Harbor  are  eight  large  plants,  where  fancy  tuna,  mackerel  and 
sardines  are  canned  and  fish  oil,  fish  meal,  fertilizer,  and  pet  foods  are 
manufactured. 

LONG  BEACH,  77.5  m.  (47  alt.,  142,032  pop.),  (see  LONG 
BEACH). 

At  84.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  SEAL  BEACH,  0.5  m.  (9  alt.,  1,156  pop.),  a  resort 
town  with  a  fishing  pier  hemmed  in  by  power  plants  and  gas  storage 
tanks. 

US  101  crosses  two  of  the  shallow  inlets  of  Anaheim  Bay  to  a 
straight  stretch  down  a  long  low-lying  tongue  of  land  between  a  wind- 
ing lagoon  (L)  and  the  surf  (R),  bordered  by  beach  cabins  that  string 
north  and  south  from  SUNSET  BEACH,  78.7  m.  (10  alt.,  150  pop.). 
The  lower  end  of  the  lagoon  is  placid  BOLSA  BAY,  79  m.,  (speed- 
boats',  rowboats,  canoes  available)  fringed  by  tule-grown  marshes  where 
sportsmen  come  for  duck-hunting. 

Along  the  water's  edge  around  HUNTINGTON  BEACH,  90.8 
m.  (20  alt.,  2,690  pop.),  rise  bleak  oil  derricks.  Before  oil  was  dis- 
covered here  after  1920,  the  town  had  developed  as  a  minor  recreational 
resort,  but  local  residents  profited  little,  having  sold  most  of  their  hold- 
ings before  the  discovery  was  known.  The  buying  campaign  had  gone 
on  so  quietly  that  few  were  aware  of  the  unusual  number  of  sales. 
The  tide  lands  here  have  remained  State  property  but  oil  operators 
have  developed  a  new  technique  of  drilling  to  meet  the  situation ;  from 
their  land,  the  former  town  lots,  they  drill  on  a  bias  to  tap  the  pools 
under  the  tidelands.  The  practice  has  stirred  up  one  of  the  State's 
bitterest  controversies;  Culbert  L.  Olson,  Governor  of  California 
(1939),  as  a  State  senator,  endeavored  to  put  through  a  bill  that  would 
end  the  practice  and  enable  the  State  to  exploit  the  reservoirs  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public. 

At  96.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  55,  paved. 

Right  on  State  55  over  an  inlet  of  landlocked  NEWPORT  BAY  and 
along  the  low  spit  across  its  mouth  to  NEWPORT  BEACH,  1  m.  (2,203 
pop.),  and  its  suburb,  BALBOA,  2  m.  (810  pop.),  facing  the  sail-dotted 
lagoon-like  bay  with  its  islands — Lido,  Bay,  Harbor,  and  Balboa  Islands — 
where  California-Riviera  type  stucco  villas  look  down  on  yachts  and  pleas- 
ure craft  at  their  moorings.  Around  the  bay  shore  cluster  the  seaside 
cottages  of  neighboring  resorts.  The  harbor,  where  Yankee  smugglers 
once  hid  out,  rose  to  brief  prominence  as  a  commercial  port  when  a  dock 
and  warehouse  were  built  here  in  1872  but  fell  behind  San  Pedro  after 
1898.  The  Santa  Ana  River  had  carried  so  much  silt  into  the  bay  by  1915 
that  it  had  to  be  diverted  into  a  new  channel  directly  to  the  sea;  the  bay 
has  since  been  dredged  to  a  depth  of  10  feet  at  low  water.  The  pleasure 
boat  fleet  is  now  one  of  the  largest  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  spring  the 
Pacific  Coast  Yacht  Regatta  is  staged  and  in  summer  a  spectacular  water 
carnival,  the  "Tournament  of  Lights." 


TOUR     2  C        423 

The  crag-bound  coves  and  headlands  around  LAGUNA  BEACH, 
104.9  m.  (17  alt.,  1,981  pop.),  have  served  as  inspiration  for  un- 
counted landscape  painters.  The  cultivated  quaintness  of  Laguna 
Beach's  rustic  dwellings  and  shops,  sprawling  over  seaside  slopes,  is  due 
to  the  influence  of  its  sprinkling  of  artists — as  are  its  studios,  its  "little" 
theater,  and  the  LAGUNA  BEACH  ART  ASSOCIATION  GALLERY  (adm. 
10J). 

From  the  bluffs  at  THREE  ARCHES,  110.4  m.  (300  pop.),  tile- 
roofed  stucco  houses,  noticeably  new,  overlook  spray-drenched  crags — 
and  the  arch  rocks  to  which  the  settlement  owes  its  name. 

Overlooking  DANA  COVE  is  the  residential  hamlet  of  DANA 
POINT,  112.4  m.  (175  alt.,  120  pop.).  The  cliffs  rose  "twice  as  high 
as  our  royal-mast-head,"  observed  Richard  Henry  Dana  when  the 
Pilgrim  anchored  here  in  1835.  "The  shore  is  rocky,  and  directly  ex- 
posed to  the  southeast,  so  that  vessels  are  obliged  to  slip  and  run  for 
their  lives  on  the  first  sign  of  the  gale."  The  descent  down  the  cliffs 
was  so  perilous  that  when  Boston  hide-traders  anchored  here  to  load, 
the  hides  were  thrown  to  the  beach  from  above. 

DOHENY  PARK  (see  TOUR  2d),  113.6  m.  (549  pop.),  is  at 
the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2d). 


ZXS&^^ 


Tour  2C 


Wilmington  to  Avalon,  Santa  Catalina  Island,  27  m.  by  boat. 

Transportation  to  island  from  Berths  184-185,  Wilmington.  Round  trip  $3 ; 
children  $1.50;  by  air  plane,  $5  one  way.  Automobile  storage  at  pier  50^  a 
day.  Rates  vary  somewhat  with  the  seasons. 

Accommodations  range  from  camps  to  luxury  hotels.  Private  automobiles 
prohibited.  Year-round  resort;  summer  months  most  popular. 

Twenty-seven  miles  southwest  of  Los  Angeles  Harbor  in  the  rolling 
wastes  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  rise  the  mist-blown  peaks  of  Santa  Catalina 
Island.  Twenty-two  miles  long  and  from  one-half  to  eight  miles 
wide,  the  island  looks  from  the  mainland  as  if  a  section  of  the  Coast 
Range  had  been  transplanted  to  the  open  ocean.  In  its  numerous  val- 
leys the  foliage  is  luxuriant;  the  rugged  higher  slopes  are  covered  with 
chaparral.  The  beaches  are  narrow  and  pebbly,  but  the  calm,  clear 
waters  of  the  many  bays  and  coves  make  them  popular  for  swimming 
and  yachting.  Abounding  with  tuna,  swordfish,  yellowtail,  white  sea 
bass,  rock  bass,  barracuda,  mackerel,  bonita,  whitefish,  and  sheepshead, 
the  waters  about  the  island  are  popular  with  sport  fisherman. 

Santa    Catalina    Island    has    one    incorporated    city,    a    $2,OOO,OOO 


424        CALIFORNIA 

casino,  a  network  of  roads  and  trails,  a  $1,000,000  water  system,  a  small 
industrial  center,  and  numerous  highly  commercialized  tourist  attrac- 
tions. 

The  island  was  discovered  by  Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo,  Portuguese 
navigator  who,  seeking  the  mythical  Strait  of  Anian  under  orders  from 
the  Spanish  Crown,  put  into  the  small,  placid  bay  now  called  Avalon 
on  October  7,  1542.  He  named  the  island  San  Salvador,  for  his  flag- 
ship. On  November  28,  1602,  the  islanders  saw  the  Spanish  King's 
next  emissary,  Sebastian  Viscaino,  enter  the  harbor  with  his  three  white- 
winged  ships.  He  gave  the  island  its  present  name  in  honor  of  St. 
Catherine.  In  1811  a  Russian  vessel,  seeking  the  prized  sea  otters, 
landed  in  the  bay  and  slaughtered  many  of  the  Indians.  Until  1821, 
when  Mexico  freed  herself  from  Spain  and  lifted  the  Spanish  ban  on 
foreign  trade  in  California,  Santa  Catalina  was  the  base  for  unlawful 
trading  operations  with  the  mainland. 

Although  gold  had  been  discovered  on  Santa  Catalina  in  1834,  it 
was  not  until  1863  that  several  prospectors  "struck  it  rich,"  starting  a 
gold  rush;  some  100,000  feet  of  claims  were  staked  and  filed  in  the  Los 
Angeles  County  Recorder's  office,  and  indefatigable  prospectors  even 
ran  their  mine  tunnels  under  the  ocean  floor.  The  boom  was  cut  short 
by  three  developments:  a  new  island  owner,  Jose  Maria  Covarrubias, 
bought  the  property  in  1855  and  vociferously  objected  to  the  freeboot- 
ing  activities  of  the  prospectors;  a  pirate  scare  frightened  the  Federal 
Government;  and  last  but  not  least  the  gold  ran  out. 

The  Government  became  worried  when  it  was  learned  that  Con- 
federate sympathizers  were  planning  to  use  Santa  Catalina  as  a  base 
for  pirating  the  gold-carrying  ships  in  the  coastal  trade,  and  Northern 
troops  were  hurriedly  sent  in  with  orders  to  evacuate  all  private  citizens 
by  February  I,  1864. 

From  then  until  1919,  when  William  Wrigley,  Jr.,  bought  the 
property,  the  various  owners  attempted  subdivisions,  promotion  of  pleas- 
ure resorts,  and  a  silver  mining  venture.  But  it  was  Wrigley  who  had 
the  formula  needed  to  make  the  island  a  commercial  success  and  who 
had  the  millions  to  create  a  romantic,  palm-studded  town  on  the  beau- 
tiful bay,  to  construct  the  luxurious  casino  and  other  improvements; 
and  to  put  on  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  far-flung  publicity  cam- 
paigns ever  staged  in  publicity-conscious  California. 

Boats  for  Santa  Catalina  leave  from  the  CATALINA  TERMINAL, 
foot  of  Avalon  Blvd.,  Wilmington. 

AVALON,  27  m.  (o  alt.,  2,200  pop.),  the  main  settlement  and 
center  of  resort  and  sports  activities  of  SANTA  CATALINA  IS- 
LAND, lies  at  the  mouth  of  a  large  canyon  along  the  crescent-shaped 
shore  of  Avalon  Bay  on  the  northwestern  side  of  the  island.  The  build- 
ings are  the  usual  miscellaneous  collection  of  stucco-covered  and  frame 
structures  in  the  Californian  version  of  what  Spanish  design  should  be. 
Crescent  Avenue,  the  principal  street,  follows  the  curve  of  the  bay, 
widening  in  the  downtown  area  to  the  size  of  a  plaza..  Palm  and  olive 
trees,  set  in  stone  boxes  in  the  center  of  the  street,  shade  low  settees  and 


TOUR     2  C        425 

stone  benches ;  grassy  squares  and  sparkling  fountains,  strolling  senoritas 
in  spangled  skirts  and  strumming  troubadours  in  velvet  costumes,  round 
out  the  scene.  There  are  three  hotels  operated  by  the  Santa  Catalina 
Island  Company,  and  30  privately  operated  hotels,  apartment  houses, 
and  bungalow  courts. 

Most  of  the  island's  tourist  attractions  are  in  Avalon  or  near  it. 
Regularly  scheduled  boat  and  motorcar  trips  to  the  remoter  points  of 
interest  leave  from  Avalon,  as  do  the  various  speedboat,  glass-bottom 
boat,  and  flying  fish  trips  (see  below). 

The  AVALON  BOARDWALK  skirts  the  harbor  from  Pebbly  Beach. 
With  many  of  the  island's  major  attractions  fronting  on  it,  it  is  the 
principal  recreation  center. 

EL  ENCANTO,  in  the  heart  of  Avalon,  is  a  plaza  surrounded  by  small 
shops  and  cafes. 

The  AVALON  CASINO  (open  2-4  p.m.  daily),  on  the  boardwalk, 
rises  from  the  northwest  promontory  of  Avalon  Bay.  The  $2,000,000 
white,  circular  building  is  styled  in  an  adaptation  of  Moorish  design.  On 
the  lower  floor  is  a  large  motion  picture  theater.  Five  ramps  give  access 
to  the  second-story  ballroom.  A  cocktail  lounge  with  a  lOO-foot-long 
bar  has  walls  covered  with  fantastic  fish  murals. 

The  SANTA  CATALINA  AIRPORT  lies  at  the  head  of  a  deep  canyon  at 
HAMILTON  BEACH,  northwest  of  Avalon.  Twice  daily  or  oftener 
amphibian  planes  land  on  the  water  here,  taxi  up  a  ramp  to  a  turntable, 
are  then  about-faced  for  the  return  trip. 

The  AVALON  GREEK  THEATER,  east  end  of  Crescent  Ave.,  is  used 
chiefly  by  civic  and  fraternal  organizations. 

The  SANTA  CATALINA  ISLAND  VISITORS'  COUNTRY  CLUB  (greens 
fee  $i),  Sumner  Ave.  and  Fremont  St.,  is  a  rambling  stucco  clubhouse 
crowning  a  knoll  and  surrounded  by  an  i8-hole  golf  course.  There  are 
also  tennis  courts  and  a  g-hole  pitch-and-put  course. 

The  CATALINA  BASEBALL  PARK,  Fremont  St.  and  Avalon  Blvd.,  is 
the  spring-training  headquarters  of  the  Wrigley-owned  National  League 
Chicago  Cubs  (exhibition  games  12  m.  daily  Feb.  12-March  15). 

The  AVALON  BIRD  PARK  (open  8-6),  in  Avalon  Canyon  (reached 
only  by  bus,  leaving  corner  Crescent  and  Metropole  Aves.  every  one- 
half  hr.  from  7-7),  is  a  2O-acre  home  for  more  than  8,000  birds  of  650 
varieties,  mostly  from  foreign  countries. 

The  GLIDDEN  INDIAN  MUSEUM  (open  9-5;  adm.  25$),  on  the 
hill  over-looking  Avalon,  is  a  one-story  yellow  and  tan  frame  structure 
exhibiting  Indian  artifacts  and  skeletons  found  on  the  island. 

PEBBLY  BEACH,  at  end  of  the  Boardwalk,  1.5  miles  east  of 
Avalon,  is  an  industrial  district ;  here  are  a  large  pottery  plant,  a  furni- 
ture factory,  and  a  stone  quarry.  Mexican  employees  live  in  a  small 
village  near  the  shore. 

EAGLES  NEST  LODGE,  10  miles  from  Avalon  on  the  Avalon-Isthmus 
motor  road  (on  the  Isthmus  Auto  Tour;  see  below),  is  headquarters 
for  goat,  boar,  and  quail  hunters,  and  an  overnight  stop  for  hikers  and 
riding  parties.  The  one-story  rustic  wooden  lodge  is  named  for  nearby 


CALIFORNIA 

EAGLE  MOUNTAIN,  on  whose  i,ooo-foot  pinnacle  scores  of 
eagles  nest.  All  hunting  on  the  Island  is  conducted  on  supervised 
trips  ($10  a  person  each  day,  including  guide  and  transportation;  license 
at  Avalon  Pier).  Boar  and  goats  are  hunted  the  year  round  from 
horseback  with  deer  rifles.  Large  numbers  of  wild  mountain  goats 
roam  the  island  interior.  Some  historians  credit  Cabrillo  with  having 
abandoned  some  goats  on  the  island  in  1542;  others  contend  that  they 
were  left  by  Father  Torquemada  of  the  Viscamo  expedition  of  1602. 

The  ISTHMUS  lies  in  the  northwestern  section  of  Santa  Catalina 
Island,  14  miles  by  water,  22  miles  by  motor  road,  from  Avalon 
(reached  on  the  'Round  the  Island  Cruise  and  Isthmus  Auto  Tour;  see 
below),  at  a  point  where  the  island  was  almost  cut  in  two  when  the 
land  sagged  during  some  cataclysm  in  the  distant  past.  The  terrain 
here  is  a  flat  mesa  between  bordering  mountains.  Fronting  PAPEETE 
BEACH  and  ISTHMUS  COVE  is  a  settlement  of  one-story,  thatched 
bungalettes  for  accommodation  of  a  fluctuating  summer  population. 
The  South  Sea  Island  effect  has  been  sought  for  all  structures,  includ- 
ing the  store.  Various  abandoned  movie  sets  are  here,  most  note- 
worthy of  which  are  the  thatched  ROUND  HOUSE  used  in  the  silent  pic- 
ture Rain,  and  the  CONTINENTAL  HOTEL  SET  from  the  film  Sadie 
Thompson,  a  remake  of  Rain  in  sound.  Midway  between  Isthmus 
Cove  and  Catalina  Harbor  stands  the  former  UNITED  STATES  GOVERN- 
MENT BARRACKS,  now  living  quarters  for  employees  of  the  island 
operating  company;  it  was  built  to  house  Union  troops. 

CONDUCTED  TOURS 
(All  boats  leave  from  Avalon  Pier;  auto  trips  from  Avalon  Plaza) 

1.  The  GLASS  BOTTOM  BOAT  TRIP   (fare  75$,  children  40$},  visits 
the  marine  gardens  that  extend  17  miles  along  the  protected  north  shore. 

2.  The  SEAL  ROCK  TRIP   (fare  50$,  children  25$),  is  a  one  and  one- 
half  hour,  n-mile  cruise  in  a  6o-foot  boat  along  the  jagged  lee  shore  to  a 
sunny,  wave-lashed  cluster  of  rocks  just  off  NORTHEAST  POINT,  where  several 
hundred  sea  lions  live. 

3.  The  EVENING  FLYING  FISH  TRIP   (April  to  Oct.;  fare  75$,  chil- 
dren 4.0$),  is  a  4O-minute,  wave-bouncing,  spume-dashed  night  ride  behind 
a  45-million  candlepower  searchlight,  into  the  beam  of  which  glide  thou- 
sands of  flying  fishes,  their  highly  colored  "wings"   (fins)   iridescent  in  the 
glare. 

4.  The   AVALON    SPEEDBOAT   TRIP    (fare  75$,  children  50$)    is   a 
5O-mile-an-hour   dash   from   Avalon   to   a   point   about   i    mile   beyond   the 
Santa  Catalina  Airport  and  return. 

5.  The  ISTHMUS  BOAT  TRIP    (May  to   Oct.;  fare  $i,  children  50$, 
with  return  trip  by  auto,  $2.50,  half  fare  $1.50}   is  a  s-hour  28-mile  round 
trip  cruise  from  Avalon  Bay  to  Isthmus  Cove  along  the  northern  coast.     A 
i-hour  stop  for  lunch  and  sightseeing  is  made  at  the  Isthmus. 

6.  The  'ROUND  THE  ISLAND   CRUISE    (10:30  a.m.  Sun.  only,  April 
to  Oct.;  fare  $i,  half  fare  50$}. 

7.  The  ISTHMUS  AUTO  TOUR   (round  trip  $3,  children  $2}    follows 
the   Old    Stage   Road   over   the    Summit    (1,520   alt.),    past    Middle    Ranch 
Valley,  and  Eagles  Nest  Lodge,  to  the  Isthmus. 

8.  The  STARLIGHT  DRIVE   (April  to  Oct.;  fare  50$,  children  25$)   is 


TOUR     3         427 

a   55-minute  y-mile   evening  trip   in   an   open   bus.     The   sights   are   set  to 
music  by  a  Spanish-costumed  guitar  player  who  goes  along. 

9.  The  SKYLINE  DRIVE  (fare  50$,  children  25$)  is  a  3o-minute  5-mile 
motor  trip  similar  to  the  Starlight  Drive,  but  by  daylight,  and  without  the 
guitar  player. 


QSSStSKU!^^ 


Tour  3 


(Ashland,  Ore.)  —  Yreka  —  Redding  —  Red  Bluff  —  Sacramento  — 
Stockton  —  Fresno  —  Bakersneld  —  Los  Angeles  —  Ontario  —  Red- 
lands  —  Coachella  —  Brawley  —  Calexico  —  (Mexicali,  Mexico)  ; 
US  99  and  99  W. 
Oregon  Line  to  Mexican  Border,  880.6  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout,  open  all  season. 

Southern   Pacific   R.R.    parallels    route    between   Oregon   Line    and   Bakersfield, 

Saugus  and  Los  Angeles,  Banning  and  Mecca,  Brawley  and  Calexico;  Santa  Fe 

Ry.  parallels  route  between  Oakland  and  Bakersfield. 

Accommodations  plentiful ;  numerous  camping  sites  in  northern  counties. 

US  99  presents  a  complete  cross  section  of  California.  From  the 
rugged  wall  of  the  Siskiyous  on  the  north,  it  winds  down  barren  river 
canyons,  round  Mount  Shasta,  and  along  the  twisting  Sacramento  River 
between  steep,  evergreen-forested  slopes.  Southward  it  parallels  the 
two  great  rivers,  the  Sacramento  and  the  San  Joaquin,  that  drain  the 
far-reaching  plains  of  the  Central  Valley,  stretching  for  750  miles  in 
an  unbroken  sweep.  From  the  valley's  southern  end  it  climbs  the  arid, 
brush-clad  Tehachapi  Mountains  and  descends  to  the  fertile  Southern 
California  valleys  where  citrus  groves  and  truck  gardens  extend  for  mile 
on  mile.  Its  course  then  turns  southeast  through  the  sagebrush  reaches 
of  a  desert  trough  between  the  San  Jacinto  and  San  Bernardino  Moun- 
tains, past  the  Salton  Sea,  into  irrigated  farmlands  of  the  sun-scorched 
Imperial  Valley.  The  highway  passes  smoking  lumber  mills  among 
bare,  stump-dotted  slopes;  mines  and  quarries  on  scarred  mountain 
sides  and  dredges  scooping  river  gravel;  herds  cropping  broad  pastures 
and  far-spreading  acres  of  hay  and  grain;  fruit-laden  orchards  around 
packing  houses,  truck  garden  plots,  and  groves  of  date  palms.  The 
climate  varies  sharply,  from  the  bracing  cold  of  mountain  highlands  to 
the  sultry  heat  of  Imperial  Valley  below  sea  level. 

Section  a.     OREGON  LINE  to  SACRAMENTO;  298.7  m. 
US  99-99  W. 

Northern  California's  oldest  road  in  continuous  use — the  Oregon- 
California  Trail — roughly  paralleled  today's  concrete  roadbed.  Start- 


428       CALIFORNIA 

ing  as  a  faint  pathway  blazed  through  the  wilderness  by  venturesome 
scouts  and  trappers  from  1827  on,  it  was  followed  in  the  1840*8  by  early 
immigrants  with  their  ox-drawn  wagons,  driving  their  cattle  before 
them.  It  became  a  well-defined  pack  trail  in  the  next  decade,  thronged 
with  gold  seekers,  mule  trains,  ox-teams  and  covered  wagons.  In  the 
late  i85o's,  the  first  turnpike  between  Portland  and  Sacramento  was 
opened,  and  as  the  tide  of  travel  mounted,  outposts  of  civilization  sprang 
up  along  the  way.  On  the  campsites  where  fur  hunters  had  stopped 
for  rest,  inns  were  built.  As  freighters  and  stagecoaches  supplanted 
mule  trains,  stage  stations  were  opened;  in  1886-87,  when  the  Southern 
Pacific  pushed  its  tracks  from  Redding  to  Oregon  along  the  route,  these 
became  railroad  stations  and,  finally,  villages  and  towns. 

South  of  the  Oregon  Line,  0  m.f  crossed  22.8  miles  south  of  Ash- 
land, Oregon,  stretch  the  wild  slopes  of  the  Siskiyou  Mountains.  As 
the  highway  descends,  the  lava  mass  of  BLACK  MOUNTAIN 
(5,270  alt.)  looms  up  (L).  Above  it  towers  snow-crowned  Mount 
Shasta  (see  below),  seen  for  nearly  100  miles  southward  at  intervals. 

HORNBROOK,  8.2  m.  (2,115  alt.,  300  pop.),  lies  (L)  downhill 
across  Cottonwood  Creek,  its  old  brick  business  structures,  store  build- 
ings with  wooden  awnings,  and  handful  of  shanties  shadowed  by 
shaggy  black  walnut  trees. 

To  CAMP  LOWE,  10.4  m.t  where  the  rippling  Klamath  River 
(L)  swings  in  to  the  highway,  come  anglers  for  the  fine  steelhead  trout 
and  salmon  fishing. 

At  14.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  96,  paved  for  21  miles  west- 
ward. 

Right  on  State  96,  along  the  canyon  of  the  lower  Klamath,  winding 
through  one  of  California's  most  primitive  regions.  Until  1850,  when  a 
party  of  miners  followed  the  river  from  the  ocean,  panning  for  gold  at 
every  bar,  its  course — variously  known  as  Clamitte,  Klamet,  Indian  Scalp, 
and  Smith  River — was  unknown  and  incorrectly  shown  on  the  maps. 

At  2  m.  is  a  boundary  of  Klamath  National  Forest,  an  area  of  1,500,831 
acres,  crisscrossed  by  pine-clad  ridges  and  cut  by  deep  canyons.  Almost 
untouched  by  logging  operations,  the  reserve  guards  about  15  billion  feet 
of  sugar  and  ponderosa  pine  and  Douglas  fir.  It  is  dotted  with  hydraulic 
and  drift  mines,  dredges,  wing  dams,  and  stamp  mills. 

BROWN'S  RESORT,  16  m.,  is  a  stopping  place  for  fishermen  and 
hunters. 

At  33  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  3  m.  to  SCOTT  BAR 
(1,687  alt.),  in  the  deep  gorge  of  Scott  River,  a  ghost  town  of  dilapidated 
buildings  where  prospectors  led  by  John  Scott  panned  for  gold  in  1850. 
Driven  out  by  Indians,  they  spread  news  of  a  rich  strike  that  brought 
miners  flocking  in.  By  1863  William  H.  Brewer  found  the  placers  worked 
out,  the  population  departed,  and  half  the  houses  empty. 

The  road  winds  on  a  ledge  cut  from  steep  canyon  sides  to  SPRING 
FLAT,  16  m.  (Forest  Service  Camp).  Here  trails  start  into  the  MARBLE 
MOUNTAIN  PRIMITIVE  AREA,  a  wildly  picturesque  237,527-3^6  tract, 
culminating  in  castellated  Marble  Mountain,  a  monumental  pile  (8,925 
alt.)  of  limestone  and  marble  streaked  with  a  vein  of  glistening  white.  Of 
the  other  peaks,  Red  Mountain  (8,317  alt.)  is  the  highest.  Near  their  sum- 
mits are  about  50  small  crystal-clear  lakes,  stocked  with  trout,  and  a  dozen 
or  more  streams  with  250  miles  of  fishing  waters.  Deer,  bear,  and  moun- 
tain lion  roam  the  region.  The  Forest  Service  maintains  five  camps: 


TOUR     3         429 

Paradise  Lake,  Marble  Valley,  Sky  High  Valley,  Spirit  Lake,  and  Upper 
Cabin. 

On  State  96  is  HAMBURG,  35  m.  (1,580  alt.,  70  pop.),  with  a  general 
store  and  tourist  cottages.  A  bustling  mining  town  up  to  1861,  it  had  dis- 
appeared two  years  later,  its  buildings  swept  away  by  a  flood. 

At  SEIAD  VALLEY  (cabins;  restaurant),  45  m.  (1,383  alt.,  50  pop.),  on 
a  fertile  little  flat,  which  Brewer  found  to  be  "a  delightful  spot  ...  an 
oasis  in  the  desert,"  a  New  York  farmer  settled  in  1854  and  amassed  a 
fortune  raising  potatoes  that  he  sold  for  15^  a  pound  to  the  swarming 
miners. 

HAPPY  CAMP,  65  m.  (1,088  alt.,  566  pop.),  a  popular  place  for  year- 
round  fishing  and  a  point  of  departure  for  trails  into  the  wilderness  (guides, 
packers,  and  pack  trip  supplies] ,  is  the  District  Forest  Supervisor's  Head- 
quarters. 

The  road  continues  through  wild  country  unsettled  except  for  a  few 
scattered  ranches  and  small  Indian  villages. 

At  PICK-AW-ISH  CAMP,  74  m.,  Indians  gather  yearly  in  the  dark  of 
the  August  moon  for  a  three-day  festival.  Among  the  ceremonies  are  the 
Brush,  Deerskin,  and  Coyote  Dances  and  one  called  The  Working  of  the 
Earth,  which  has  as  its  purpose  the  propitiation  of  the  spirits  of  earth  and 
forest  to  avert  landslides,  earthquakes,  forest  fires,  and  droughts. 

SOMES  BAR,  106  m.  (580  alt.,  50  pop.),  where  the  Salmon  River  joins 
the  Klamath,  began  as  a  mining  town.  It  is  a  favorite  spot  for  year-round 
fishing  for  king  salmon  and  steelhead  trout  and  a  starting  point  for  trails 
into  the  western  part  of  the  Marble  Mountain  Primitive  Area. 

ORLEANS,  114  m.  (393  alt.,  75  pop.)  (good  accommodations],  lies  below 
ORLEANS  MOUNTAIN  (6,184  alt.),  a  look-out  point  commanding  a  mag- 
nificent view. 

At  BLUFF  CREEK,  124  m.,  the  Forest  Service  maintains  a  camp. 

WEITCHPEC,  130  m.  (367  alt.,  64  pop.),  is  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Trinity  River  and  the  Klamath  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  HOOPA 
INDIAN  RESERVATION,  which  occupies  approximately  100  square  miles 
of  the  Hoopa,  or  Trinity,  Valley.  The  reservation  was  established  in  1865, 
following  a  treaty  of  peace  (1864)  that  ended  12  years  of  bitter  warfare 
between  the  Hoopas  (Hupalos)  and  white  settlers.  Soldiers  were  stationed 
at  the  reservation  until  1892.  About  500  Indians,  many  of  mixed  blood, 
support  themselves  here  by  farming,  stock  raising,  and  occasional  work  out- 
side the  reservation. 

At  HOOPA,  141.4  m.  (100  pop.),  only  town  on  the  reservation,  are 
stores,  administrative  offices,  and  elementary  and  high  schools. 

State  96  crosses  the  reservation's  southern  boundary  at  144.8  m.  to  the 
junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8b),  153.4  m. 

At  the  southern  end  of  KLAMATH  BRIDGE,  14.8  m.,  a  graceful  con- 
crete span,  the  Shasta  River,  foaming  over  its  stony  bed  far  below  (R), 
joins  the  Klamath.  The  highway  twists  through  the  tortuous  gorge 
of  the  Shasta  on  a  ledge  blasted  from  the  craggy  walls,  bridging  the  river 
three  times  more  within  the  next  three  miles.  Highest  of  the  spans  is 
steel  and  concrete  PIONEER  BRIDGE,  16.7  m.,  arching  the  canyon  252 
feet  above  the  river. 

At  21  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  HAWKINSVILLE,  0.3  m.,  with  its  red  church 
steeple  rising  above  a  handful  of  weather-beaten  shanties.  In  1851  it  was 
a  flourishing  center  of  trade.  Here  began  a  string  of  miners'  cabins  that 
followed  Yreka  Creek  southward  for  3  miles. 

The  road  winds  on  to  HUMBUG  CREEK,  5.6  m.,  supposedly  so  named 
because  a  company  of  prospectors  on  the  way  there  in  1851  met  others 


43O        CALIFORNIA 

returning  who  insisted  that  the  rumors  of  gold  were  "all  humbug"  but 
paying  no  heed,  pushed  on  and  made  a  rich  strike.  Joaquin  Miller,  who, 
as  a  youth,  had  a  cabin  on  the  creek  bank,  drew  a  gloomy  picture  of  the 
region:  "It  lay  west  of  the  city  (Yreka),  a  day's  ride  down  in  a  deep, 
densely  timbered  canon,  out  of  sight  of  Mount  Shasta,  out  of  sight  of  every- 
thing— even  the  sun  .  .  ." 

Beyond  Humbug  Creek  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  1.4  m.  to 
the  SITE  OF  HUMBUG  CITY,  chief  of  the  mining  camps.  A  wild  place  it 
was,  "a  sort  of  Hades,"  said  Miller,  "a  savage  Eden,  with  many  Adams 
walking  up  and  down  and  plucking  of  every  tree,  nothing  forbidden  here; 
for  here,  so  far  as  it  would  seem,  are  neither  laws  of  God  nor  man." 
The  principal  saloon  was  the  Howlin'  Wilderness,  an  immense  log  cabin 
with  a  log  fire  always  burning  in  the  huge  fireplace,  where  so  many 
fights  broke  out  that  the  common  saying  was,  "We  will  have  a  man  for 
breakfast  tomorrow." 

YREKA,  23.1  m.  (2,624  alt.,  2,126  pop.),  seat  of  Siskiyou  County, 
is  rimmed  by  sheltering  slopes.  Surrounding  the  compact  business  dis- 
trict along  Miner  Street  are  blocks  of  gracious  old  white  houses  on 
streets  shaded  by  locust  trees.  After  Abraham  Thompson  in  March, 
1851,  struck  it  rich  at  Black  Gulch  Camp,  2,000  men  flocked  in  within 
less  than  six  weeks.  The  place  was  known  as  Thompson's  Dry  Dig- 
gings; then,  when  a  town  was  laid  out  in  May,  as  Shasta  Butte  City; 
and  finally,  in  1852,  as  Yreka,  which  is  thought  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Wai-ri-ka  (Ind.,  mountain).  It  had  its  share  of  the  early  Indian 
troubles,  once  barely  escaping  massacre  when  an  Indian  woman,  Kla- 
math  Peggy,  traveled  20  miles  of  rough  mountains  to  warn  the  citizens 
of  an  impending  attack.  Approaching  along  devious  trails  over  the 
brush-covered  hills,  the  Klamath  warriors  found  Yreka  strongly 
guarded  by  sentries  and  withdrew.  For  years  Klamath  Peggy  lived  in 
Yreka,  fearing  the  vengeance  of  her  kinsmen;  finally  Yreka's  people 
pensioned  her. 

In  Yreka's  HALL  OF  RECORDS,  of  painted  stucco  (in  a  locust-shaded 
square  at  Fourth  and  Lane  Sts.),  is  the  SISKIYOU  COUNTY  GOLD  EX- 
HIBIT of  ores  and  nuggets,  a  small  fraction  of  the  millions  that  the 
region  has  yielded.  At  the  KLAMATH  NATIONAL  FOREST  SUPER- 
VISOR'S HEADQUARTERS  (open  8:30-4:30},  Broadway  and  Miner  St., 
is  a  huge  relief  map  of  Klamath  National  Forest. 

At  25.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  here  0.1  m.  to  the  SITE  OF  GREENHORN,  marked  today  by  a  nonde- 
script cluster  of  frame  structures.  In  the  early  i85o's,  a  company  of  miners 
had  failed  to  find  gold  here,  and  when  a  greenhorn  asked  where  to  mine, 
they  directed  him  to  their  abandoned  claim;  the  joke  turned  on  them  when 
he  made  a  rich  strike.  Here  was  the  battlefield  of  the  "Greenhorn  War" 
of  1855,  which  broke  out  when  the  Greenhorn  men,  angered  over  diversion 
of  the  water  for  their  claims  from  Greenhorn  Creek,  cut  the  Yreka  Flats 
Ditch.  A  Yreka  court  promptly  issued  an  injunction.  They  defied  it. 
When  Yreka  officers  countered  by  arresting  one  of  them,  the  Greenhorn 
men  marched  on  Yreka  and  freed  him.  But  the  court  decision  stood,  and 
the  Yreka  Flats  Ditch  Association  continued  using  water  from  Greenhorn 
Creek. 

Along  Yreka  Creek  the  road  runs  over  rugged  slopes  to  the  summit  of 
FOREST  HOUSE  MOUNTAIN  (4,159  alt.),  and  along  Moffett  Creek 


TOUR     3         431 

into  lovely  SCOTT  VALLEY,  named  for  John  Scott,  who  discovered  gold 
at  Scott's  Bar. 

At  15.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  7.6  m.,  along  Mc- 
Adams  Creek  to  its  confluence  with  Deadwood  and  Cherry  Creeks,  to 
the  SITE  OF  DEADWOOD,  second  only  to  Yreka  among  the  region's  mining 
centers  in  1854-55.  Here  Joaquin  Miller  wrote  his  first  poem,  an  epitha- 
lamium  for  the  marriage  of  Deadwood's  cook  to  a  Yreka  lady;  he  recited 
it  at  the  reception  for  the  pair. 

FORT  JONES,  17  m.,  on  the  main  side  road  (2,747  alt.,  302  pop.),  once 
known  by  a  variety  of  names:  Wheelock,  for  the  man  who  built  a  hotel 
here  in  the  i85o's;  Scottsburg,  for  the  surrounding  Scott  Valley;  and 
Ottiewa,  for  a  group  of  the  Shasta  Indians,  acquired  its  present  name  from 
the  camp  the  First  United  States  Dragoons  maintained  here  between  1852 
and  1858  for  protection  against  Indian  raids. 

GREEN  VIEW,  22  m.  (2,812  alt.,  94  pop.),  is  a  starting  point  for  hiking 
and  horseback  trips  west  into  the  valleys  of  the  Salmon  Mountains,  where 
gold  mining  began  in  the  iSso's. 

ETNA,  29  m.  (2,941  alt.,  379  pop.),  in  the  heart  of  rich  farm  lands, 
grew  up  about  a  flour  mill,  named  the  Rough  and  Ready,  which  began 
competition  in  1856  with  the  neighboring  Etna  Mills,  built  two  years 
earlier.  As  settlements  sprang  up  about  the  two  mills,  rivalry  waxed  hot 
between  them;  but  in  1863  the  older  fell  behind  when  its  post  office  was 
shifted  to  its  neighbor.  Rough  and  Ready  Mills  even  took  over  the  loser's 
name,  giving  up  its  own,  since  the  town  Rough  and  Ready  in  Nevada 
County  had  prior  claims. 

Southwest  of  Etna  the  road,  now  unpaved,  climbs  a  15  percent  grade  to 
the  summit  of  SALMON  MOUNTAIN  (5,969  alt.),  which  affords  a  pano- 
rama of  the  Scott  River  Valley.  Down  another  15  percent  grade  it  winds 
along  North  Russian  Creek  to  FINLEY  CAMP,  48  m.  (2,600  alt.),  on  the 
North  Fork  of  the  Salmon  River. 

SAWYER'S  BAR,  54  m.  (2,171  alt.,  100  pop.),  began  as  a  mining  camp. 
It  has  a  Roman  Catholic  Church  built  in  the  early  days  of  whip-sawed 
lumber. 

Left  from  Sawyer's  Bar  5  m.  on  a  dirt  road  with  a  20  percent  grade  to 
the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

(1)  Right   here  0.5   m.   to   BLACK   BEAR   MINE,   where   quartz   has   been 
extracted  since  the  days  when  mill  machinery  had  to  be  carried  over  the 
mountains  on  muleback  or  on  ox-drawn  sleds. 

(2)  Left  here  on  a  narrow  mountain  road  is  CECILVILLE,  20  m.  (2,350 
alt.,  20  pop.),  an  Indian  village.    This  is  a  point  of  entry  to  the  SALMON- 
TRINITY    ALPS    PRIMITIVE    REGION     (see    TOUR    8b).      A    Forest 
Service  trail    (R)    follows  the   South   Fork   of  the    Salmon   River   into   the 
wilderness. 

West  of  Sawyer's  Bar  the  main  side  road  continues  along  the  North 
Fork  of  Salmon  River.  At  its  confluence  with  the  South  Fork  is  FORKS 
OF  SALMON,  70  m.  (1,242  alt.,  zoo  pop.),  where  in  June  1850  the  first 
prospectors,  pushing  into  the  Salmon  Mountains  along  the  South  Fork, 
found  rich  diggings.  From  Forks  of  Salmon,  the  gold-seekers  spread  along 
the  North  Fork  and  over  the  divide  into  Scott  Valley,  until  the  river  was 
dotted  with  camps. 

At  87  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  96  (see  above). 

Through  the  narrow  neck  of  the  valley  US  99  veers  (L)  between 
low  undulating  hills. 

At  32.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  which  runs  through  fields  of  blue-green  alfalfa,  dotted 
with  trim,  freshly  painted  farmhouses  and  barns  amid  clumps  of  trees,  is 


432        CALIFORNIA 

GRENADA,   1   m.   (2,561   alt.,   300  pop.),  center  of  a  prosperous  farming 
and  dairying  district. 

Here  the  highway  swerves  to  cut  in  a  straight  line  across  the  Shasta 
Valley's  level,  monotonous  sweep  of  hayfield  and  grazing  land  with 
scattered  farmhouses  half-hidden  among  bunched  trees. 

Along  the  roadside  (L)  are  low,  smoothly  rounded,  conical  hills 
of  volcanic  origin,  visible  throughout  the  length  of  Shasta  Valley.  In- 
dian legend  tells  how  the  Great  Spirit  whose  dwelling  place  was  Mount 
Shasta,  wanting  a  home  close  to  his  own  for  his  only  daughter,  set  the 
Indians  to  work  building  Shastina,  the  smaller  peak  that  juts  up  from 
the  western  slope  below  the  main  crater.  They  carried  dirt  and  rock 
in  great  baskets  until  one  morning  the  Great  Spirit  saw  that  his  daugh- 
ter's dwelling  place,  already  larger  than  he  had  planned,  would  soon  be 
as  great  as  his  own.  Instantly  he  commanded  the  Indians  to  stop  work. 
Each  emptied  the  dirt  from  his  basket  wherever  he  stood;  and  there, 
for  each  basketful  of  earth,  was  left  a  little,  moundlike  hill. 

Around  GAZELLE,  41.5  m.  (2,758  alt.,  116  pop.),  a  handful  of 
frame  houses,  weather-beaten  barns,  and  white-painted  business  build- 
ings among  bushy  black  walnut  trees,  stretch  grazing  lands. 

At  48.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  EDGEWOOD,  1.3  m.  (2,953  alt.,  250  pop.),  a  dairy- 
ing center  on  the  site  picked  by  the  first  travelers  on  the  California-Oregon 
trail  for  a  stopping  place,  where  William  and  Jackson  Brown  built  a  log 
cabin  in  1851. 

WEED,  52.1  m.  (3,466  alt.,  4,000  pop.),  at  the  junction  with  US 
97  (see  TOUR  3A),  is  a  lumber  town,  bleak  and  raw  looking,  in  a 
hill-rimmed  hollow.  From  the  logged-over  slopes,  dotted  with  scrubby 
timber  and  blackened  stumps,  the  brush  sweeps  down  to  encroach  on 
weather-beaten  houses  and  rickety  fences.  Along  the  railroad  sidings 
(L)  beyond  the  grimy  business  district,  spread  great  lumber  mills  with 
vast  rows  of  stacked  pine  boards.  In  clearings  at  the  edge  of  the  brush 
huddle  desolate,  unpainted  company  shacks,  barracklike  rooming  houses, 
and  company  stores. 

South  of  Weed  US  99  winds  over  rounded  hills  through  a  waste- 
land of  brush  sparsely  dotted  with  pines.  The  dense  forests  of  pine, 
spruce,  and  fir  that  clothed  these  lower  slopes  of  Shasta  before  1880 
were  recklessly  denuded.  The  lumber  companies,  when  they  had  cut 
the  most  accessible  timber,  burned  off  the  land  to  destroy  the  slash  and 
debris,  killing  the  young  trees  and  seedlings. 

The  highway  cuts  around  the  eastern  flanks  of  BLACK  BUTTE 
(6,344  alt')>  a  volcanic  cone  that  lifts  its  triple-crested  peak  3,000  feet 
above  the  plain,  reaching  an  elevation  of  3,937  feet  at  58  m. 

MOUNT  SHASTA  CITY,  61.3  m.  (3,554  alt.,  1,009  pop.),  was 
settled  in  the  i85o's,  near  the  base  of  the  immense,  snow-swept  peak  for 
which  it  was  named.  Roundabout  spread  the  lush  green  meadows  of 
Strawberry  Valley,  sweeping  up  the  slopes  to  the  belt  of  dark  green 
conifers  at  the  edge  of  the  snowfields.  To  early  travelers  it  was  Sis- 


TOUR    3      433 

son's,  in  honor  of  J.  H.  Sisson,  pioneer  postmaster  and  hotel  keeper, 
who  guided  parties  up  Shasta's  slopes.  Only  in  1924,  as  the  tide  of 
tourist  travel  grew,  did  the  town  become  Mount  Shasta  City.  The 
SHASTA  NATIONAL  FOREST  SUPERVISOR'S  HEADQUARTERS,  one  block 
R.  of  US  99,  administers  a  reserve  of  1,656,477  acres  extending  over 
the  mountainous  region  east  and  west  of  US  99  for  60  miles. 

i.  Left  from  Mount  Shasta  City  on  Alma  St.  to  the  Shasta  Trail,  3  m., 
where  the  trip  can  be  continued  by  foot  or,  in  part,  on  horseback.  (Season: 
July-Sept.  For  amateurs,  round  trip  from  lodge  to  summit  requires  8  to  lo 
hours;  record  is  2  hours  24.  minutes.  Climbers  should  wear  calked  shoes, 
heavy  clothing,  colored  glasses  and  carry  food  for  three  meals  and  water, 
an  alpenstock,  and  a  gunnysack  or  piece  of  carpet  for  sliding  the  mountain 
in  descent.)  The  trail,  narrow,  rough,  and  dusty,  but  compensating  for 
its  discomforts  by  ever  changing  vistas,  winds  through  stretches  of 
chaparral,  in  springtime  fragrant  with  wildflowers.  Then  it  ascends 
through  stands  of  sugar  and  yellow  pine  and,  at  higher  elevations,  through 
whitebark  pine  and  Shasta  fir.  On  the  edge  of  the  Fir  Zone,  is  the  SHASTA 
ALPINE  LODGE  (7,992  alt.),  8  m.,  a  stone  rest  house  built  at  Horse  Camp 
by  the  Sierra  Club.  (Wood  for  fireplace  and  blankets  from  caretaker.) 
A  start  from  the  lodge  at  2  a.m.  allows  time  to  reach  THUMB  ROCK  to 
watch  the  sunrise.  The  trail  continues  from  the  edge  of  the  Alpine 
Zone's  belt  of  storm-beaten  dwarf  pines  at  9,000  feet  and  over  stretches 
of  bare,  rough,  brown  lava  to  the  snowfields  and  ice  of  the  summit,  12  m., 
of  MOUNT  SHASTA,  where  a  vast  panorama  of  tumbled  mountains  and 
valleys  spreads  on  every  side. 

"Lonely  as  God  and  white  as  a  winter  moon,"  wrote  Joaquin  Miller, 
"Mount  Shasta  starts  up  sudden  and  solitary  from  the  heart  of  the  great 
black  forest  .  .  ."  Sixth  highest  mountain  in  California,  it  is  more  impres- 
sive than  the  highest,  Mount  Whitney.  The  Indians  looked  upon  it  with 
awe,  believing  it  to  be  the  abode  of  the  Great  Spirit.  Even  among  whites 
a  latter-day  legend  persists — that  high  within  the  snow-mantled  crater 
dwells  an  ancient  white-robed  brotherhood,  descendants  of  the  Lemurians, 
inhabitants  of  a  vast  mid-Pacific  continent,  all  of  which  but  a  small  strip 
forming  part  of  the  California  coast  foundered  beneath  ocean  water  400,000 
years  ago. 

From  the  higher  crevices,  steam  hisses,  and  nearby,  molten  sulphur 
bubbles  out:  "last  feeble  expression,"  wrote  Muir,  "of  the  mighty  power 
that  lifted  the  entire  mass  of  the  mountain  from  the  volcanic  depths  far 
below  the  surface  of  the  plain."  He  went  on:  "Shasta  is  a  fire  mountain, 
an  old  volcano,  gradually  accumulated  and  built  up  ...  by  successive 
eruptions  of  ashes  and  molten  lava  which  .  .  .  grew  outward  and  upward 
like  the  trunk  of  a  knotty,  bulging  tree."  The  material  came  from  two 
craters,  that  of  Shasta  itself  and  a  smaller  one,  Shastina,  on  the  western 
slope.  Then  came  the  glacial  winter  and  with  it  "a  down-crawling  mantle 
of  ice  upon  a  fountain  of  smouldering  fire,  crushing  and  grinding  its  brown, 
flinty  lavas  .  .  ."  The  tremendous  burden  of  ice  shattered  the  summit  and 
ground  deep  grooves  in  the  slopes.  Then,  as  the  glacial  period  drew  to 
an  end,  the  ice  melted  and  broke  up,  leaving  tumbled  heaps  and  rings  of 
moraine  on  the  mountainsides.  Even  today,  the  great  downspreading  ice 
streams  of  five  glaciers — Hotlum,  Bolam,  Whitney,  Wintun,  and  Konwaki- 
ton — grip  the  eastern  and  northeastern  flanks  above  the  io,ooo-foot  level, 
feeding  numberless  creeks. 

Although  it  dominates  the  landscape  for  a  hundred  miles,  Shasta  was 
unknown  to  white  men  until  Peter  Skene  Ogden  discovered  it  February  14, 
1827.  Credit  for  the  first  ascent  goes  to  Capt.  E.  D.  Pearce,  a  merchant 
of  Yreka,  who  made  the  climb  alone  in  September  1854.  The  first  ascent 
by  scientists  was  made  in  September  1862,  when  the  California  State 
Geological  Survey  party,  led  by  Josiah  Dwight  Whitney,  followed  today's 


434        CALIFORNIA 

trail  to  the  top  and  made  observations.  They  discovered  that  others  had 
preceded  them,  for  at  the  summit,  said  Prof.  William  H.  Brewer,  Whitney's 
assistant,  "was  a  liberal  distribution  of  'California  conglomerate,'  a  mix- 
ture of  tin  cans  and  broken  bottles,  a  newspaper,  a  Methodist  hymn  book, 
a  pack  of  cards,  an  empty  bottle,  and  other  evidences  of  a  bygone  civiliza- 
tion." Near  the  summit  a  blizzard  trapped  John  Muir  and  his  companion, 
Jerome  Fay,  in  April  1875;  finding  refuge  in  the  hot  spring,  they  were 
forced  to  lie  for  13  hours — scalded  on  one  side,  all  but  frozen  on  the  other. 

2.  Right  from   Mount   Shasta   City   on   Alma    Street   to   the    STATE    FISH 
HATCHERY  (feeding  time  1:30-2:30  p.m.),  1  m.    Here,  in  ly-acre  landscaped 
grounds,  shaded  by  elms,  cedars,  and  cottonwoods,  are  50  rearing  ponds. 
In  the  clear  depths  gleam  the  silvery  blue-gray  trout:  Loch  Leven,  Eastern 
Brook,  Mackinaw,   and  Rainbow.     In  five  trim  white  buildings   are   rows 
of  wooden  hatching  troughs,  where  young  fish  dart  back  and  forth.     The 
plant  is  capable  of  hatching  8,000,000  annually. 

3.  Right  from  Mount  Shasta   on  Ream  Avenue,   which   soon  becomes   a 
dirt  road  winding  up  scenic  mountain  slopes  to  CASTLE  LAKE  (camping] , 
10  m.,  a  little  forest-girt  body  of  water,  more  than  a  mile  above  sea  level, 
hidden  among  the  recesses  back  of  Castle  Crags  (see  below}. 

US  99  runs  past  lumber  mills,  lumberyards,  and  log  ponds.  From 
the  green  meadows  of  Strawberry  Valley  it  climbs  into  sparsely  forested 
rolling  country. 

At  63.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5a}. 

The  highway  crosses  a  high  tableland  bordered  by  mountain  ridges 
and  descends  a  long  grade  to  a  junction  at  67.5  m.  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  here  to  SHASTA  SPRINGS,  0.2  m.  (2,556  alt.,  7  pop.).  Above  the 
narrow  canyon  of  the  Sacramento,  on  a  little  plateau  carpeted  with  green 
lawns,  stand  trim  green  and  white  cottages.  Here  bubbling  Shasta  water 
is  bottled  and  shipped  all  over  the  country. 

Left  0.3  m.  from  Shasta  Springs  to  MOSS  BRAE  FALLS.  Fairylike  falls 
differing  from  all  others  in  California,  they  spill  in  feathery  sprays  over 
banks  green  with  ferns  and  moss. 

At  69  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  beyond  a  stone  gateway  to  SHASTA  RETREAT, 
0.3  m.  (2,554  alt-)>  where  neat  cottages  cluster  in  a  thicket  of  pines  and 
California  black  oaks. 

A  high  arching  concrete  span  carries  US  99  above  the  Sacramento 
River  into  DUNSMUIR,  70.1  m.  (2,308  alt.,  2,610  pop.).  Hemmed 
by  mountains,  the  little  city  perches  on  a  narrow  shelf  along  the  wind- 
ing canyon  bed,  its  business  buildings  lining  the  highway  for  a  mile  and 
a  half.  Up  the  side  streets,  climbing  steeply,  frame  houses  cling  to 
pine-forested  slopes.  Through  the  heart  of  town  and  southward  stretch 
railroad  shops  and  yards  of  a  Southern  Pacific  division  point.  Thronged 
in  season  by  hunters  and  fishermen,  Dunsmuir  is  the  supply  center  for 
a  region  abounding  with  fish  and  game. 

The  entrance  (L)  to  CASTLE  CRAGS  STATE  PARK  PICNIC 
AREA,  74.7  m.,  is  at  the  northern  end  of  CASTLE  CRAGS  STATE 
PARK,  50  square  miles  of  wilderness  surrounding  the  jagged  ridge  of 


T  o  u  R    3      435 

silver-gray  granite  that  lifts  crags   (R)   above  the  brow  of  the  wooded 
hill.     Among  stately  pines  are  camp  sites  by  stocked  streams  and  lakes. 

Left  from  the  entrance  to  the  Picnic  Area  on  a  dirt  road,  across  the 
Sacramento  River  to  the  railroad  station  of  CASTLE  CRAGS,  0.4  m.,  the 
site  of  Lower  Soda  Springs  in  the  green  meadows  at  the  mouth  of  Soda 
Creek.  On  his  way  south  from  the  Rogue  River  in  1843,  Lansford  Hastings 
once  camped  here  with  16  others  and  built,  it  was  said,  the  old  fort  of 
pine  logs,  Hastings'  Barracks.  First  permanent  settler  was  "Mountain 
Joe"  Doblondy,  a  guide  of  Fremont's;  he  tilled  the  soil,  built  houses,  kept 
a  hotel,  guided  travelers  up  the  California-Oregon  Trail  past  Shasta,  and 
fought  the  Indians.  Mountain  Joe's  fabulous  tales  lured  miners  in  the 
spring  of  1855,  but  they  were  unwarranted.  In  anger  the  miners  left — only 
after  they  had  killed  or  driven  away  the  fish  and  game  on  which  the 
Indians  lived.  Modoc  warriors  swooped  down  on  the  little  settlement  and 
burned  it  in  reprisal.  They  were  pursued  into  Castle  Crags  and,  after 
a  battle,  driven  out. 

At  76.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  along  the  bank  of  Castle  Creek,  to  the  base  of 
CASTLE  CRAGS,  3.5  m.  This  gigantic  pile  of  gray-white  granite,  fre- 
quently tinged  with  pale  rose,  rears  its  jagged  spires  a  sheer  6,000  feet 
above  forested  slopes.  The  crags  were  first  called  Castillo  del  Diablo. 
Here,  on  June  26,  1855,  settlers  of  the  region  fought  the  battle  with  the 
Modoc  who  had  burned  the  settlement  at  Lower  Soda  Springs.  Joaquin 
Miller's  version  of  it,  garnished  with  boasts  of  his  own  exploits,  is  a 
colorful  if  not  an  eyewitness  account;  the  testimony,  all  except  his  own, 
indicates  that  he  was  still  a  schoolboy  in  Oregon  at  the  time  it  occurred. 
As  Miller  tells  it,  the  Indians  were  traced  to  their  hiding  place  by  the 
flour  they  had  spilled  along  the  way  as  they  made  off  with  their  loot. 
Mountain  Joe  gathered  a  company  with  recruits  from  the  mining  camps 
at  Portuguese  Flat  and  Dog  Creek.  Its  leader,  Judge  R.  R.  Gibson,  who 
had  married  the  daughter  of  the  Shasta  chief,  won  over  the  Shasta  as 
allies.  Under  the  highest  crag  in  the  northwest  corner  of  BATTLE  ROCK, 
most  prominent  of  the  spires,  the  29  whites,  with  Shasta  allies  of  about 
the  same  number,  fought  face  to  face  with  the  Modoc  until  they  forced 
them  to  withdraw,  leaving  many  of  their  warriors  dead.  Miller's  fanciful 
tale  of  his  own  exploits  tells  how  he  was  carried,  wounded,  down  the 
mountainside  in  a  big  buckskin  bag  tied  to  the  back  of  a  wrinkled  squaw, 
and  how  Mountain  Joe  cared  for  his  wounds  in  a  camp  by  the  riverbank. 

CASTELLA,  76.5  m.  (1,947  alt.,  500  pop.),  spreads  its  straggling 
outskirts  along  the  highway,  but  the  town  itself  stands  (L)  on  a  paved 
road  that  winds  down  to  the  pleasant  green  meadows  along  the  rocky 
river  bed. 

The  highway  winds  along  the  deep  canyon  of  the  Sacramento,  the 
roadside  edged  with  pines  and  glossy  yellow-green  black  oaks  in  vivid 
contrast.  At  81.2  m.  begins  the  climb  into  the  lofty  mountainous  region 
that  stretches  ahead  for  35  miles. 

SHI-LO-AH  MINERAL  SPRINGS,  (cabins,  trailer-camp,  store}, 
85.5  m.,  cascade  down  the  slope  into  a  rough  stone  basin.  The  water, 
rich  in  sodium  compounds  and  sulphureted  hydrogen,  lathers  without 
soap,  and  three  times  daily  changes  in  color  from  clear  to  yellow  to  deep 
green. 


436        CALIFORNIA 

Along  the  winding  gorge  between  steep,  thick-forested  slopes  the 
highway  twists  to  DOG  CREEK,  95.7  m.,  where  the  canyon  opens  out 
(R)  to  reveal  magnificent  vistas  of  rugged  mountainsides.  From  POL- 
LOCK, 103.8  m.  (950  alt.),  (post  office,  gas  station,  auto  camp),  the 
highway  swings  away  from  the  river  gorge  to  curve  over  tumbled 
slopes,  luxuriantly  green.  Climbing  easily,  it  winds  along  the  slopes  of 
huge,  granite-ridged  peaks  to  the  summit,  110.2  m.,  and  then  downward. 

BAIRD  (garage,  cafe,  cabins),  112.9  m.  (856  alt.),  perches  high 
above  the  deep,  wooded  canyon  of  the  McCLOUD  RIVER,  which 
twists  through  rough  country  inaccessible  except  on  foot  or  horseback. 
Along  its  course,  a  number  of  Pleistocene  caverns  have  yielded  fossil 
remains  of  long  extinct  mammals. 

Left  from  Baird  on  a  dirt  road  0.2  m.  to  the  UNITED  STATES  FISH 
HATCHERY,  where  salmon  are  propagated  in  the  California  Caves  on  the 
banks  of  the  river. 

From  its  crossing  of  the  Pit  River,  US  99  winds  past  the  massive 
bulk  (R)  of  BASS  MOUNTAIN  (2,778  alt.),  117  m.,  through 
gradually  thinning  woods  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road,  121.7  m. 

Right  on  this  road  is  KENNET,  8  m.  (670  alt.,  124  pop.),  center  of  a 
region  where  copper  mining  was  begun  in  1896.  The  fumes  from  the 
great  smelters  killed  vegetation  for  miles  around.  Near  Kennet  will  rise 
gigantic  SHASTA  DAM,  chief  unit  of  the  $170,000,0x30  Central  Valley 
Irrigation  Project.  Thirty-seven  miles  of  railroad  track  will  be  rerouted 
along  US  99  to  make  way  for  a  great  lake  impounded  behind  a  dam  560 
feet  high  and  3,500  feet  long.  Planned  for  20  years,  the  project — a 
self-financing  irrigation,  power,  and  water  conservation  undertaking — will 
dwarf  in  size  the  Boulder  Dam  and  Bonneville  projects. 

At  126.9  m.  is  the  junction  (L)  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8a), 
which  unites  with  US  99  between  this  point  and  Redding.  For  160 
miles  southward  to  Carquinez  Straits  the  Sacramento  Valley  plain  ex- 
tends between  sheltering  mountain  ridges. 

On  a  flat  half  encircled  by  the  swirling  Sacramento  River  is  RED- 
DING, 129  m.  (557  alt.,  4,188  pop.),  seat  of  Shasta  County  since 
1888,  a  bustling  town,  dotted  with  hotels  and  small  industrial  plants,  at 
the  northern  end  of  the  Sacramento  Valley.  Although  it  stands  within 
Pierson  B.  Reading's  Rancho  Buena  Ventura,  northernmost  Mexican 
land  grant,  it  owes  its  name  not  to  Reading  but  to  B.  B.  Redding, 
Central  Pacific  R.R.  land  agent.  The  town  is  a  shipping  point  for  the 
vast  fruit-growing,  farming,  and  mining  district  roundabout.  Through 
it  pour  sportsmen  and  pleasure  seekers  bound  for  hunting  and  fishing 
grounds  to  the  north. 

Redding  is  at  the  southern  junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8b) . 

Right  from  Redding  on  an  unpaved  highway  to  IGO,  12  m.  (1,081  alt, 
40  pop.),  and  ONO,  17  m.  (900  alt.,  17  pop.),  twin  mining  camps.  A  miner 
known  as  McPherson,  one  of  the  first  to  build  a  substantial  house  here, 
had  a  small  son  who  would  put  on  his  hat  whenever  his  father  started  for 
the  mines  and  say,  "I  go."  "Oh,  no,"  was  always  the  answer.  When  one 
camp  acquired  the  name  Igo,  its  neighbor  consequently  was  called  Ono. 


TOUR    3      437 

At  134.5  m.,  on  the  southern  bank  of  Clear  Creek,  is  a  junction 
with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  READING'S  BAR,  11  m.,  where  in  March  1848, 
only  three  months  after  Marshall's  discovery  at  Coloma,  Pierson  Reading 
and  his  Indians  found  the  first  gold  in  Shasta  County.  By  October  1849, 
400  men  were  here  digging.  When  a  prospector  who  had  arrived  with 
one  pack  horse  built  a  hotel,  the  settlement  became  One  Horse  Town,  and, 
as  time  passed,  simply  Horsetown.  It  grew  to  a  village  of  1,000  in- 
habitants, with  stores,  hotels,  14  saloons,  a  Roman  Catholic  Church — even 
a  newspaper,  the  Northern  Argus,  established  in  1857.  But  fire  leveled  the 
town  in  1868,  and  it  never  rose  again. 

ANDERSON,  140.3  m.  (433  alt.,  1,445  pop.),  sprawls  over  weed- 
grown  fields  among  clumps  of  oaks  and  willows,  its  dingy  business 
blocks  facing  each  other  across  the  highway  and  railroad  tracks.  Grow- 
ing up  on  the  American  Ranch,  bought  in  1856  by  Elias  Anderson,  the 
settlement  soon  became  a  stop  for  travelers  and  the  starting  point  of  a 
trail  to  the  Trinity  mines. 

In  the  fifties  COTTONWOOL),  145.3  m.  (435  alt.,  150  pop.), 
now  a  scattered  village  of  rutted  winding  streets,  frame  shanties,  and 
red  brick  and  frame  false-front  stores  with  wooden  awnings,  was  a 
miners'  trade  center. 

Left  from  Cottonwood  on  the  main  street,  which  becomes  a  bumpy, 
gravel-strewn  road  as  it  winds  off  into  fields  and  pastures,  to  the  junction 
with  a  dirt  road,  3.2  m.;  R.  here  to  the  junction  with  a  second  dirt  road, 
3.7  m.;  L.  through  a  gate  to  a  fork  in  the  road,  4.2  m.;  L.  here,  through 
another  gate  at  4.7  m.;  and  over  stretches  of  cattle  land  to  the  READING 
ADOBE,  5.7  m.,  a  one-story  oblong  structure  with  crumbling  walls  of  reddish 
adobe  brick  propped  by  boards  and  a  brick  chimney  rising  from  a  peaked, 
shingled  roof.  Built  in  1846,  this  was  the  bunkhouse  of  .Pierson  Barton 
Reading's  buckaroos.  Here  too  stood  a  smokehouse,  a  barn,  and  Reading's 
two-story  mansion  where  the  pioneers  of  northern  California — Sutter, 
Bidwell,  Lassen,  and  Fremont — often  gathered.  Reading's  a6,ooo-acre 
Rancho  Buena  Ventura,  northernmost  Mexican  grant  in  California, 
stretched  along  the  Sacramento;  he  took  possession  in  1845.  When  Shasta 
County  was  organized  in  1850,  the  county  seat  was  fixed  here,  where  it 
remained  till  its  removal  to  Shasta  the  next  year.  Here  were  grown  the 
first  cotton  in  the  State  and  the  first  olives  in  northern  California.  Reading 
died  in  1868;  his  grave  is  on  a  slight  rise  nearby. 
At  159.5  m.  on  US  99  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  ADOBE  HOUSE  OF  GEN.  WILLIAM  B.  IDE,  0.9  m., 
still  in  use.  Built  by  the  first  and  only  president  of  the  short-lived  Bear 
Flag  Republic  in  1849,  the  house  stands  sheltered  by  ancient  oaks  in  a 
hedged  garden  overlooking  the  Sacramento.  Here  Ide  established  a  ferry, 
which  continued  in  operation  until  the  iSyo's.  A  small  one-story  structure, 
whose  adobe  bricks  show  through  peeling  whitewash,  the  house  has  been 
enlarged  with  a  frame  addition  and  lean-to  porch.  Across  the  north  wall, 
beneath  low  eaves,  are  portholes  for  use  in  defense  during  Indian  raids. 

RED  BLUFF,  160.6  m.  (309  alt.,  3,517  pop.),  seat  of  Tehama 
County,  spreads  along  low  bluffs  above  the  Sacramento,  not  far  from 
the  cliff  of  reddish  sand  and  gravel  for  which  Ide's  Rancho  de  la  Bar- 
ranca Colorado  (red  bluff  ranch)  was  named.  Red  Bluff's  settlers, 


438        CALIFORNIA 

who  first  called  their  town  Leodocia,  never  found  the  gold  for  which 
they  were  looking,  although  it  was  discovered  in  adjoining  sections. 
Their  wealth  came  from  wheatfields  and  vineyards.  A  neat  little  town 
of  quiet,  tree-lined  streets,  with  old  brick  business  buildings,  Red  Bluff 
is  the  chief  trading  center  for  the  upper  Sacramento  Valley. 

In  the  1850*8  the  Sacramento,  flowing  past  Red  Bluff  between  tree- 
bordered  banks,  was  churned  into  foam  by  the  paddle  wheels  of  steamers 
puffing  up  from  Sacramento.  By  wagon  and  pack  train  their  cargoes 
went  westward  to  the  Trinity  mines  and  the  Coast  Range  diggings. 
In  those  days  the  saloons,  taverns,  and  corrals  were  alive  with  hordes 
of  boatmen,  packers,  gamblers,  and  miners.  As  the  great  valley  plains 
were  ploughed  and  the  river  water  diverted  into  irrigation  ditches,  the 
Sacramento  dwindled.  It  is  no  longer  the  State's  mightiest  avenue  of 
traffic,  although  it  is  still  navigable  for  225  miles  at  high  water,  and 
even  now,  with  the  San  Joaquin  River,  forms  an  inland  waterway  that 
ranks  high  in  tonnage  of  water-borne  commerce.  Its  seasonal  variation 
helped  ruin  river  transportation,  but  Red  Bluff  may  again  hear  steam- 
boat whistles  when  Shasta  Dam  harnesses  the  temperamental  waters  in 
an  even  flow. 

Of  Red  Bluff's  former  river  traffic,  the  only  remaining  evidence  is 
a  neglected  cluster  of  one-story  false-front  buildings,  once  shipping 
offices,  overlooking  the  river.  The  WILLIAM  B.  IDE  MEMORIAL  MU- 
SEUM, in  the  old  two-story  red  brick  CITY  HALL,  at  Pine  and  Wash- 
ington Sts.,  exhibits  a  collection  of  articles  picked  up  along  the  Lassen 
Trail,  relics  of  early  settlers — firearms,  riding  gear,  tools,  and  house- 
hold treasures — and  Indian  and  Chinese  relics.  Opposite  the  museum 
in  a  green  square  bordered  by  Pine  and  Washington  Sts.  is  the  modern 
TEHAMA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE.  The  JOHN  BROWN  FAMILY 
HOUSE,  at  135  Main  St.,  is  an  undistinguished  little  clapboarded  cot- 
tage with  shingled  roof  and  porch.  In  1864  Red  Bluff's  citizens,  ardent 
admirers  of  the  abolitionist  crusader,  raised  money  to  aid  John  Brown's 
widow  and  three  daughters,  who  lived  here  until  1870. 

Red  Bluff  is  at  the  junctions  with  US  ggE  (see  TOUR  jB)  and 
State  36  (see  TOUR  6A).  South  of  Red  Bluff  the  route  follows  US 
99W. 

South  of  Red  Bluff  the  level  plains  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  spread 
like  the  prairie  of  the  Midwest,  rimmed  by  distant  foothills.  The  route 
runs  through  grazing  lands  dotted  with  oaks  and  through  great  grain- 
fields  crisscrossed  by  miles  of  fences.  At  intervals  are  the  little  towns, 
half  hidden  in  clumps  of  trees. 

CORNING,  178.6  m.  (277  alt.,  1,377  pop.),  stands  in  a  belt  of 
olive  groves.  The  Sevillano  olive,  grown  here  in  huge  quantities,  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  best  varieties;  olive  oil  refining  and  olive  canning 
are  the  chief  industrial  activities.  The  scattered  frame  houses  are 
shaded  by  umbrella  trees  and  long  files  of  shaggy  palms. 

US  99  crosses  an  irrigation  canal  into  ORLAND,  192.1  m.  (259 
alt.,  1,195  POP«)>  where  modern  schools  and  business  buildings  are 
shaded  by  umbrella  and  black  walnut  trees.  The  Reclamation  Service 


TOUR    3      439 

Orland  Irrigation  Project  was  the  first  organized  in  the  State  after  the 
passage  of  the  Wright  Irrigation  Act  in  1887. 

Below  Orland  stretch  grainfields  where  wheat  and  barley  were 
first  grown  on  a  large  scale  in  the  late  l85o's.  As  thousands  of  acres 
of  virgin  land  were  sown,  California's  output  of  wheat  became  as  valu- 
able as  her  gold.  By  1872  the  Glenn-Colusa  area  produced  1,000,000 
sacks  of  grain  yearly.  Overlord  of  the  region  was  Dr.  Hugh  J.  Glenn, 
who  in  1867  purchased  the  7,ooo-acre  Rancho  Jacinto  and  added  to  it 
until  his  holdings  totaled  55,000  acres,  of  which  45,000  were  in  wheat. 
To  put  in  the  crop,  108  mule  teams  were  required;  they  were  accom- 
panied by  cook  houses  and  feed  and  water  wagons.  From  1874  until 
his  death  in  1883,  Glenn  was  the  leading  grain  farmer  in  the  United 
States.  Afterwards  poor  crops  and  low  prices  led  to  the  subdivision  of 
the  ranch.  During  the  early  1890*5,  as  wheat  yield  decreased  through- 
out the  region,  grain  farming  was  linked  with  stock  raising  and  the  big 
ranches  were  broken  up  into  small  tracts. 

WILLOWS,  208.6  m.  (139  alt.,  2,024  pop.),  seat  of  Glenn 
County,  was  so  named  because  the  clump  of  willows  bordering  the  creek 
was  once  the  only  landmark  between  the  river  and  the  foothill  settle- 
ments. The  first  store  here  was  known  as  "the  store  at  the  willows." 
The  Sacramento  Valley  Irrigation  Company,  one  of  the  largest  pri- 
vately owned  irrigation  systems  in  the  West,  pumps  water  from  the 
Sacramento  River  into  a  great  ditch  and  distributes  it  over  60,000  sur- 
rounding acres. 

US  99  cuts  into  the  heart  of  a  great  rice-growing  belt.  At  harvest 
time  the  lush,  water-soaked  fields  are  a  yellow-green  sea  of  bending, 
plumed  stalks.  Rice  was  first  grown  in  Colusa  County  in  1911,  when 
W.  K.  Brown  planted  75  acres. 

At  MAXWELL,  224.6  m.  (95  alt.,  506  pop.),  ramshackle  frame 
and  brick  buildings  face  the  warehouses  bordering  the  railroad  tracks. 

Right  from  Maxwell  on  a  paved  road,  past  prune  and  lemon  groves 
covering  low  hills,  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  6.1  m.;  L.  here  02  m. 
past  a  decrepit  farmhouse  and  around  the  base  of  a  craggy  hill  to  an  old 
STONE  CORRAL,  an  enclosure  of  rough  stone.  Concrete  pillars  at  the  en- 
trance bear  the  inscriptions:  "Erected  by  John  W.  Steele  1855."  Here  were 
rounded  up  the  herds  of  Granville  P.  Swift  that  grazed  throughout  the 
valley  tended  by  Indian  vaqueros.  Swift,  a  tall  Kentuckian,  came  to  Cali- 
fornia in  1844  with  the  Kelsey  party,  first  band  of  settlers  to  come  directly 
overland;  a  leader  in  every  important  controversy  between  Yankees  and 
Californians,  he  headed  one  of  the  three  companies  in  the  Bear  Flag  Revolt 
and  served  as  Captain  of  Company  C  of  the  California  Battalion  under 
Fremont.  After  the  Mexican  War  he  became  a  miner  and  then  a  stock 


Amid  far-spreading  rice  fields  is  WILLIAMS,  233.8  m.  (84  alt., 
851  pop-)>  laid  out  by  W.  H.  Williams  in  1876,  today  a  supply  and 
shipping  point.  In  1914  when  a  band  of  about  50  I.  W.  W/s  created 
much  excitement  and  hostility  by  marching  through  the  county,  the 
town  of  Williams  calmly  provided  them  with  breakfast  and  gave  them 
$60  for  cleaning  up  its  cemetery. 


44°        CALIFORNIA 

Left  from  Williams  on  State  20  is  COLUSA,  9.8  m.  (58  alt.,  2,116  pop.), 
seat  of  Colusa  County.  The  name  comes  from  Ko-ru  (scratcher),  head 
village  of  the  Ko-ru-si  tribe,  on  whose  ruins  Colusa  stands;  among  these 
Indians  it  was  the  privilege  of  a  bride  to  begin  her  honeymoon  by  scratch- 
ing her  husband's  face.  Colusa  was  founded  soon  after  Col.  Charles  D. 
Semple  purchased  two  square  leagues  of  land  here  from  John  Bidwell. 
Although  snags,  sandbars,  and  sharp  turns  made  the  river  dangerous,  he 
persisted  in  his  efforts  to  develop  river  commerce  until  Colusa  was  con- 
nected with  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco  by  regular  steamboat  service. 
Up  the  Old  River  Road,  which  followed  the  west  bank  of  the  river  from 
Colusa  to  Shasta  City,  ran  stage  coaches  and  freight  wagons.  River  traffic 
continued  until  a  railroad  was  built  in  1876.  After  that  a  line  of  barges 
that  towed  wood  to  Sacramento  was  the  only  important  river  line  until 
1901,  when  the  Farmers'  Transportation  Company  established  regular 
service  with  boats  once  a  week.  Notable  for  its  dignified  simplicity  is  the 
COLUSA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  a  tall  white  edifice  with  huge  pillars  flanking 
the  entrance. 

ARBUCKLE,  244.6  m.  (139  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  is  a  trade  town. 
C.  H.  Locke,  observing  that  oak  trees  here  grew  immense  crops  of 
acorns,  planted  21  acres  of  almonds  in  1892.  Today  more  than  7,000 
acres  of  almond  orchards  surround  the  town. 

At  268.7  m.  on  US  99  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  YOLO  (Ind.,  place  of  rushes),  0.4  m.  (78  alt., 
296  pop.),  an  old-fashioned  town  with  rutted  streets  and  old  houses,  picket 
fences,  and  many  walnut  trees.  From  1857  to  1861  it  was  the  seat  of 
Yolo  County. 

WOODLAND,  274.2  m.  (63  alt.,  5,542  pop.),  trade  center  of  a 
productive  area,  has  its  compact  central  business  district  of  modern  shops, 
bustling  with  traffic.  Woodland's  first  settler  arrived  in  1853;  two 
years  later  a  blacksmith  shop  was  set  up,  about  which  soon  clustered 
stores  and  saloons.  Experiments  in  irrigation  were  begun  in  the  vicinity 
with  the  diversion  of  Cache  Creek  in  1856.  First  named  Yolo  City 
and  nicknamed  "By  Hell"  for  an  early  saloonkeeper's  favorite  oath, 
Woodland  acquired  its  present  name — suggested  by  the  grove  of  huge 
oaks  in  which  it  stood — when  the  post  office  was  opened  in  1859.  The 
large,  handsome,  two-story  YOLO,  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  its  central 
portico  with  Corinthian  columns  and  a  balustraded  cornice,  stands  in 
a  landscaped  square  between  Second  and  Third  Streets. 

At  283.8  m.  is  the  western  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9b), 
which  unites  eastward  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  9b) . 

SACRAMENTO,  298.7  m.  (30  alt.,  93,750  pop.)  (see  SACRA- 
MENTO). 

At  Sacramento  is  the  eastern  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9a) 
and  the  northern  junction  with  US  50  (see  TOUR  Wa) 

Section  b.    SACRAMENTO  to  BAKERSFIELD;  265.5  m.  US  99 

This  section  of  US  99  runs  through  the  heart  of  the  great  Central 
Valley,  a  desert  of  almost  unbelievable  fertility  under  irrigation.  But 
irrigation  demands  unremitting  toil;  the  omission  of  a  single  quarterly 


T  O  U  R     3        441 

watering  throughout  might  kill  every  tree  and  cultivated  plant  on  the 
vast  valley  floor.  Farming  here  is  not  farming  as  Easterners  know  it; 
most  of  the  ranches  are  food  factories,  with  superintendents  and  fore- 
men, administrative  headquarters  and  machine  sheds.  Even  the  owners 
of  small  ranches  usually  concentrate  on  a  single  crop;  and  they  must 
send  to  the  store  if  they  want  as  much  as  one  egg.  In  addition  to  the 
permanent  employees  the  valley  uses  a  great  deal  of  seasonal  labor 
that  forms  a  constant  problem.  The  migratory  worker,  constantly  on 
the  move  to  catch  the  harvest  seasons  of  one  crop  after  the  other — 
peaches,  walnuts,  apricots,  grapes,  celery — never  stays  long  enough  in 
any  area  to  establish  himself  as  a  citizen.  He  lives  apart  from  other 
residents,  occasionally  in  barracks  behind  the  fields  and  orchards,  more 
often  in  crude  shelters  of  his  own  devising  along  the  river  bottoms. 
Because  there  are  too  many  who  want  work,  the  migrant  cannot  com- 
mand an  adequate  return  for  his  labor.  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
do  not  know  him  and  his  family  and  local  governments  feel  no  responsi- 
bility for  him.  No  one  knows  how  to  help  him  with  his  problems  and 
no  one  knows  how  to  get  along  without  his  help. 

South  of  SACRAMENTO,  0  m.t  US  99,  which  is  united  with  US 
50  to  Stockton,  runs  between  orchards,  vineyards,  and  dairy  farms. 

OLD  ELK  GROVE,  16  m.  now  a  scattering  of  houses  and  an  old 
cemetery,  was  founded  in  1850  by  James  Hall,  who  built  a  hotel  that 
burned  in  1857. 

Left  here  on  a  dirt  road  to  modern  ELK  GROVE,  1  m.  (49  alt,  895  pop.), 
which  sprang  up  after  the  burning  of  the  hotel.  The  town  lies  in  the 
midst  of  a  Tokay  grape  district  with  one  of  the  oldest  wineries  in 
California. 

The  area  around  GALT,  23  m.  (46  alt.,  700  pop.),  which  was  laid 
out  in  1869,  produces  poultry  and  dairy  products,  figs  and  grain. 

No  one  knows  how  LODI,  30  m.  (51  alt.,  6,788  pop.),  northern- 
most town  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  got  its  name.  It  is  a  typical 
valley  town:  the  streets  almost  all  wide,  straight,  and  lined  with  trees 
that  give  a  deceptive  promise  of  protection  from  the  intense  heat  in 
summer.  Proud  of  its  vineyards,  it  holds  a  Grape  and  Wine  Festival  in 
September. 

STOCKTON,  43  m.  (23  alt.,  47,963  pop.),  (see  STOCKTON) 
is  at  the  junction  with  US  50  (see  TOUR  lOb). 

US  99  moves  south  across  a  flat  expanse  covered  with  great  walnut 
orchards,  truck  farms,  melon  tracts,  vineyards,  and  pastures. 

MANTECA  (Sp.,  mantequilla,  butter),  56.2  m.  (40  alt.,  1,614 
pop.),  began  in  1870  as  CowelFs  Station,  a  stop  on  the  new  Central 
Pacific  Railroad.  Its  subsequent  development  as  the  shipping  center 
for  great  quantities  of  dairy  products  led  to  the  adoption  of  its  present 
name.  Grapes  and  sugar  beets  are  also  grown  nearby. 

Left  from  Manteca  on  State  120  to  OAKDALE,  21.2  m.  (150  alt.,  3,112 
pop.),  a  dairying  center  set  on  a  plateau  above  the  Stanislaus  River  over- 
looking irrigated  valley  land.  Dairying  is  the  principal  industry,  supple- 


442        CALIFORNIA 

mented  by  diversified  horticulture  and  almond  growing.  An  annual 
Almond  Blossom  Festival  is  held  in  the  spring.  In  the  robust  iSyo's  and 
i88o's  Oakdale,  on  the  road  to  the  mines,  was  raucous  at  times.  It  takes 
its  name  from  the  live  oaks  that  surrounded  the  site  when  the  town  was 
founded  in  1871. 

At  33.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road;  L.  on  this  road  0.8  m.  to 
KNIGHT'S  FERRY  (200  alt.,  80  pop.),  through  whose  mud-bogged  streets 
Mark  Twain  and  Bret  Harte  trudged  in  the  days  when  they  were  nobodies. 
In  the  early  iSso's  Knight's  Ferry  was  temporarily  renamed  Dentville,  for 
Lewis  and  John  Dent,  brothers-in-law  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  One  of  the 
town's  cherished  landmarks  is  an  old-fashioned  COVERED  BRIDGE  over  the 
Stanislaus  River  reputedly  designed  by  Grant  in  1854  while  visiting  them. 
Lewis  Dent  "became  Grant's  aide-de-camp  during  the  Civil  War  and 
Minister  to  Chile  during  his  presidency.  Among  the  buildings  dating  from 
the  gold  rush  days  are  the  MASONIC  TEMPLE,  the  FIRE  HOUSE  with  its 
dilapidated  hosecart,  and  the  adobe  ruins  of  the  COURT  HOUSE,  built  in 
1861  as  a  hotel,  which  served  as  a  court  house  during  the  town's  reign 
(1862-72)  as  seat  of  Stanislaus  County. 

At  482  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  49-108  (see  TOUR  ^b)  which  unites 
with  State  120  between  this  point  and  a  junction  at  55.1  m.  (see  TOUR  #b) . 

At  PRIEST'S  STATION,  64.9  m.  (2,500  alt.),  a  busy  supply  depot  for 
early  gold  miners,  the  old  Priest  Hotel  was  a  stopping  point  on  the  route 
to  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Stanislaus  River.  The  dances  held  in  its 
fo-foot  ballroom  were  gala  events  of  the  region. 

BIG  OAK  FLAT,  66  m.  (2,950  alt.,  317  pop.),  was  founded  as  Savage 
Diggings  by  James  Savage,  who  settled  here  with  his  five  Indian  wives 
and  a  retinue  of  red-skinned  servants  in  1850.  The  present  name  was 
derived  from  an  oak,  n  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  that  stood  in  the 
center  of  town  until  it  was  felled  for  the  gold  that  clung  to  its  roots;  an 
arch,  with  remnants  of  the  tree  embedded  in  its  framework,  marks  the  site. 
Several  pioneer  structures  remain,  including  the  ODD  FELLOWS  HALL. 

GROVELAND,  67.9  m.  (2,850  alt.,  300  pop.),  once  known  as  First 
Garrote  for  an  execution  by  that  method  carried  out  here  during  the  gold 
rush,  is  an  attractive  rural  village.  Reminders  of  the  past  are  the  iron 
doors  and  stone  walls  of  the  WELLS  FARGO  OFFICE  and  the  GROVELAND 
HOTEL  with  its  second-story  balconies. 

SECOND  GARROTE,  69.9  m.,  took  its  name  from  the  HANGMAN  TREE, 
still  standing  (L),  from  whose  branches  criminals  of  mining  days  are  said 
to  have  been  hanged.  Although  historians  find  no  evidence  that  Bret  Harte 
ever  saw  this  region,  two  old  prospectors,  Chaffee  and  Chamberlain,  who 
lived  in  the  BRET  HARTE  CABIN  (R),  are  locally  claimed  to  be  the  originals 
of  his  Tennessee's  Partner. 

State  120  continues  to  rise  into  the  mountains  to  the  junction  with  a  paved 
road,  85.9  m.  (see  YOSEMITE  PARK  TOUR  3). 

Around  RIPON,  62.5  m.  (68  alt.,  I,IOO  pop.),  radiate  large  vine- 
yards. Chief  industrial  plant  in  the  district  is  the  SCHENLEY  DIS- 
TILLERY (R).  A  large  roadsign  proclaims  the  sprawling,  white, 
peaked-roof  building  as  the  "World's  Largest  Exclusive  Brandy  Dis- 
tillery." 

Ripon  also  claims  "The  World's  Largest  Out-door  Rummy  Game," 
sponsored  by  the  American  Legion  post;  the  first  out-door  game  was 
held  in  1932,  with  600  rummy,  whist  and  bridge  players,  surrounded 
by  as  many  onlookers,  seated  at  tables  set  up  in  the  town's  main  street. 
The  1938  card  party,  which  attracted  900  participants,  was  staged  in 
PORTUGUESE  GROVE.  Players  and  spectators  alike  pay  $i  admission. 
The  proceeds,  minus  the  prize  money,  go  to  charities. 


TOUR    3      443 

US  99  crosses  the  STANISLAUS  RIVER,  63.2  m.,  one  of  the 
fabulous  streams  of  the  gold  rush  era,  whose  pastoral  beauty  in  this 
region  was  described  by  Bret  Harte  in  his  Down  on  the  Stanislaus. 

SALIDA,  65.5  m.  (70  alt.,  600  pop.),  a  fruit,  alfalfa,  and  grain 
shipping  point,  is  a  center  for  dove  and  quail  hunting. 

MODESTO  (Sp.,  modest),  71.9  m.  (86  alt.,  13,842  pop.),  seat 
of  Stanislaus  County,  is  on  the  banks  of  the  Tuolumne  River,  here  a 
muddy  trickle  because  its  waters  have  been  impounded  in  the  foothills 
behind  2OO-feet  high  Don  Pedro  Dam  to  provide  waters  for  the 
Modesto  and  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts.  Modesto  was  laid  out  by 
the  Southern  Pacific  in  1870  after  an  older  settlement  nearby  had  bick- 
ered over  concessions;  the  railroad  company  proposed  naming  it  for 
W.  C.  Ralston,  the  San  Francisco  banker,  but  when  he  declined  the 
honor  some  official  turned  a  neat  compliment  to  his  modesty  by  be- 
stowing the  present  name.  The  railroad  company  showed  foresight  in 
the  town  planning;  the  streets,  crossing  at  right  angles,  run  northeast, 
southwest,  northwest  and  southeast  to  give  the  maximum  of  shade  dur- 
ing the  days  of  intense  heat.  Modesto  has  canneries,  dairies,  packing 
plants,  and  warehouses  to  care  for  the  agricultural  products  of  the 
prolific  area  for  which  it  is  a  trade  and  shipping  center. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  CERES,  76  m.  (88  alt.,  981  pop.),  check- 
ered with  vineyards  and  fig,  peach,  apricot,  and  pear  orchards,  the  date 
gardens  are  of  particular  interest — new  groves  with  low  feathery  palms 
as  well  as  older  ones  whose  trees  are  so  tall  that  adjustable  platforms, 
resembling  painters'  scaffolds,  are  fastened  around  them  to  facilitate 
the  picking  and  pollinating.  The  latter  process,  which  is  always  done 
by  hand  (late  March  or  April),  affects  the  size  of  the  seed,  the  size  of 
the  fruit,  and  even  the  time  of  its  ripening.  Experiments  in  which 
pollen  from  different  varieties  of  male  palms  was  applied  to  separate 
strands  of  inflorescence  on  the  same  female  palm  (by  means  of  glassine 
bags)  demonstrated  that  by  selection  of  the  male  pollen,  the  growers 
could  control  the  ripening  time  of  their  fruit  by  as  much  as  twenty  to 
thirty  days. 

US  99  crosses  and  recrosses  a  network  of  canals  on  its  way  to 
TURLOCK,  84.6  m.  (101  alt.,  4,276  pop.),  in  the  midst  of  hundreds 
of  small  farms — all  depending  upon  the  vast  Turlock  Irrigation  District 
launched  in  1887.  The  farms  produce  dairy  and  poultry  products  and  a 
variety  of  crops:  alfalfa,  sweet  potatoes,  watermelons,  peaches,  apricots, 
grapes,  and  grain.  The  town  celebrates  its  watermelon  crop  at  an 
August  melon  carnival. 

US  99  crosses  the  MERCED  RIVER,  92.8  m.,  which  rises  in  Lakes 
Merced  and  Tenaya  in  Yosemite  National  Park.  The  stream  was 
named  by  Lieut.  Gabriel  Moraga,  a  Spanish  army  officer,  who  explored 
the  valley  in  1813.  Weakened  by  thirst,  the  party  drank  greedily  of  the 
waters;  in  gratitude  they  named  it  River  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  (de  las 
Mercedes} . 

LIVINGSTON,  94.4  1*1.^(131  alt.,  803  pop.),  trade  center  of  a 
sweet  potato  belt,  also  ships  raisins,  grapes,  peaches,  and  alfalfa. 


444        CALIFORNIA 

Left  from  Livingston  4  m.  to  the  i,ioo-acre  VALLEY  AGRICULTURAL  COR- 
PORATION VINEYARD,  producing  Thompson  seedless  grapes.  The  vineyards 
are  enclosed  by  a  rabbit-proof  fence. 

ATWATER,  100.9  m.  (153  alt.,  319  pop.),  styles  itself  the  "Home 
of  the  Merced  Sweet  Potato." 

BUHACH,  102.4  m.  (155  alt.,  100  pop.),  is  the  trading  center  for 
a  district  of  Portuguese  farmers  who  specialize  in  growing  pyrethrum 
(feverfew),  the  powdered  blossoms  of  which  are  used  in  certain  in- 
secticides. 

MERCED,  108.3  m.  (167  alt.,  7,006  pop.),  seat  of  Merced  County, 
is  the  principal  rail  and  motor  gateway  to  Yosemite  National  Park.  It 
is  in  a  grazing  and  hay  and  cotton-producing  area  and  has  a  cotton  gin, 
cement  factories  and  potteries.  A  rodeo  is  held  in  June  and  a  District 
Fair  in  October. 

Left  from  Merced  on  G  St.,  which  becomes  State  140;  at  0.5  m.  is  the 
junction  with  Snelling  Rd.;  L.  here  to  a  junction  at  6  m.;  R.  1.5  m.  to 
yoo-acre  LAKE  YOSEMITE,  a  summer  resort.  On  Snelling  Rd.  is 
SNELLING,  19  m.  (252  alt.,  324  pop.),  once  a  mining  town  and  until  1872 
the  seat  of  Merced  County. 

On  State  140  is  PLANADA,  10  m.  (167  alt.,  350  pop.),  called  Geneva 
when  platted  in  1912  as  a  model  town. 

State  140  ascends  1,900  feet  in  27  miles  through  the  foothills  of  the 
Sierra. 

Since  1854  MARIPOSA  (butterfly),  80  m.  (1,962  alt.,  383  pop.),  has  been 
the  seat  of  Mariposa  County.  In  summer  the  town  does  a  brisk  tourist 
business  as  Yosemite-bound  traffic  roars  past  its  mellow  frame  buildings 
with  sidewalk  roofs.  The  COURTHOUSE,  a  two-story,  square,  white-frame 
building,  topped  by  a  slender,  square  clock  tower,  is  the  oldest  in  Cali- 
fornia; it  was  built  in  1854,  fastened  together  with  wooden  pegs.  The 
MARIPOSA  GAZETTE  OFFICE  (1854)  has  yellowed  newspaper  files  that  hold 
much  of  California's  early  history  as  one  of  the  United  States. 

Mariposa  is  at  the  junction  with  State  49  (see  TOUR  J^b}. 

West  of  Mariposa  State  140  mounts  steadily,  passing  camps  and  resorts 
to  EL  PORTAL,  72  m.,  the  railroad  entrance  to  Yosemite  National  Park 
(see  YOSEMITE  TOUR  i}. 

CHOWCHILLA,  125.2  m.  (240  alt.,  847  pop.),  is  in  a  district  of 
dairying,  hog  and  poultry  raising,  cotton,  fruit,  and  grain  growing.  In 
the  city  are  cotton  gins,  creameries,  concrete  pipe  factories,  and  a  cotton- 
seed oil  mill.  The  Chowchilla  River  is  referred  to  locally  as  the  region's 
Mason  and  Dixon  Line;  legend  has  it  that  Union  soldiers  marching 
south  from  Stockton  during  the  Civil  War  were  ordered  to  load  their 
guns  when  they  reached  it. 

US  99  passes  through  olive  groves  and  apricot  orchards  to 
BERENDA,  133.6  m.  (255  alt.),  a  small  collection  of  frame  dwellings 
grouped  about  the  characteristically  tan-gray  frame  Southern  Pacific 
railroad  station.  Beyond  the  MADERA  COUNTY  FAIRGROUNDS  AND 
RACE  TRACK  (R)  139.4  m.,  it  spans  the  Fresno  River. 

MADERA,  140.4  m.  (272  alt.,  4,655  pop.),  seat  of  Madera 
County,  was  laid  out  in  1876  by  the  California  Lumber  Company. 
Besides  lumber,  it  produces  great  quantities  of  sweet  wine.  In  October 
Maderans  celebrate  Old  Timers'  Day. 


TOUR    3      445 

South  of  Madera  the  grape  vineyards  are  displaced  by  cotton  fields 
and  orchards.  The  small  cluster  of  frame  houses  in  HERNDON, 
152  m.  (296  alt.,  60  pop.),  is  bowered  in  fig  orchards,  which  press  to 
the  edges  of  the  highway  and  railroad  tracks. 

FRESNO,  161  m.  (287  alt.,  52,513  pop.)   (see  FRESNO). 

1.  Left  from  Fresno  on  Kearney  Blvd.,  to  KEARNEY  PARK,  7  m.,  an 
experimental    farm    and   park    operated    by   the    University    of    California. 
Five  thousand   acres   are   devoted   to   experimental    work;    the   picturesque 
24O-acre  park  in  the  center  of  the  tract  is  a  recreational  area. 

2.  Left   from    Fresno    on    State    180    (Ventura    Ave.),    to    a    junction    at 
13.2  m. ;  R.  here  2  m.  to  SANGER  (370  alt.,  2,967  pop.),  trade  center  of  a 
region    producing    semi-tropical    fruits,    grapes,    plums,    and    various    field 
crops. 

State  180  continues  eastward,  crosses  the  fertile  Kings  River  Valley,  and 
begins  to  rise  into  the  Sierra  foothills.  The  highway  passes  through 
GENERAL  GRANT  NATIONAL  PARK,  with  Administrative  headquar- 
ters at  62  m.  (see^  SEQUOIA  AND  GENERAL  GRANT  NATIONAL 
PARKS),  where  guides  and  packhorses  are  available  for  trips  into  adjacent 
areas.  The  highway,  winding  in  a. generally  northward  direction  through 
the  park,  bends  abruptly  R.  when  it  reaches  the  canyon  of  the  South  Fork 
of  Kings  River,  76  m.  The  road  is  being  pushed  on  up  the  canyon  year 
by  year  over  what  is  now  merely  a  pack  trail.  Connoisseurs  of  mountain 
scenery  have  long  exalted  this  route  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
world.  Everything  that  the  Sierra  can  offer  in  the  way  of  breath-taking 
contrast  and  dramatic  beauty  is  here — tiny  peaceful  meadows  below  tower- 
ing polished  domes,  dozens  of  cascades,  any  one  of  which  would  be 
considered  a  crowning  glory  in  an  Eastern  State,  and  multi-colored  crags 
against  skies  unbelievably  blue. 

3.  Left   from    Fresno   on    State    168    (Fresno    St.),    paved    in   the    lower 
regions,  oiled  in  the  mountains,  is  CLOVIS,  11   m.    (360  alt.,   1,310  pop.), 
the  trade  center  for  a  wine-producing,  lumbering,  and  dairying  hinterland. 

ACADEMY,  22  m.  (580  alt.,  45  pop),  has  granite  quarries.  State  168 
mounts  rapidly  to  TOLLHOUSE,  32  m.,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  circuitous 
Tollhouse  Road.  SHAVER  LAKE  (5,200  alt.),  48  m.,  lies  star-shaped  in 
a  pine-rimmed  depression  of  the  Sierras;  in  its  waters  are  lake,  rainbow, 
Lochleve,  big  mouth,  black  bass,  and  blue  gills.  HUNTINGTON  LAKE 
70  m.  (7,000  alt.),  7.  miles  long,  is  fed  by  melting  snows  from  the  14,000- 
foot  peaks  that  rise  from  its  shores.  One  of  California's  foremost  summer 
and  winter  mountain  resorts,  the  lake  is  also  part  of  a  gigantic  hydro- 
electric project.  From  Florence  Lake,  formed  by  a  great  multiple-arch 
dam  across  the  South  Fork  of  the  San  Joaquin  River  14  miles  northeast, 
water  is  diverted  through  a  tunnel  carved  through  solid  rock  to  Huntington 
Lake,  where  it  is  held  by  three  concrete  dams,  each  about  1,000  feet  long 
and  200  feet  high.  From  here  the  water  shoots  2,000  feet  down  a  45-degree 
incline  to  the  turbines  of  the  Big  Creek  power  house.  Along  the  lake  are 
various  bathing  beaches  and  at  the  tiny  resort  centers  on  the  shores  guides 
and  horses  are  available  for  trips  into  the  High  Sierra.  The  highway 
continues  further  into  the  mountains  to  various  summer  camps. 

South  of  Fresno  trim  vineyards  border  US  99  for  unbroken  miles. 

MALAGA,  166.3  m.  (293  alt.,  125  pop.),  is  a  wine  center  special- 
izing in  muscat  grapes,  a  species  imported  from  Malaga,  Spain,  in  1852. 
Sheep  raising  is  the  next  most  important  activity  of  the  area. 

FOWLER,  170.3  m.  (290  alt.,  1,166  pop.),  is  an  important  horse 
and  mule  market.  It  has  several  whisky  warehouses,  grape  processing 
plants,  and  fruit  packing  houses. 


446        CALIFORNIA 

SELMA,  176.3  m.  (305  alt.,  3,047  pop.),  is  another  packing  center 
in  the  muscat  grape  belt.  Some  of  the  grapes  are  converted  into  mus- 
catel wine;  some  are  seeded  and  dried  to  become  raisins;  others — those 
that  come  from  the  vine  in  large,  full  clusters — are  dried  on  the  stem 
for  the  fancy  Christmas  trade.  Although  considered  by  some  of  better 
flavor  than  the  Thompson  Seedless,  the  muscat  is  second  in  commercial 
importance  because  an  extra  seeding  process  is  required.  Most  of  the 
drying  is  done  in  September ;  the  muscats  are  spread  on  large  squares  of 
brown  paper  to  stand  in  the  sun  for  2  or  3  days. 

In  the  foothills  around  KINGSBURG,  181  m.  (300  alt.,  1,321 
pop.),  are  many  peach  orchards,  vineyards,  and  orange  groves.  The 
population,  still  90  per  cent  Swedish  in  descent,  is  made  up  of  the  chil- 
dren and  grandchildren  of  a  colony  of  Michigan  Swedes  that  settled 
here  in  the  i87o's. 

KINGS  RIVER,  crossed  at  182.8  777.,  was  discovered  in  1805  by 
Spaniards  who  piously  named  it  El  Rio  de  los  Santos  Reyes  (River  of 
the  Holy  Kings). 

At  GOSHEN  JUNCTION,  196.3  m.,  is  the  junction  with  State 
198,  paved. 

i.  Right  on  this  road  to  HANFORD,  13.2  m.  (246  alt.,  7,028  pop.),  seat  of 
Kings  County  and  the  trade  center  of  ranchers  who  specialize  in  stock- 
raising  and  dairying.  Around  the  5o-year-old,  two-story  tan-brick  court- 
house, and  the  squat,  granite-block  jail  an  ambitious  Civic  Center  is  being 
built.  The  new  reinforced-concrete  Community  Auditorium  is  the  first  unit. 

The  Mussell  Slough  feud,  upon  which  Frank  Norris  based  his  novel, 
The  Octopus,  came  to  a  climax  here.  A  group  of  angry  ranchers  had  or- 
ganized as  the  Settlers'  League  to  fight  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  which 
under  an  Act  of  Congress  was  taking  possession  of  every  odd-numbered 
section  of  land  along  its  newly  built  line.  In  May  1880  they  did  battle  with 
the  sheriff's  forces  here.  Five  ranchers  and  two  deputies  were  killed,  and 
17  league  members  went  to  jail — the  same  rock-walled  jail  that  stands  next 
to  the  courthouse. 

ARMONA,  182  m.  (239  alt,  250  pop.),  is  a  shipping  point  for  spinach, 
grapes,  and  other  fruit.  LEMOORE,  23  m.  (226  alt.,  1,399  pop.),  is  a 
dairying  and  fruit  growing  trade  center. 

COALINGA,  55  m.  (162  alt.,  2,851  pop.)  is  a  supply  point  for  oil  fields. 
In  1928  rich  new  sources  were  discovered  in  the  nearby  Kettleman  Hills. 

PRIEST  VALLEY  (2,373  *!*.,  67  pop.),  46  m.,  near  the  crest  of  the  Coast 
Range,  was  first  explored  by  old  Ben  Williams,  the  trapper,  in  1849.  Not 
long  after  that  William  Galman  and  Captain  Walker  came  upon  a  priest 
and  100  Indians  resting  here  after  rounding  up  wild  horses.  The  valley 
was  named  because  of  this  encounter,  but  it  is  better  known  as  the  place 
where  Joaquin  Murrieta,  California's  most  notorious  bandit,  was  killed  in 
1853.  The  spot  where  Murrieta  made  his  last  stand  is  said  to  be  the 
Arroya  Cantova,  at  the  head  of  a  small  nearby  canyon. 

Unjust  and  brutal  treatment  at  the  hands  of  some  Yankee  miners  started 
Murrieta  on  a  career  that  terrorized  the  mining  regions  and  stage  routes. 
He  began  by  fighting  invaders  of  his  native  land  but  soon  became  a  bandit. 
He  was  reputed  to  have  killed  every  man  of  the  group  that  originally 
mistreated  him.  The  State  offered  $5,000  reward  for  his  capture  in  1852. 
In  July  1853,  Capt.  Harry  Love  of  Santa  Clara,  with  a  posse  of  20  State 
Rangers,  left  San  Jose  to  find  him.  La  Molinera,  Murrieta's  former  wife, 
told  Captain  Love  that  he  would  probably  be  hiding  here.  To  mislead 
spies,  Love  and  his  squad  pretended  they  were  on  their  way  to  Los 


TOUR    3      447 

Angeles,  but  at  night  doubled  back  to  the  arroyo,  where  they  surprised 
Murrieta  and  his  gang.  Three-Fingered  Jack,  Murrieta's  lieutenant, 
scrambled  away  through  the  underbrush  with  Love  in  chase.  Love  shot 
him  between  the  eyes.  Murrieta  jumped  on  an  unsaddled  horse.  Hender- 
son, one  of  the  Rangers,  followed  and  shot  the  horse.  Murrieta,  stunned, 
began  stumbling  away  on  foot.  One  shot  from  Henderson's  pistol  brought 
him  to  one  knee,  another  killed  him.  A  man  named  Bill  Byrnes,  who  had 
once  been  Murrieta's  partner  in  a  monte  game,  cut  off  his  head,  which  was 
packed  in  salt  and  taken  back  to  San  Jose  to  prove  that  the  bandit  was 
dead.  This  head  and  the  hand  of  Three-Fingered  Jack  were  put  in  jars 
of  alcohol  and  exhibited  all  over  the  State.  They  disappeared  during  the 
San  Francisco  earthquake  and  fire  of  1906.  Murrieta's  exploits  were 
celebrated  in  the  picture  Robin  Hood  of  El  Dorado,  in  which  Warner 
Baxter  played  the  title  role. 

SAN  LUCAS,  71  m.  (see  TOUR  2b}  is  at  a  junction  with  US  101  (see 
TOUR2b}. 

2.  Left  from  Goshen  Junction  on  State  198  to  VISALIA,  6.4  m.  (333  alk, 
7,263  pop.),  seat  of  Tulare  County,  founded  in  1852  by  Nathaniel  Vice,  a 
bear  hunter,  who  combined  his  own  surname  with  his  wife's  given  name, 
Sallie,  to  form  Visalia.  Modern  Visalia,  with  its  eight  blocks  of  stores, 
restaurants,  cocktail  bars,  and  filling  stations,  is  quite  unlike  the  town  of 
the  iSyo's  and  i88o's,  chiefly  interested  in  the  cattle  business  and  noted  for 
the  skill  of  its  saddlemakers.  It  was  particularly  sympathetic  to  the 
enraged  immigrants  who  were  living  on  the  sections  of  land  given  by 
Congress  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  Towns  like  Visalia,  where  the 
inhabitants'  interests  were  tied  up  with  those  of  the  ranchers  rather  than 
the  railroad,  gave  encouragement  to  the  revolt  and  refuge  to  hunted 
rebels.  The  lines  of  warfare  became  very  ragged  as  rebels  held  up  trains 
and  looted  mail  cars  and  passengers  to  bring  the  railroad  company  to  terms 
— and  bandits  in  the  guise  of  rebels  did  the  same.  In  1892  three  leaders, 
John  and  George  Sontag  and  Chris  Evans,  were  captured;  Evans  and 
John  Sontag  escaped.  George  was  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  at 
Folsom.  Nearly  a  year  later  the  two  who  had  escaped  were  surprised  at 
a  place  a  few  miles  northeast  of  Visalia.  Sontag  was  fatally  wounded 
but  Evans,  with  one  arm  shattered  and  one  eye  gouged  out,  again  escaped, 
only  to  be  captured  on  the  following  day. 

Under  the  branches  of  the  ELECTION  TREE  (R),  14  m.,  a  party  under  the 
command  of  Maj.  James  D.  Savage  held  an  election  on  July  19,  1852,  by 
which  Tulare  County  was  formed.  The  oak  was  actually  the  county  seat 
until  Visalia  was  founded. 

The  KAWEAH  RIVER  comes  into  view  at  20  m.  and  parallels  the  road 
for  19  miles  eastward.  Its  North  and  South  Forks  unite  at  THREE 
RIVERS,  28.7  m.  (825  alt.,  18  pop.). 

At  29.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  graveled  road;  L.  here  1  m.  to 
KAWEAH,  now  little  but  a  name.  It  was  founded  in  1891  by  former 
members  of  the  International  Workingmen's  Association  who,  in  1885,  had 
made  plans  for  a  socialistic  community.  The  members  had  shocked  the 
countryside  by  filing  individual  claims  to  what  was  Sequoia  National  Park 
a  few  years  later  (see  SEQUOIA  AND  GENERAL  GRANT  NATIONAL 
PARKS}.  The  group,  which  formally  took  the  name  of  Kaweah  Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth  Colony  in  1886,  had  ambitious  plans  that  included  the 
founding  of  a  town  to  be  called  Avalon.  Their  difficulties  over  land  claims 
were  but  the  beginning  of  their  troubles,  however,  and  the  plan  was  finally 
abandoned. 

At  33.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  another  dirt  road;  R.  here  25.5  m.,  cutting 
across  part  of  Sequoia  National  Park,  to  MINERAL  KING  (summer 
lodge}.  This  tiny  settlement  (7,831  alt.),  at  the  base  of  SAWTOOTH 
PEAK  (12,340  alt.),  was  founded  in  1873  by  three  spiritualists;  here  they 
staked  the  White  Chief  Lode  silver  claim,  named  in  honor  of  the  Indian 


448        CALIFORNIA 

spirit  control  who  they  said  had  guided  them  to  it.  By  1875  they  had 
interested  enough  capital  to  enable  them  to  build  a  toll  road  to  the  claim. 
There  was  a  brief  inrush  of  miners  but  the  silver  could  not  be  recovered 
in  paying  quantities  and  in  1888  a  snowslide  destroyed  much  of  the 
property. 

At  37.5  m.  on  State  198  is  the  Ash  Mountain  entrance  to  Sequoia  National 
Park  (see  SEQUOIA  PARK  TOUR}. 

The  7,ooo-acre  TAGUS  RANCH,  199.7  m.}  advertises  itself  as  the 
"World's  Largest  Peach,  Apricot,  and  Nectarine  Orchard."  In  a  two- 
story,  white-colonial  building  (L)  200.8  m.  are  the  administrative 
offices.  The  fruit  warehouses,  cotton  gins,  and  loading  platforms  piled 
high  with  cotton  range  along  the  railroad  sidings. 

TULARE,  205.2  m.  (287  alt.,  6,207  pop.),  has  been  a  hard-luck 
town.  Founded  in  1872  as  division  headquarters  and  a  railroad  repair 
center  by  the  Southern  Pacific,  it  was  just  beginning  to  get  on  its  feet 
in  1883  when  a  fire  destroyed  a  large  part  of  it.  Rebuilt  by  1886,  it 
was  mowed  down  again  by  fire.  For  19  years  the  Southern  Pacific  pay 
train  rolled  in  regularly  to  distribute  $40,000  in  $20  gold  pieces.  Then 
in  1891  a  double  blow  was  dealt:  the  railroad  shops  were  moved  to 
Bakersfield,  division  headquarters  to  Fresno.  When  the  pay  train 
stopped  rolling  the  citizens  had  to  turn  to  the  land  and  develop  the 
orchards  and  vineyards  that  make  it  an  important  shipping  center. 

The  WHILTON  MUSEUM,  in  the  Hotel  Tulare,  has  more  than 
1,000  mounted  native  birds  and  mammals,  and  an  extensive  collection 
of  California  wild  flowers. 

Left  from  Tulare  on  Tulare  St.  to  LINDSAY,  15.5  m.  (380  alt.,  3,878 
pop.),  a  foot-hill  town  in  a  citrus  and  olive  growing  belt.  The  vast  acres 
keep  busy  several  citrus-packing  houses,  two  olive  canneries,  and  two 
plants  making  olive  oil.  The  area  is  at  its  loveliest  in  blossom  time,  and 
then  particularly  on  moonlight  nights. 

Fields  of  cotton,  white-tufted  in  the  fall,  border  US  99  on  its  way 
to  TIPTON,  215.5  m.  (272  alt.,  414  pop.),  a  shipping  point  for 
cotton,  milk,  and  poultry.  PIXLEY,  221.5  m.  (270  alt.,  350  pop.), 
dating  from  the  railroad  building  era,  was  named  for  Frank  Pixley, 
founder  and  fiery  editor  of  the  early  San  Francisco  weekly,  The  Argo- 
naut. At  EARLIMART,  227  m.  (300  alt.,  225  pop.),  the  one-story 
frame-brick  buildings  are  dwarfed  by  the  huge  cotton-oil  plant,  the 
great  cotton  gin,  and  the  long  sheep  and  wool  loading  sheds  (R)  along 
the  railroad. 

DELANO,  234.9  m.  (319  alt.,  2,632  pop.),  is  a  grain  and  fruit 
shipping  point. 

McFARLAND,  241  m.  (350  alt.,  400  pop.),  with  five  operating 
gins,  is  the  chief  cotton  ginning  point  in  the  State.  Founded  in  1877, 
it  drew  for  its  first  settlers  people  opposed  to  the  whisky  drinking  tol- 
erated in  nearby  Delano  and  Famosa.  All  land  deeds  contained  a 
clause  prohibiting  the  selling  of  liquor.  Test  cases  carried  to  the  higher 
courts  nullified  the  clause  in  1933-1934;  today  McFarland's  bartenders 
do  a  lusty,  legal  business. 


TOUR    3      449 

South  of  FAMOSA,  246.3  m.  (423  alt.,  no  pop.),  shipping  point 
for  cotton,  corn  and  dairy  products,  US  99  unites  with  US  466  (see 
TOUR  lib),  for  19  miles. 

The  massed  rigs  of  the  Kern  Front  oil  field  stand  (L),  261  m., 
beyond  a  strip  of  fruit  orchards;  farther  on  its  derricks  merge  with 
those  of  the  Round  Mountain  and  Kern  River  fields. 

BAKERSFIELD,  265.5  m.  (420  alt.,  26,015  pop.),  seat  of  Kern 
County,  spreads  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Kern  River  in  the  narrow 
southern  end  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  From  the  foothills  that 
string  out  on  both  sides  comes  the  petroleum  that  has  made  Bakersfield 
an  important  oil-producing  and  refining  center,  and  an  important  oil-tool 
manufacturing  point.  The  West-side  oil  fields — the  Midway-Sunset, 
Elk  Hills,  Maricopa,  and  Belridge  districts — have  produced  more  than 
800,000,000  barrels  of  the  Kern  County  production  of  1,400,000,000 
barrels. 

Between  the  various  oil  fields  spread  the  ranches  for  which  the  town 
is  a  trade  and  shipping  center — a  checkerboard  of  cotton  and  alfalfa, 
pastures,  vineyards,  orchards,  and  apiaries.  Bakersfield  was  named  for 
Col.  Thomas  Baker,  who  arrived  in  1862  to  direct  a  reclamation  project 
and  remained  to  lay  out  the  townsite  in  1869.  At  that  time  the  mining 
town  of  Havilah  was  the  county  seat,  but  after  the  enterprising  new 
community  organized  a  Bakersfield  Club,  an  Agricultural  Society,  and  a 
Cotton  Growers'  Association,  the  business  men  of  Havilah  began  moving 
in.  The  editor  of  the  Havilah  Courier,  leading  newspaper  in  Kern 
County  in  the  iSyo's,  followed  his  advertisers  with  type  and  press.  In 
J873,  when  Bakersfield  became  the  county  seat,  most  of  the  other  citi- 
zens of  Havilah  came  in  too.  That  year  one  Alex  Mills  was  elected 
town  marshal.  He  constituted  himself  private  censor  of  the  citizenry; 
he  knew  the  history,  sometimes  unsavory,  of  everyone  in  town,  and  he 
had  a  fondness  for  relating  it.  Repenting  its  choice,  Bakersfield  speedily 
incorporated  when  it  learned  it  could  thus  legally  oust  the  marshal. 
That  accomplished,  the  citizens  found  no  further  advantage  in  incorpo- 
ration of  their  settlement  and  therefore  disincorporated  it.  Not  until 

1898,  when  the  town  had  become  a  sedate  agricultural  trade  center, 
did  it  reincorporate. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  Kern  River  Canyon  in  1885  invested 
Bakersfield  with  the  color  and  vigor  of  the  earlier  Mother  Lode  boom 
towns.  It  assumed  all  the  roughness  and  toughness  of  the  camps  of 
the  unrestricted  i85o's;  its  streets  were  filled  with  swaggering  miners 
and  gamblers,  the  sound  of  gunshots  was  frequently  heard.  In  1889 
fire  destroyed  most  of  the  old  buildings;  rebuilding  resulted  in  moderni- 
zation. Then  came  the  discovery  of  oil  in  the  Kern  River  fields  in 

1899,  and  Bakersfield  again  saw  rough  and  tumble  boom  days.    Today 
the  downtown  district   (R.  of  US  99)    is  metropolitan  in  its  variety 
of  shops,  cafes,  department  stores,  theaters,  and  office  buildings.     In  its 
streets  great  motor  vans  of  potatoes,  lettuce,  and  grapes  are  as  familiar 
a  sight  as  trucks  loaded  with  oil  well  casing,  drilling  equipment,  and 
derrick  parts. 


45°        CALIFORNIA 

Bakersfield  is  at  the  junction  with  US  466  (see  TOUR  lib). 

Left  in  Bakersfield  on  State  178  (Nile  St.)  7.5  m.,  to  a  junction  with 
Alfred  Harrell  Blvd.;  L.  here  6.5  m.  to  KERN  RIVER  COUNTY  PARK, 
a  345-acre  recreational  reserve  on  high  bluffs  overlooking  the  Kern  River. 
The  moonlight  view  from  these  bluffs  is  regarded  as  exceptionally  beautiful, 
even  in  this  region  where  scenic  grandeur  is  expected  of  the  surroundings. 
The  park  has  a  small  zoo  and  a  pheasant  and  quail  breeding  farm  for 
stocking  the  hunting  areas. 

At  11  m.  on  State  178  the  route  enters  KERN  RIVER  CANYON,  a  gorge 
walled  by  steep  cliffs;  at  their  base  the  Kern  River  (L)  tumbles,  twisting 
and  cascading,  to  the  valley  floor. 

DEMOCRAT  HOT  SPRINGS,  28  m.,  is  a  health  resort  centering  about 
hot  sulphur  springs. 

BODFISH,  38  m.  (2,500  alt.),  a  ghost  town  of  tumble-down,  deserted 
shacks,  was  a  mining  camp  during  the  Kern  River  Canyon  gold  boom  in 
the  i88o's. 

Right  from  Bodfish  8.1  m.  on  Caliente  Rd.  to  HAVILAH,  8.1  m.  the  ghost 
town  that  was  once  Kern  County  seat. 

On  State  178  is  ISABELLA,  43  m.  (2,525  alt.,  50  pop.),  another  of  the  old 
mining  towns,  saved  only  from  ghosthood  by  its  position  on  a  tourist  route. 

Left  from  Isabella  4  m.  on  a  hard-surfaced  road  to  KERNVILLE, 
(2,569  alt.,  175  pop.),  which  came  to  life  as  Whiskey  Flat  during  the  1885 
gold  rush,  when  a  man  named  Hamilton  opened  a  saloon,  Kernville's  first 
"building,"  which  was  merely  a  plank  laid  across  two  whisky  barrels. 
When  Whiskey  Flat  became  a  prosperous  mining  center  in  its  own  right 
it  took  its  present  name.  That  it  was  a  camp  of  quick  action  and  nervous 
trigger  fingers  is  evidenced  by  the  name  of  the  old  cemetery  south  of  the 
town,  still  called  Gunmen's  Row,  because  so  many  local  men  who  died 
with  their  boots  on  are  buried  in  it.  Kernville,  still  engaged  in  mining,  is 
also  the  trade  center  for  cattle  raisers,  and  an  outfitting  point  for  hunters 
and  fishermen.  The  characteristically  "western"  or  "frontier"  appearance 
of  its  streets  has  attracted  many  a  motion  picture  company  on  location. 

State  198  continues  upward  through  magnificently  beautiful  country  along 
the  south  fork  of  Kern  River,  following  the  route  blazed  by  Joseph  Walker 
in  1834.  Walker,  attached  to  the  party  of  Captain  Bonneville,  who  was 
looking  over  the  Oregon  country,  had  been  detailed  to  lead  an  expedition 
to  explore  the  country  around  and  beyond  the  Great  Salt  Lake;  this  party, 
the  first  to  cross  the  Sierra,  spent  the  winter  around  San  Francisco,  then 
turned  south  through  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  and  up  along  Kern  River, 
under  guidance  of  two  Indians.  They  crossed  what  is  now  called  WALKER 
PASS  (5,248  alt.),  76.6  m.,  and  descended  into  Indian  Wells  Valley,  where 
State  178  meets  State  7.  Left  here  11  m.  to  BROWN,  on  US  395  (see 
TOUR  6c). 

Section  c.     BAKERSFIELD  to  LOS  ANGELES;  109.5  m.  US  99 

US  99  shoots  south  across  the  floor  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  a 
course  that  bends  only  once.  Reaching  the  towering  Tehachapi  Moun- 
tains, it  rises  swiftly  through  a  jagged  canyon  into  a  lofty,  mountainous 
country.  From  the  mountains  it  descends  into  the  sheltered  Santa  Clara 
Valley,  climbs  into  wooded  hills  and  descends  again  to  San  Fernando 
Valley. 

South  of  BAKERSFIELD,  0  m.f  US  99,  bordered  by  great  ash 
trees  and  ragged  palms,  cuts  through  a  cotton-  and  oil-producing  region. 
In  the  fall,  the  distant  oil  derricks  form  a  strange  background  for  large 
fields  of  cotton,  white  with  bursting  bolls.  Far  ahead  the  road's 


TOUR     3        451 

straight  strip  is  visible  to  the  foot  of  the  range.  Grazing  lands,  dotted 
with  wandering  cattle  and  bands  of  sheep,  stretch  away  on  both  sides, 
with  patches  of  wild  flowers  in  untilled  fields.  From  February  to 
May,  this  valley  and  the  canyons  leading  out  of  it  comprise  an  immense 
wild-flower  garden.  In  summer,  the  blooms  appear  at  higher  altitudes. 

On  rain-eroded  heights  (R)  perch  oil  derricks  as  a  5-mile  grade 
begins  the  winding  ascent  of  GRAPEVINE  CANYON,  deep  fissure 
in  the  TEHACHAPI  RANGE,  once  the  home  of  Yokut  and  Sho- 
shone.  Through  this  gap  in  1772  came  Don  Pedro  Fages,  coman- 
dante  militar  of  Alta  California,  in  search  of  two  deserters.  Descend- 
ing through  the  canyon,  Fages  caught  his  deserters — the  first  known 
explorers  of  the  valley.  From  GRAPEVINE,  31  ra.  (1,700  alt.,  15 
pop.)  (fuel,  restaurant,  and  cabin  accommodations},  is  an  excellent 
view  of  both  the  canyon  and  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  A  telescope 
offers  a  better  view — for  5^  or  10^,  depending  upon  the  length  of  the 
peep.  Rising  steadily,  US  99  reaches  the  summit  of  the  grade,  35.1  m. 

At  35.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  FORT  TEJON  (adm.  10$},  0.2  m.,  a  once  flourish- 
ing Army  outpost.  On  August  10,  1854,  Lt.  Col.  E.  F.  Beale  established 
this  fort  in  the  wilderness  as  protection  for  travelers  over  the  mountain 
trail  and  as  an  administrative  post  for  regulating  affairs  of  the  surrounding 
Indians.  Ten  years  after  its  establishment,  on  September  n,  1864,  it 
officially  expired.  In  1858  a  strange  procession  wound  into  the  clearing  of 
Fort  Tejon — a  camel  train  imported  from  the  Near  East  in  an  attempt  to 
provide  the  Army  with  transportation  in  the  deserts  of  the  South  and 
West — and  a  year  later  part  of  the  train  returned.  The  camels  were  of 
little  use,  since  on  long  marches  they  foundered  because  their  tender  feet 
were  not  adapted  to  the  rocky  soil.  In  1864  a^  that  remained  in  California 
were  auctioned  off  at  Benicia.  Some  entered  the  circus,  some  packed 
freight,  and  some,  turned  loose,  frightened  the  wits  out  of  desert  prospectors 
for  many  years.  Another  event  of  1858  was  the  arrival  of  the  first  stage- 
coach of  the  Butterfield  Overland  Mail  on  its  way  to  San  Francisco. 

On  the  trunk  of  an  oak  tree,  200  feet  north  of  the  fort,  a  Bakersfield 
party  on  an  outing  late  in  the  last  century  discovered  carved  on  the  tree 
the  words: 

PETER  LEBECK 
KILLED 

BY 

A  X  BEAR 

OCTr.  17 

1837 

Digging  at  the  base  of  the  tree,  they  disinterred  the  skeleton  of  Peter 
Lebecque,  young  voyageur  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  On  his  way  south 
through  this  wild  land  with  one  or  two  companions,  he  had  sighted  and 
shot  a  grizzly  as  it  stood  beneath  this  tree.  Believing  the  animal  dead 
and  approaching  to  obtain  the  pelt,  he  was  caught  by  the  reviving  animal, 
clawed,  and  crushed  to  death. 

US  99  climbs  through  a  wooded  valley  to  LEBEC,  38.5  m.  (3,575 
alt.,  30  pop.),  where  shimmering  CASTAIC  LAKE  is  visible  (L). 
Ever  since  an  earthquake  in  1924,  the  lake  has  been  a  mineral-laden 
puddle  of  alkaline  water  only  a  few  feet  deep.  There  is  a  tale  that 
white  men  drowned  the  inhabitants  of  a  small  Indian  village  in  its 


452        CALIFORNIA 

waters,  and  that  years  later  the  mineralized  bodies  of  men,  women, 
and  children  bobbed  back  to  the  surface.  The  Indians  had  been  sus- 
pected ,of  murdering  a  cook  and  a  boy  at  Fort  Tejon. 

South  of  CHANDLERS,  40.5  m.  (gas  station  and  garage),  US 
99  ascends  to  the  summit  of  TEJON  PASS,  41.3  m.  (4,182  alt.). 

GORMAN,  42.7  m.  (3,774  alt.,  68  pop.),  was  named  for  Private 
Gorman  of  Fort  Tejon  who,  on  his  discharge  from  service  in  1864, 
was  one  of  three  soldiers  to  take  up  homesteads  in  this  region. 

US  99  intersects  the  Grapevine  grade,  42.8  m.,  its  former  route, 
considered  the  final  word  in  road  building  at  the  time  of  its  construc- 
tion in  1919.  The  Ridge  Route,  completed  in  October  1933,  follows 
the  course  used  by  the  early  stagecoaches.  An  engineering  achieve- 
ment, it  cut  9.6  miles  from  the  earlier  corkscrew  road;  but  even  the 
new  route  is  not  without  hazards,  for  its  smooth  surface  and  long 
downgrades  tempt  motorists  to  excessive  speed,  particularly  hazardous 
because  of  the  crawling  lines  of  diesel-powered  trucks. 

CASTAIC,  69.7  m.  (1,008  alt.,  61  pop.),  is  in  the  fork  of  US  99 
and  the  old  Grapevine  road.  US  99,  winding  through  the  narrow 
Castaic  Valley,  emerges  into  the  Santa  Clara  Valley. 

A  spindling  steel  bridge  crosses  SAN  FRANCISQUITO  CREEK, 
74  m.,  a  sleepy  trickle  of  water  that  once  went  on  one  brief  and  murder- 
ous rampage.  On  the  night  of  March  13,  1928,  the  St.  Francis  Dam 
far  up  the  San  Francisquito  Canyon  broke  without  warning.  Down 
the  canyon  roared  billions  of  gallons  of  Los  Angeles'  water  supply, 
crushing  houses  and  drowning  600  persons.  The  rushing  mass  of 
water  destroyed  ten  bridges,  several  miles  of  highway,  part  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Aqueduct,  one  power  plant,  several  hundred  homes,  and 
more  than  10,000  acres  of  crops.  Immense  chunks  of  the  dam,  some 
as  big  as  houses,  are  still  seen,  scattered  up  and  down  the  canyon. 

US  99  rises  into  the  foothills  of  the  SANTA  SUSANA  MOUN- 
TAINS (R). 

At  78.4  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  road,  oiled  for  I  mile. 

Right  on  this  road  at  2.6  m.  is  a  one-way  private  lane,  leading  to  the 
FIRST  OIL  WELL  IN  CALIFORNIA,  4.6  m.  Here  as  early  as  1835  vaqueros 
found  cattle  from  the  San  Fernando  Mission  bogged  down  in  beds  of 
pitch.  In  1875  a  well  drilled  by  manpower  to  a  depth  of  30  feet  brought 
to  the  surface  oil  subsequently  piped  to  the  Newhall  Refinery  six  miles 
distant.  The  well  is  still  producing. 

US  99  crosses  high,  grassy  hills  into  San  Fernando  Valley. 

The  black  trunk  of  the  LOS  ANGELES  AQUEDUCT,  84.4  m., 
snakes  down  the  slope  alongside  an  open  spillway  near  the  highway  (L). 
The  233-mile  aqueduct,  built  at  a  cost  of  $23,000,000,  converted  the 
parched  San  Fernando  Valley  into  the  rich  "market  basket  of  Los 
Angeles,"  but  it  also  ruthlessly  turned  towns  and  farms  of  fertile 
Owens  River  Valley  high  in  the  Sierra  to  semidesert. 

SYLMAR,  86.1  ra.,  is  a  Southern  Pacific  loading  station  for  an 
olive-packing  plant. 

At  86.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 


TOUR    3      453 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  OLIVE  VIEW  SANATORIUM,  1.5  m.,  a  tuberculosis 
hospital  supported  jointly  by  Los  Angeles  County  and  the  State.  Behind 
a  front  of  modern  Spanish  buildings,  a  series  of  neat  but  barracks-like 
structures  houses  a  thousand  tubercular  patients. 

The  VETERANS'  ADMINISTRATION  FACILITY,  4  m.,  is  a  hospital  for  tuber- 
cular ex-service  men.  Its  sand-colored,  red-roofed  buildings  along  the 
base  of  the  foothills  spread  over  632  acres  of  landscaped  grounds. 

SAN  FERNANDO,  88  m.  (1,066  alt.,  7,567  pop.),  maintains  its 
independence  of  Los  Angeles,  whose  territory  entirely  surrounds  it, 
by  means  of  a  municipally  owned  water  system  supplied  by  deep  artesian 
wells.  The  town  prospers  from- reclaimed  acres  covered  with  citrus 
orchards. 

Right  from  San  Fernando  on  State  118  to  MISION  SAN  FERNANDO  KEY  DE 
ESPANA,  1.6  m.  (adm.  25$).  The  Franciscans'  seventeenth  mission  in  order 
of  time,  it  was  established  Sept.  8,  1797,  by  Fathers  Fermin  Lasuen  and 
Francisco  Dumetz  on  a  site  selected  primarily  for  its  natural  advan- 
tages. By  December  1806,  the  first  chapel  was  completed.  Before  secular- 
ization took  place  in  1835,  Mission  San  Fernando  had  become  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  in  California.  Today  a  crumbling  pile  of  adobe  stretches 
from  the  restored  adobe  CONVENTO  to  the  falling  adobe  CHURCH.  The 
convento  has  an  arcade  of  19  semicircular  arches  along  its  main  facade; 
its  easternmost  room  has  been  remodeled  into  a  chapel  in  which  several 
old  paintings  and  relics  are  kept. 

MEMORY  GARDEN  in  BRAND  PARK  (playgrounds],  directly  opposite  the 
convent,  is  one  of  the  few  restored  mission  gardens.  Pergolas  and  quiet, 
flagged  walks  surround  garden  plots.  In  one  section  of  the  park  is  the 
mission's  fountain,  built  in  1812-14  in  imitation  of  one  in  Cordova,  Spain. 

BURBANK,  96.5  m.  (560  alt.,  16,622  pop.),  is  a  city  of  small 
residences  and  shaded  streets,  built  on  land  purchased  from  the  im- 
mense Rancho  la  Providencia  for  37^2^  an  acre.  In  1887,  during  a 
Los  Angeles  real  estate  boom,  the  next  purchaser,  Dr.  David  Burbank, 
gave  his  name  to  the  small  ranch  settlement. 

1.  Right  from  Burbank  on  Empire  Ave.  to  UNION  AIR  TERMINAL,  0.5  m. 
(open),  which  serves  three  transport  lines — United  Airlines,  Western  Air 
Express,  and  Transcontinental  and  Western.     Beyond  the  terminal  building 
great  cement  runways   spread  in  five  directions.     Sixteen  transports  land 
here  daily.     Immense  hangars  fringe  a  field  ablaze   at  night  with  strong 
floodlights. 

2.  Right  from  Burbank  on  Olive  Ave.  to  WARNER  BROS.  FIRST  NATIONAL 
STUDIOS,  2.8  m.,  the  main  plant  of  one  of  the  largest  producers  in  the  motion 
picture  industry.    This  io8-acre  "lot,"  beautifully  landscaped  and  gardened, 
contains  several  miles  of  paved  streets  and  more  than  65  buildings,  includ- 
ing 18  sound  stages  covering  more  than  1,000,000  square  feet  of  space  under 
roof.     Other   buildings   include    four   theaters   for    previewing   pictures,    a 
restaurant  with  three  dining  rooms,  an  electric  power  plant,  greenhouses,  a 
school   for  children   who   work   in   pictures,    and   massage   parlors,   barber 
shops,  steam  baths,   dressing  rooms.     The  "back  lot"  is  used  for  exterior 
sets.     The  streets  of  many  cities  are  represented  here,  and  nearby  are  the 
straw  huts  of  a  hula  land  and  the  log  cabins  of  the  Canadian  woods.     In 
another  corner  is  a  huge  man-made  lake,  around  which  are  reproductions 
of   a   dozen   water   fronts,   including  those   of    Sari    Francisco,    New   York, 
Shanghai,  and  Venice.     Adjoining  the  studio  is  an  n-acre  enclosed  ranch, 
where  exterior  scenes  on  the  grand  scale  are  made. 


454        CALIFORNIA 

GLENDALE,  99.7  m.  (573  alt.,  62,736  pop.),  primarily  a  resi- 
dential suburb  of  Los  Angeles,  grew  rapidly  as  the  population  wave 
from  the  Middle  West  inundated  southern  California.  A  modern 
city  with  wide,  well-paved  streets  and  boulevards,  its  recently  erected 
stucco  houses  convey  an  impression  of  impermanence  to  visitors  from 
older  communities.  The  site  of  Glendale  is  a  part  of  the  former 
Rancho  San  Rafael,  first  (1784)  Spanish  land  grant  in  California. 
Sharp  Yankee  traders,  who  invaded  the  region  following  annexation 
by  the  United  States,  deviously  secured  possession  of  most  of  the 
rancho.  The  townsite  was  plotted  in  1886-87.  The  town  languished 
until  1902.  Its  reawakening  brought  the  Pacific  Electric  Railroad  from 
Los  Angeles.  Glendale  has  a  high  percentage  of  elderly  persons  in 
comfortable  circumstances  with  leisure  to  encourage  cultural  groups, 
which  include  a  symphony  orchestra  and  several  music  and  art  associa- 
tions. 

FOREST  LAWN  MEMORIAL  PARK,  Forest  and  Glendale  Aves.  {open 
9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.),  described  by  Bruce  Barton  as  "above  the  level  of  this 
world,  a  first  step  toward  Heaven,"  is  a  2OO-acre  graveyard — one  of 
the  most  elaborate  in  the  world  and  one  of  the  most  important  commer- 
cially. Those  who  own  burial  plots  here  must  be  content  with  flat 
inconspicuous  markers  for  their  dead,  though  they  may  erect  costly 
memorials  of  a  type  that  the  management  approves  for  the  embellish- 
ment of  the  park.  The  park's  statuary  ranges  from  reproductions  of 
the  works  of  Michelangelo — Forest  Lawn  is  "the  only  place  in  the 
world  where  all  Michelangelo's  great  works  are  gathered  in  one  place" 
— to  the  Duck  Baby,  the  Spirit  of  Forest  Lawn.  There  are  two 
churches  in  the  park:  the  older  one,  the  LITTLE  CHURCH  OF  THE 
FLOWERS,  which  has  a  Bride's  Room,  a  carved  oak  contribution  box, 
a  framed  tribute  from  Barton,  and  alcoves  where,  according  to  the 
management,  "songbirds  trill  the  melody  of  love,"  became  so  popular 
for  weddings  that  a  second  church  had  to  be  constructed  to  avoid  em- 
barrassing traffic  tangles.  The  WEE  KIRK  o'  THE  HEATHER  is  a  copy 
of  the  church  where  Annie  Laurie  worshipped;  near  it  is  the  ANNIE 
LAURIE  WISHING  CHAIR,  constructed  with  stones  obtained  from  the 
old  church  in  Scotland;  tradition,  says  the  advertising  literature,  has  it 
that  the  fairies  have  blessed  these  stones  and  that  fortune  will  forever 
smile  on  the  bridal  pair  that  sits  in  this  seat  on  the  wedding  day. 

CASA  ADOBE  DE  SAN  RAFAEL,  1340  Dorothy  Dr.,  stands  in  a 
two-acre  city  park.  The  building  was  erected  between  1864  and  1872 
by  the  one-time  sheriff  of  Los  Angeles  County,  Tomas  Sanchez, 
whose  wife,  Maria  Sepulveda,  inherited  part  of  the  vast  Rancho  San 
Rafael.  Married  at  the  age  of  13,  she  bore  21  children  in  this  house. 
Cooking  utensils  of  her  time  are  preserved  within,  together  with  other 
relics.  The  park  is  planted  with  orange,  fig,  lemon,  avocado,  tangerine, 
and  eucalyptus  trees.  LA  CASA  DE  CATALINA  VERDUGO  was  the  last 
of  five  adobes  built  on  Rancho  San  Rafael.  Across  the  road  is  a  huge 
oak  beneath  which  Gen.  Andres  Pico  made  his  last  camp  before  sur- 
rendering to  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont  on  Jan.  13,  1847. 


TOUR    3      455 

Glendale's  GRAND  CENTRAL  AIRPORT,  1224  Airway,  serves  Ameri- 
can Airlines  and  the  Mexican  Aviation  Company. 

LOS  ANGELES,  109.5  m.  (250  alt.,  1,238,048  pop.),  (see  LOS 
ANGELES). 

At  Los  Angeles  is  the  junction  with  US  60-70  (see  TOUR  13b) 
with  which  US  99  is  united  eastward  to  Ontario. 

Section  d.    POMONA  to  BEAUMONT;  594  m.    US  99-70 

The  wide  concrete  roadbed  of  US  99-70  in  this  section  runs 
smoothly  over  miles  of  flatland,  bordered  by  far-stretching  orange  groves 
and  acres  and  acres  of  close-cropped  grape  vines. 

US  99-70  branches  south  from  US  60  (see  TOUR  13b)  at  Pomona 
(see  TOUR  ISb),  0  m. 

ONTARIO,  6.2  m.  (980  alt.,  13,583  pop.),  at  the  junction  with 
US  60  (see  TOUR  13b),  is  surrounded  by  orange  groves  and  small 
ranches;  primarily  a  residential  town,  it  has  citrus  by-product  factories 
and  other  industrial  plants.  The  main  street,  Euclid  Avenue,  is  dis- 
tinguished by  its  broad  central  strip  of  green  lawn  bordered  with 
double  rows  of  pepper  trees,  formerly  the  route  of  a  mule-drawn  car- 
line;  the  mules,  after  pulling  up-grade  to  the  summit  of  the  line  in  the 
foothills  to  the  north,  were  there  prodded  aboard  the  car  platform  to 
ride  back  down  the  incline.  Founded  by  Canadians  in  1882,  Ontario 
was  named  for  their  home  province.  DE  ANZA  PARK,  at  S.  Euclid 
Ave.  and  Dessau  St.,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  campground  of  Juan 
Bautista  de  Anza  on  his  first  expedition  into  California. 

The  5,ooo-acre  GUASTI  VINEYARD,  2.2  m.  (open  9-5  workdays), 
extends  from  the  foothills  of  the  San  Gabriel  Mountains  deep  into  the 
valley  floor.  For  five  miles  the  highway  runs  between  rows  of  vines 
stretching  far  away  between  furrows  of  sandy  loam.  Here  are  more 
than  500  varieties  of  grapes,  25  of  which  are  raised  on  commercial 
scale.  The  annual  crop  is  slightly  more  than  20,000  tons.  The  large, 
modern  winery  produces  both  dry  and  sweet  wines  and  one  of  the  few 
California  "champagne"  wines.  During  harvesting  season,  from  August 
to  December,  an  average  of  400  tones  of  grapes  are  stemmed  and 
crushed  daily.  The  stems  are  returned  to  the  soil  of  the  vineyards  in 
the  form  of  fertilizers.  The  fermenting  plant's  2OO  tanks  have  a  capac- 
ity of  a  million  gallons.  In  1904  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture 
leased  20  acres  of  the  vineyard  and  planted  500  varieties  of  grapes  to 
study  their  quality  and  their  suitability  to  the  soil.  Just  previous  to  the 
passage  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment,  3,000,000  gallons  of  wine  were 
being  manufactured  each  year. 

GUASTI,  9.7  m.  (952  alt.,  600  pop.),  at  the  center  of  the  Guasti 
vineyards,  is  recognizable  (R)  by  the  long,  reddish-colored  administra- 
tion building  and  the  corrugated  iron  and  brick  distillery  with  smoke- 
stacks showing  above  the  trees.  The  small  community  bears  the  name 
of  the  Italian  immigrant,  Secundo  Guasti,  who  in  1902  set  out  the 
first  grapevines  here  in  an  almost  desolate  waste  of  sand. 


CALIFORNIA 

Steep  MOUNT  SLOVER,  24.1  m.t  with  craggy  rock  outcrop- 
pings,  juts  up  sharply  in  a  white  mist  of  smoke  and  dust.  Here  the 
corrugated  iron  roofs  and  smokestacks  of  a  large  cement  plant  climb 
the  hillsides.  The  whole  hill  is  gradually  being  carted  away  and 
ground  up. 

COLTON,  27  m.  (847  alt.,  8,014  pop.),  is  an  industrial  and 
railroad  center  not  far  from  the  site  of  Rancho  Jumuba,  a  Mission 
San  Gabriel  stock  ranch  established  before  1819.  About  a  mile  away 
Jose  Maria  Lugo  built  a  house  in  1842,  when  he,  his  brothers,  and 
Diego  Sepulveda  were  granted  the  valley.  It  was  on  Jumuba  that  Fort 
Benson  was  erected  in  the  late  1850*8  by  Jerome  Benson,  who  raised 
earthworks  and  loaded  a  cannon  with  rocks  to  protect  his  land  against 
seizure  by  the  Mormons  who  dominated  the  region.  Here,  on  the  trail 
from  Santa  Fe,  calvacades  of  pack  mules  and  horses  stopped  on  their 
journey  to  the  coast.  In  1875  Colton  was  a  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
terminus,  but  freight  charges  were  so  high  that  farmers  of  the  region 
organized  a  mule  line  from  San  Pedro,  threatening  to  put  the  railroad 
out  of  business  unless  the  rates  were  lowered. 

Colton  is  at  the  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6e),  which 
unites  with  US  99-70  eastward. 

From  the  SANTA  ANA  RIVER,  28.1  m.,  a  winding  trickle  in  a 
broad,  brush-grown  bed,  the  highway  strikes  through  a  jungle  of  auto 
courts,  roadside  cafes,  and  fruit  and  vegetable  stands;  through  fields 
with  scattered  trees  and  ranch  houses  where  cattle  graze;  past  barns, 
fenceposts,  and  windmills.  Orange  trees  reappear,  clustering  thick  and 
leafy  along  the  route. 

REDLANDS,  32.9  m.  (1,351  alt.,  14,177  pop.),  deriving  its  name 
from  the  red  soil  of  the  region,  is  an  attractive  residential  community. 
Lying  at  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  southern  citrus  belt,  it  is  the 
packing  and  distributing  point  for  more  than  15,000  acres  of  citrus 
fruits,  yielding  annually  5,000  to  6,500  carloads  of  produce,  and  for 
many  varieties  of  deciduous  fruits,  poultry,  vegetables,  and  dairy  prod- 
ucts. Despite  the  activity  of  its  many  packing  houses  during  the  picking 
season,  Redlands  is  quiet,  with  broad,  tree-lined  streets  and  a  profusion 
of  flower  gardens  and  green  lawns.  Its  cultural  character,  influenced 
by  the  University  of  Redlands,  is  exemplified  by  free  community  con- 
certs in  the  Redlands  Bowl  and  a  public  library  circulation  list  includ- 
ing three-quarters  of  the  population. 

SMILEY  HEIGHTS,  Cajon  and  Cypress  Sts.,  is  a  magnificent  formal 
garden  of  400  acres  with  trees  and  shrubs  from  all  the  world,  including 
rubber,  banana,  and  Persian  flowering  peach  trees,  kurrajongs  and 
deodars  from  Hindustan,  and  cedars  of  Lebanon.  Established  by 
A.  K.  Smiley,  the  garden  is  now  a  public  park. 

The  UNIVERSITY  OF  REDLANDS,  on  University  Hill,  E.  Colton  Ave. 
and  University  St.,  occupies  15  buildings  on  a  verdant  loo-acre  campus. 
Founded  in  1907  by  the  Southern  California  Baptist  Convention, 
it  had  in  1938  some  750  students  and  a  faculty  of  50.  In  the  GREEK 
THEATER,  students  hold  their  annual  Zanja  Fiesta,  named  for  the 


TOUR    3      457 

old  water  ditch  of  mission  days,  that  now  carries  a  stream  between 
the  audience  and  the  actors.  A  725-acre  tract  owned  by  the  university 
in  the  nearby  San  Bernardino  Mountains  is  used  as  a  geological  station 
and  as  a  retreat  for  students. 

The  WATCHORN  LINCOLN  MEMORIAL,  an  octagonal  granite  build- 
ing on  the  grounds  of  the  A.  K.  SMILEY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY,  Fourth  St., 
was  given  to  the  city  by  Robert  Watchorn  in  memory  of  a  son  who  was 
killed  in  the  World  War.  Abraham  Lincoln  relics  are  on  exhibit  with 
books,  newspapers,  and  letters;  interior  murals  by  Dean  Cornwell  show 
scenes  from  Lincoln's  life. 

The  REDLANDS  BOWL,  in  SMILEY  PARK,  Eureka  Ave.  between 
Parkwood  and  Brookside  Sts.,  is  an  outdoor  theater  under  tall  palm 
trees  where  public  concerts  are  presented  by  the  Community  Music 
Association. 

The  SAN  BERNARDINO  ASISTENCIA  (Sp.,  chapel),  Barton  Rd.  and 
Mountain  View  Ave.,  is  the  reproduction  of  an  outpost  of  San  Gabriel 
Mission  that  served  as  both  a  chapel  for  the  Indians  and  headquarters 
for  Rancho  San  Bernardino.  As  early  as  1819  the  padres  of  San 
Gabriel  had  built  an  adobe  station  at  Guachama,  the  Indian  village 
at  this  spot.  Abandoned  after  secularization  of  the  missions,  it  re- 
mained virtually  deserted  until  1842,  when  the  Mexican  Government 
granted  a  large  part  of  the  rancho,  including  the  chapel,  to  the  Lugo 
family  of  Los  Angeles.  In  1852  the  Lugos  sold  the  entire  37,ooo  acres 
to  a  colony  of  Mormons,  who  used  the  station  as  a  tithing  house  until 
1857.  It  was  razed  to  make  way  for  orange  trees;  oranges  have  never 
grown  well  on  this  spot — according  to  legend  because  an  Indian  medi- 
cine man  put  a  curse  on  the  land.  The  present  asistencia  was  built  by 
the  San  Bernardino  Historical  Society,  which  brought  an  expert  adobe 
brick-  and  tile-maker  from  Mexico  to  mold  the  materials  as  they  were 
fashioned  in  mission  days. 

US  99  winds  past  hedges  of  roses  through  Reservoir  Canyon.  Small 
green  orchards  of  walnut,  pecan,  and  cashew  trees  alternate  with  hay- 
fields.  The  crest  of  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains  (L)  rises  above  in 
the  distance.  Over  creek  beds  and  past  small  farms,  the  route  leads 
across  the  flat  floor  of  valley  land  surrounded  by  rolling  shrub-covered 
hills. 

BEAUMONT,  59.4  m.  (2,559  alt.,  2,314  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
13b),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  60  (see  TOUR  ISb) ,  with  which 
US  99  is  united  for  52.1  miles. 

Section  e.    INDIO  to  MEXICAN  BORDER;  954  m.    US  99 

US  99  in  this  section  traverses  a  region  of  sharp  contrasts.  Its 
northern  end  lies  through  the  Coachella  Valley,  an  intensely  cultivated 
area;  it  cuts  through  a  long,  desolate  stretch  of  desert  in  the  region  of 
the  Salton  Sea;  and  then  it  returns  to  rich  farm  land  as  it  passes  through 
the  Imperial  Valley  (see  TOUR  Ha). 

US  99  branches  south  from  its  junction  with  US  6070  (see 
TOUR  13a),  0  m.  at  a  point  2  miles  south  of  Indio. 


458        CALIFORNIA 

COACHELLA,  1.5  m.  (*—  72  alt.,  1,100  pop.),  is  a  sprawling 
village  in  the  heart  of  the  Coachella  Valley,  which  extends  from  San 
Gorgonio  Pass  to  the  northern  shores  of  the  Salton  Sea  between  the 
Little  San  Bernardino  Mountains  (L)  and  the  San  Jacinto  and  Santa 
Rosa  Mountains  (R).  The  valley  produces  dates,  grapefruit,  cotton, 
alfalfa,  fruit,  and  vegetables,  irrigated  by  water  from  deep  wells.  Like 
many  of  the  valley  towns,  Coachella  has  its  Mexican  section  of  ram- 
shackle houses,  fronting  dust-covered  side  roads,  and  inhabited  by  agri- 
cultural workers  (see  TOUR  Ha). 

Left  from  Coachella  on  State  in,  the  North  Shore  road,  which  runs 
below  sea  level  for  its  entire  length;  it  is  noted  for  its  desert  scenery  and 
geological  curiosities.  The  region  is  at  its  best  in  the  early  winter  morn- 
ings, when  mirages  are  most  common,  or  in  late  afternoon  when  the 
coloring  is  most  pronounced.  In  summer  the  temperature  often  rises  to 
125°  F. 

THERMAL,  3  m.  ( — 127  alt.,  400  pop.),  in  a  grape  and  date  producing 
area,  is  well  named,  for  the  days  are  hot  almost  all  the  year,  though 
evenings  are  fairly  comfortable. 

MECCA,  10.9  m.  ( — 197  alt.,  800  pop.),  a  town  of  date  gardens  shimmer- 
ing in  the  heat,  was  named  because  of  its  association  with  dates  and 
desert. 

Left  from  Mecca  on  Shaver's  Canyon  Road  3  m.  to  the  junction  with 
Painted  Canyon  Road;  L.  here  3.5  m.  through  PAINTED  CANYON  (no 
water)  in  the  vivid  Mecca  Hills.  At  3  m.  on  Shaver's  Canyon  Road  is 
the  junction  with  a  foot  trail ;  straight  ahead  on  this  trail  2  m.  to  PAINTED 
CANYON  PICNIC  GROUND,  where  the  steep  5oo-foot  walls  are  a  multicolored 
blend  of  ochres,  reds,  lavenders,  purples,  ashy  dark  green,  and  brilliant 
scarlet.  At  4  m.  on  Shaver's  Canyon  Road  is  a  junction  with  Dos  Palmas 
Spring  Road;  R.  here  4  m.  to  a  junction  with  a  spur  road;  L.  again  4  m. 
to  HIDDEN  SPRINGS,  an  oasis  in  the  OROCOPIA  (Sp.,  plenty  of  gold) 
MOUNTAINS.  Here  the  Cahuilla  Indians  once  gathered  and  held  pow- 
wows. 

On  State  in  is  CALEB'S  SIDING,  15.4  m.,  a  railroad  loading  point. 
Right  here  1  m.  on  a  dirt  road  to  the  TORRES  MARTINEZ  RESERVA- 
TION, the  home  of  215  Indians. 

South  of  Caleb's  Siding  the  highway  swings  toward  the  Orocopia  Moun- 
tains and  the  shore  of  Salton  Sea  (see  main  route}.  In  the  desert  (L) 
bordering  the  Salton  Sea  a  few  smoke  trees  are  visible.  From  a  distance 
the  slate-gray  branches  of  these  trees,  which  become  10  to  15  feet  in  height, 
resemble  the  long  narrow  pillar  of  smoke  made  by  an  Indian  campfire. 
When  the  trees  bloom  in  June  their  large,  powder-blue  blossoms  give  the 
appearance  of  the  cloud  of  smoke  made  by  a  bonfire. 

DATE  PALM  BEACH,  20.1  m.,  and  SALTON  BEACH,  24.1  m.  (—22 
alt.),  are  small  resorts  on  the  shore  of  the  Salton  Sea  (camping,  swimming, 
boating}.  Some  mullet  can  be  caught  in  the  very  salty  sea,  but  little  else. 
There  is  little  vegetation  besides  the  olive  and  buff  mesquite  and  creosote 
bushes,  which  cover  the  desert  as  it  stretches  eastward  to  the  gully-slashed 
slopes  of  the  CHOCOLATE  MOUNTAINS. 

A  solitary  CAHUILLA  INDIAN  ROCK  MOUND  is  visible  at  29.1  m.,  rising 
out  of  the  desert  (L)  a  mile  from  the  road.  On  its  surface  are  many 
petroglyphs.  Cut  in  the  solid  rock  is  the  likeness  of  an  Indian  head. 
Travertine,  or  petrified  scale  (calcium  carbonate),  clinging  to  the  flat 
surface  of  the  rocks,  shows  that  it  was  once  below  the  water  line  of 
prehistoric  Lake  Cahuilla. 

South  of  BOMBAY  BEACH,  35.8  m.,  another  small  resort,  the  route 
swings  out  into  the  desert  around  the  southern  end  of  the  sea,  crossing 
many  little  gullies. 


TOUR    3      459 

NILAND,  53.8  m.  (—  30  alt.,  1,815  pop.),  is  at  the  northern  end  of 
Imperial  Valley  (see  TOUR  14&),  surrounded  by  some  of  the  largest 
ranches  in  the  valley;  on  one  ranch  alone  are  4,000  grapefruit,  17,000 
orange,  6,000  lemon,  and  2,000  tangerine  trees. 

At  56.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  3.8  m.  to  a  DRY 
ICE  PLANT,  where  dry  ice  is  manufactured  from  the  carbon  dioxide  gas 
obtained  from  wells  in  the  nearby  Mud  Pots  area.  The  MUD  POTS, 
5  m.,  20  acres  of  boiling  mud  craters,  geysers,  and  mineral  springs,  bubble 
up  from  the  depths  of  the  earth  into  small  basins,  shooting  out  jets  of 
steam  and  sulphurous  gases.  As  the  hot  grayish  mud  spouts  out,  it  builds 
a  rim  around  the  edge  of  each  geyser  and  slowly  builds  up  the  edge  of 
the  basin.  The  pots  are  believed  to  be  caused  by  water  seepage  from  the 
Salton  Sea  coming  into  contact  with  underground  beds  of  hot  rock.  The 
wrinkled  grayish-white  craters,  pitted  with  crevices,  ranging  in  height 
from  i  to  7  feet,  closely  resemble  a  series  of  miniature  mountain  ranges. 

In  MULLET  ISLAND,  at  the  northern  end  of  this  geyser  area,  is  the 
DAVIS  MUSEUM  (adm.  25$),  containing  fossils,  sharks'  teeth,  and  similar 
remains  from  ancient  Lake  Cahuilla,  as  well  as  old  Indian  pottery. 

A  short  distance  by  foot  trail  southwest  of  the  Mud  Pots  are  the 
INDIAN  PAINT  POTS,  where  water  from  oxide  springs  has  formed 
motley  incrustations. 

CALIPATRIA,  60.1  m.  ( — 183  alt.,  1,554  P°P-)>  is  the  center  of  an  area 
where  green  peas  are  the  principal  crop.  Alfalfa  is  also  important.  A 
local  mill  grinds  the  alfalfa  into  meal  for  cattle  fodder. 

Near  Calipatria  are  several  duck  preserves  and  gun  clubs.  Best  duck 
hunting  is  found  on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Salton  Sea  in  the  tule 
marshes  between  the  New  and  Alamo  Rivers  (blinds  and  boats  available}. 

The  highway  crosses  NEW  RIVER,  65.8  m.,  a  channel  marked  by  high, 
reddish  bluffs,  slashed  in  the  loose  alluvial  soil  of  the  Imperial  Valley  in 
1905-1907  when  the  Colorado  River  broke  loose  on  its  last  rampage.  The 
break  occurred  when  the  irrigation  engineers  opened  a  breach  in  the  river 
wall  in  1905  just  south  of  the  Mexican  boundary,  in  order  to  suppjy 
valley  canals  with  the  water  held  back  by  an  accumulation  of  silt.  The 
gap  was  cut  far  enough  ahead  of  flood  time  for  safety,  but  before  gates 
could  be  installed  a  premature  flood  raced  down  the  river.  Rebuffed  by 
a  natural  levee  at  the  tip  of  the  Gulf,  it  backed  through  the  new  opening 
into  the  Salton  Sink.  Within  two  years  the  lake  covered  an  area  extending 
from  Mecca  to  Niland,  reached  a  length  of  45  miles  and  a  maximum  width 
of  17  miles.  The  railroad  company  had  to  shift  67  miles  of  track  to  a 
higher  level.  Just  as  the  railroad  was  rolling  down  its  sleeves,  the  river 
again  broke  its  banks  and  poured  disastrous  quantities  of  water  into  the 
basin.  The  company  again  set  to  work,  built  a  go-foot  trestle  across  the 
break,  commandeered  equipment  from  1,200  miles  of  track,  and  dumped 
3,000  carloads  of  rock  into  the  opening.  Finally,  in  February  1907,  the 
break  was  plugged,  and  the  railroad's  ledgers  showed  another  $1,000,000 
in  the  red.  Suit  was  filed  against  the  Federal  Government  for  the 
$3,000,000  spent,  and  in  1930  the  company  received  a  check  for  $1,012,665. 

South  of  New  River,  State  in  is  bordered  by  the  emerald  green  of 
alfalfa  fields,  alternating  with  pasture  lands,  corn  and  melon  patches,  and 
fruit  groves.  At  intervals  the  route  is  lined  with  eucalyptus  trees,  planted 
as  windbreaks. 

BRAWLEY,  73.8  m.  (  —  115  alt.,  10,439  P°P-)>  (see  below),  is  at  the  junc- 
tion with  US  99. 

At  9.5  m.  on  US  99  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  crossing  the  Ail-American  Canal  to  the  FISH 
TRAPS,  2.5  m.,  piles  of  rock  two  or  three  feet  high.  The  handiwork  of  the 
ancient  Mountain  Cahuilla,  they  were  devised  in  the  remote  period  when 
a  great  Indian  village  stood  on  the  shores  of  the  prehistoric  Lake  Cahuilla. 


460        CALIFORNIA 

They  are  easily  discerned  among  the  boulders  and  consist  of  circular  walls 
of  rock  with  cleverly  arranged  openings. 

The  SALTON  SEA,  (L),  14  m.  (—244  alt.  at  surface),  a 
gourd-shaped  body  of  water  30  miles  long  and  from  8  to  14  miles  wide, 
was  only  a  vast,  sandy  depression  when  discovered  in  1853  by  Pro- 
fessor W.  P.  Blake,  who  made  the  first  governmental  survey  of  Imperial 
Valley.  In  1905  the  Colorado  River  overflowed  into  the  Imperial  Val- 
ley (see  above}  and  poured  into  the  Salton  Sink,  filling  it  to  a  depth  of 
83  feet  and  a  length  of  45  miles.  When  this  flood  was  checked  in  1907, 
it  left  the  lowest  area  still  filled  with  the  present  Salton  Sea — a  lake 
with  no  outlets.  The  present  depth  of  the  sea  is  kept  approximately 
constant,  despite  evaporation,  by  waters  draining  from  the  irrigation 
ditches  into  the  New  and  Alamo  Rivers,  which  empty  into  the  southern 
end  of  the  sea. 

The  lake  replaces  the  final  remnant  of  prehistoric  Lake  Cahuilla, 
created  when  the  silt  from  the  Colorado  River  dammed  back  the  waters 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  The  old  lake  dried  up  gradually, 
leaving  behind  in  the  San  Jacinto  Mountains,  1,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Salton  Sea,  enormous  beds  of  fossil  sharks'  teeth  and  oyster 
shells.  Bits  of  fragile  conch  shell  today  glisten  everywhere  in  the  desert 
sands  of  this  region.  A  printer's  error  in  setting  conchilla  (Sp.,  small 
sea  shell)  gave  Coachella  Valley  its  unusual  name. 

OASIS,  17.5  m.  ( —  198  alt.),  is  not  a  town  but  a  series  of  large 
date  orchards  and  a  few  orange  groves  on  the  line  of  the  All-American 
Canal. 

Beyond  the  vineyards  lining  the  highway  south  of  Oasis,  the  petrified 
coral  scale  of  the  ANCIENT  BEACH  LINE  (R),  thin  and  sharp  as 
a  knife  edge  from  this  distance,  cuts  an  even  whitish  stripe  along  the 
sides  of  the  Santa  Rosa  Mountains.  Despite  the  heat,  pink  and  white 
oleanders  flourish  along  the  highway  and  the  green  (in  winter)  or  gold 
(in  summer)  strands  of  dodder  industriously  ensnare  occasional  trees. 

TRAVERTINE  ROCK,  (R),  23.4  m.,  a  geological  relic  of  Lake  Ca- 
huilla, rises  from  the  desert  a  few  score  yards  from  the  highway.  The 
once  submerged  lower  half  of  this  great  mound  of  rocks  is  covered 
with  a  layer  of  travertine  (calcium  carbonate),  a  scaly,  petrified  shell 
formation;  the  upper  part,  of  travertine  rock,  shows  its  core  of  dark 
granite  and  many  petroglyphs,  or  rock  carvings,  incised  ages  ago  by  the 
ancestors  of  the  Mission  Indians.  From  the  highway,  the  curved  and 
twisted  patterns  of  rock  composing  the  mound  resemble  plant  cells 
under  a  microscope. 

At  25.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  a  privately  owned  camp  (rates  reasonable} ,  0.7  m., 
at  the  rim  of  the  Salton  Sea  in  a  grove  of  tamarack  trees.  Here  are  motor 
courts  and  a  swimming  pool  with  mineral  water  at  a  constant  temperature 
of  112°  F.  Stands  of  cattails  and  bamboo  grass  near  the  seashore  offer 
blinds  for  duck  shooting  in  the  fall. 

At  47.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  78  (see  TOUR  6C). 


T  0  U  R     3        4l 

KANE  SPRINGS,  48.8  m.  (—150  alt.),  is  the  oldest  known 
water  hole  on  the  Colorado  Desert  (service  station,  restaurant),  long 
a  camping  ground  of  desert  explorers  and  Indians.  One  of  the  most 
prevalent  of  local  myths  concerns  a  Spanish  galleon  that  sailed  into  the 
northernmost  arm  of  the  prehistoric  Gulf  of  California,  to  be  aban- 
doned there  with  its  fabulous  cargo  of  gold.  As  the  sea  dried  up,  the 
hapless  ship  sank  beneath  shifting  dunes.  In  1890  an  oldtimer  appeared 
at  Kane  Springs  asserting  he  had  seen  the  ancient  ship  nearby  almost 
covered  by  a  dune.  Searchers,  however,  failed  to  find  it.  The  prob- 
able inspiration  for  the  legend  was  a  boat  built  in  1862  by  a  Colorado 
River  mining  company,  transported  part  way  across  the  desert  by  ox 
team,  and  then  abandoned  because  of  the  difficulty  of  the  journey  from 
San  Gorgonio  Pass  to  the  Colorado  River. 

South  of  Kane  Springs  a  long  sand  mound,  or  desert  wall  (R), 
protects  the  highway  from  floods  during  the  rare  but  sudden  thunder- 
storms. As  the  road  turns  abruptly  east,  sagebrush,  creosote,  and  the 
grayish  green  greasewood  give  way  to  trees  and  bamboo  grass. 

WESTMORELAND,  62.3  m.  (—150  alt.,  1,300  pop.),  founded 
in  1910,  boasts  of  having  the  widest  main  street  in  the  valley  and  no 
cemetery.  In  the  community  live  Yankees,  Negroes,  Indians  (Asiatic), 
Mexicans,  Chinese,  and  Japanese.  As  in  other  valley  towns,  the  popu- 
lation is  swelled  during  the  harvest  season  by  itinerant  agricultural 
workers,  frequently  referred  to  as  "fruit  tramps,"  who,  with  their 
families,  follow  the  ripening  crops  in  a  great  nomadic  trek,  living  in 
makeshift  huts  and  "jungles"  (see  EL  CENTRO,  TOUR  Ha). 

Through  fields  of  grain,  vegetables,  and  cotton,  vast  melon  patches, 
and  endless  rows  of  winter  lettuce,  runs  a  network  of  irrigation  canals. 
Long  lines  of  sugarcane  stand  in  green  files  along  the  edges  of  ditches. 
Dates,  grapes,  grapefruit,  and  oranges  grow  now,  where  only  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago  the  bleached  bones  of  travelers  lay  in  the  burning 
sand. 

Intense  heat  prevails  in  this  region  through  the  summer  months, 
with  temperatures  ranging  up  to  125°,  but  the  torrid  heat  is  made 
tolerable  by  the  extreme  dryness  of  the  desert  air.  In  winter  the 
temperature  varies  as  much  as  60°  between  day  and  night. 

BRAWLEY,  70.2  m.  (—115  alt.,  10,439  pop.),  is  the  largest 
town  in  Imperial  Valley  and  one  of  its  two  largest  shipping  centers. 
It  is  a  well-planned  community  with  wide  streets  and  cool  greenery 
in  its  several  public  parks.  The  long,  one-story  building  housing  the 
city  offices  and  public  library,  a  good  example  of  modern  adobe  con- 
struction with  its  3-foot  outer  walls  and  low,  timbered  ceilings,  stands 
in  a  plaza  filled  with  tropical  trees,  flowers,  and  plants.  More  Mexican 
laborers  live  here  than  anywhere  else  in  the  valley;  their  efforts  to 
raise  their  standard  of  living  have  made  the  town  the  most  conspicuous 
center  of  labor  unrest  among  valley  towns. 

South  of  Brawley  US  99  cuts  through  one  of  the  valley's  most 
productive  areas.  Here  grow  the  best  cantaloupes,  white  head  lettuce, 
and  alfalfa.  Contrary  to  usual  dairying  methods,  cows  are  milked  in 


462        CALIFORNIA 

the  open  and  their  fodder — baled  hay — remains  stacked  and  uncovered 
in  the  fields. 

IMPERIAL,  79.9  m.  (—67  alt.,  1,943  pop.),  is  the  oldest  town 
in  the  valley.  A  common  sight  along  the  highway  are  signs  announcing 
"Cotton  Pickers  Wanted."  Shacks  occupied  by  the  migrant  workers 
straggle  along  the  irrigation  ditches  whose  line  can  be  easily  traced  by 
sugarcane  on  the  embankments. 

The  IMPERIAL  COUNTY  AIRPORT,  80.4  m.f  is  a  flagstop  for  trans- 
continental airlines;  opposite  it  are  the  IMPERIAL  COUNTY  FAIR 
GROUNDS. 

EL  CENTRO,  84.4  m.  (  —  52  alt.,  8,500  pop.)  (see  TOUR  14a), 
is  at  the  junction  with  US  80  (see  TOUR  Ifa). 

South  of  El  Centre,  blue-green  fields  of  alfalfa — which  here  yield 
five  or  six  crops  a  year — and  eucalyptus  trees  line  the  highway. 

HEBER,  90.4  m.  (—  g  alt.,  991  pop.),  is  a  shopping  and  shipping 
point  for  the  southern  valley.  Founded  in  1901  by  the  Imperial  Land 
Company  some  distance  eastward  and  named  Paringa,  the  town  was 
moved  two  years  later  following  completion  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  survey  and  renamed  for  a  president  of  the  California  De- 
velopment Company. 

CALEXICO,  95.4  m.  (5  alt.,  6,232  pop.),  a  border  town,  is  a 
port  of  entry  to  the  United  States.  Here  Mexican  travel  permits  are 
available  (no  permit  necessary  if  visitor  returns  same  day  he  leaves). 
Calexico  is  on  a  former  i6o-acre  tract  owned  by  George  Chaffey,  one 
of  the  promoters  of  the  first  irrigation  projects  in  the  valley.  The  tent 
city  of  the  Imperial  Land  Company  was  the  first  Calexico.  A  press 
agent  of  this  company  is  said  to  have  coined  the  names  of  the  twin 
cities  of  Calexico  and  Mexicali  (just  over  the  border)  by  combining 
syllables  from  the  words  California  and  Mexico.  Before  the  repeal 
of  the  Volstead  Act,  Calexico  was  chiefly  a  week-end  town  visited  by 
Imperial  Valley  workers  in  pursuit  of  the  bright  lights,  dance  halls, 
and  saloons  of  the  adjacent  Mexican  town.  In  recent  years  Calexico 
has  thrown  off  its  tawdry  border  aspect  and  carried  out  civic  improve- 
ments, and  Mexicali's  bars  and  cantinas  have  lost  the  lure  they  once 
held  for  pleasure-bent  valley  inhabitants. 

ROCKWOOD  HALL,  on  the  International  Boundary  Line,  is  an  old 
adobe  building,  amid  date  palms,  once  used  by  Charles  R.  Rockwood, 
the  man  most  closely  associated  with  the  development  of  Imperial 
Valley.  The  structure,  restored  in  1932,  contains  two  assembly  halls. 


TOUR     3  A        463 

m«8mm«^^ 


Tour  3  A 

(Klamath  Falls,  Ore.)—  Dorris— Macdoel— Weed;  US  97 
Oregon  Line  to  Weed,  57.4  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout. 
Accommodations  limited. 

US  97  follows  a  southwesterly  course  through  the  central  section 
of  northern  California,  a  thinly  populated  country,  high,  rugged,  and 
semiarid.  The  northern  section  of  the  route  runs  through  a  high 
mountain  valley,  walled  by  the  Siskiyou  Range.  South  of  the  valley 
the  course  swings  more  sharply  westward  and  follows  the  foothills  at 
the  northwestern  base  of  Mount  Shasta  through  rough,  lava-scarred 
country.  The  region,  one  of  farming,  lumbering,  and  stock  raising,  was 
settled  late,  after  the  advent  of  roads  and  railroad.  Lumbering  is  the 
major  source  of  income.  Here,  as  throughout  most  of  Siskiyou  County, 
are  stands  of  yellow  and  sugar  pine,  red  fir,  and  cedar.  This  section 
has  recently  become  popular  for  hunting  and  fishing. 

US  97  crosses  the  Oregon  Line,  0  m.,  21  miles  southwest  of 
Klamath  Falls,  Ore.,  and  runs  through  Butte  Valley.  The  valley, 
17  miles  in  length  and  approximately  10  miles  wide,  once  cradled  a 
great  lake,  long  since  dried  up.  When  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
was  built  through  this  region,  a  colony  of  Dunkards  settled  here.  Com- 
ing from  Iowa  and  states  further  east,  they  were  unacquainted  with  the 
principles  of  dry  farming,  and  their  first  crops  failed.  In  time,  how- 
ever, they  learned  to  irrigate  from  the  water  sources  that  underlie  the 
valley. 

DORRIS,  3.5  m.  (4,238  alt.,  762  pop.),  a  trade  center  for  farmers 
and  vacationists  who  visit  the  area,  was  one  of  the  Dunkard  colonies. 
East  of  the  town  lies  dry  Lower  Klamath  Lake. 

US  97  continues  southwestward.  To  the  west  is  the  basin  known 
as  Meiss,  or  Butte  Lake,  in  ancient  times  part  of  the  lake  that  covered 
the  valley. 

MACDOEL,  14.5  m.  (4,258  alt.,  150  pop.),  also  a  Dunkard 
colony,  is  now  a  business  center  for  the  Butte  Valley  Irrigation  District. 
The  whine  of  saw  mills  and  the  ring  of  sharp-bitted  loggers'  axes 
resound  in  the  high  clear  air. 

US  97  was  rerouted  south  of  Macdoel  late  in  1938  to  skirt,  rather 
than  cross,  DEER  MOUNTAIN  (5,380  alt.),  whose  height  (L)  is 
unimpressive.  For  several  miles  the  highway  traverses  a  desolate, 
sagebrush-covered  region. 

US  97  enters  the  rugged,  lava-strewn  region  that  fans  out  from  the 
base  (L)  of  snow-covered  Mount  Shasta  (see  TOUR  3a). 


464        CALIFORNIA 

At  45.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  rough  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  through  pine-  and  juniper-forested  wastes,  2.3  m.  to 
the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  2  m.  to  the  base  of  SHEEP  ROCK 
(5,500  alt.),  a  forbidding  pile  of  weather-scarred  crags  resembling  battle- 
ments. In  early  days,  several  square  miles  of  level  surface  nearby,  dotted 
with  patches  of  grass,  was  a  winter  pasture  for  thousands  of  wild  Mount 
Shasta  sheep.  From  the  higher  ridges  they  came  down  to  the  warm  lava 
crags  and  plateaus.  Naturalist  John  Muir  marveled  when  he  heard  how 
they  were  seen  leaping  from  an  almost  perpendicular  lava  headland  150 
feet  high  ".  .  .  without  evincing  any  extraordinary  concern,  hugging  the 
rock  closely  and  controlling  the  velocity  of  their  .  .  .  movements  by  strik- 
ing at  short  intervals  and  holding  back  with  their  cushioned,  rubber  feet 
.  .  ."  Long  hunted  by  tribesmen,  the  sheep  disappeared  altogether  after 
wanton  slaughter  by  white  settlers. 

The  main  side  road  continues  to  a  junction  with  a  narrow  dirt  road, 
3.3  m. ;  L.  here  0.3  m.  to  the  end  of  the  road,  where  a  faintly  discernible 
foot  trail  marked  by  paint-daubed  rocks  leads  0.3  m.  through  junipers  and 
over  hummocks  of  lava  to  a  great  hole  walled  with  lava  crags — the  en- 
trance to  PLUTO'S  CAVE.  The  trail  descends  to  a  great  archway  that  leads 
into  a  high-ceilinged  cavern.  Opposite  (R),  through  another  arch  is  an- 
other great  well.  The  rough  floor  slopes  down  to  the  opening  of  an 
enormous  tunnel,  roofed  by  a  jagged  ceiling  that  arches  50  to  60  feet 
above  a  floor  piled  high  with  tumbled  rocks.  A  short  distance  beyond  the 
opening  is  a  third  large  well;  beyond  another  vast  arched  gateway  the 
cave  winds  into  the  depths  of  the  earth, — for  nearly  a  mile  it  is  30  to  40 
feet  wide  and  50  to  60  feet  high.  Within  its  black  depths  early  explorers 
found  owls  and  bats,  the  bones  and  horns  of  wild  sheep,  and  blackened 
ashes  of  fires. 

US  97  swings  round  the  reddish  brown,  craggy  hump  of  YELLOW 
BUTTE  (R),  dips  to  the  valley  floor,  and  climbs  again  into  rubble- 
scarred  foothills  at  the  base  of  Mount  Shasta.  At  51.9  m.  there  is  a 
view  (R)  of  Little  Shasta  Valley.  The  route  crosses  rolling  hills  where 
stands  of  pine  and  cedar  grow  amid  stretches  of  cutover  land,  and 
reaches  WEED,  57.4  m.  (3,466  alt.,  4,000  pop.)  (see  TOUR  Sa),  at 
the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a). 


^ggSSXg!^^ 


Tour  jB 


Red  Bluff—  Marysville— Roseville;  123.4  m.  US  99E 

Southern  Pacific  R.R.  parallels  route  between  Marysville  and  Los  Molinos; 
Sacramento  Northern  R.R.  between  Marysville  and  Chico.  Accommodations 
plentiful;  hotels  and  auto  camps  in  larger  towns.  Paved  highways  throughout; 
open  all  seasons. 

US  99E  runs  between  the  river  and  the  highlands  through  the  great 
plains  of  the  eastern  Sacramento  Valley.     Far  eastward,  paralleling  the 


TOUR    SB      465 

route,  the  land  slopes  upward  to  the  dim  blue  foothills  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.  Level  grainfields — green  with  young  wheat  and  barley  in 
season,  or  yellow  with  stubble — and  gently  rolling  stretches  of  grazing 
land,  dotted  with  groves  of  oaks,  spread  on  either  side.  In  the  valley 
lands,  where  water  is  plentiful,  orchards  fringe  the  highway  for  miles, 
white  and  pink  with  blossoms  in  spring.  Many  of  the  quiet  valley 
towns,  half  buried  among  trees,  preserve  traces  of  their  mid-nineteenth 
century  origin. 

Branching  east  from  US  99,  0  m.  (see  TOUR  3a)  in  RED 
BLUFF,  US  99E  crosses  the  tree-fringed  bed  of  the  placid  Sacramento 
River.  Beyond  orchards  and  fields,  far  in  the  east  above  the  foothills, 
towers  Lassen  Peaks  (see  TOUR  5a). 

At  2.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  36  (see  TOUR  6 A). 

At  14.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  crossing  the  Sacramento  River  to  TEHAMA,  1.3  m. 
(218  alt.,  190  pop.),  until  1857  the  seat  of  Tehama  County,  a  quiet  village 
of  dusty,  tree-shaded  byways,  surrounding  a  frame  steepled  church  and 
false-front  buildings  with  wooden  awnings.  Settled  in  1847  when  Robert  H. 
Thomas  built  an  adobe  here  on  his  Rancho  de  los  Saucos  (ranch  of  the 
elder  trees),  Tehama  became  a  busy  freighting  and  trading  center  and  the 
chief  ferry  crossing  between  Marysville  and  Shasta  until  Red  Bluff  .out- 
rivaled it  as  a  river  town. 

LOS  MOLINOS  (the  mills),  15.3  m.  (211  alt.,  200  pop.),  is 
headquarters  for  small  dairy,  poultry,  and  orchard  tracts. 

The  SITE  OF  BENTON  CITY,  21.3  m.,  is  marked  by  a  concrete  monu- 
ment and  a  dugout,  formerly  a  cellar.  Peter  Lassen  laid  out  a  town 
here  in  1847  on  ms  26,oooacre  Rancho  Bosquejo.  To  round  up 
settlers  Lassen  went  to  Missouri,  in  honor  of  whose  expansionist  senator, 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  he  named  the  place.  He  returned  in  the  summer 
of  1848  with  the  first  group  to  come  overland  to  settle  in  the  upper 
Sacramento  Valley.  With  him  he  brought  a  charter,  granted  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  for  the  first  Masonic  Lodge  in  California, 
Western  Star  Lodge,  No.  2.  But  the  discovery  of  gold  depopulated 
Lassen's  embryo  city  and  the  lodge  was  moved  to  Shasta  in  1851. 

At  22  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  VINA,  0.8  m.  (206  alt.,  300  pop.),  center  of  Sen- 
ator Leland  Stanford's  former  55,ooo-acre  grape-producing  Vina  Ranch, 
established  in  1881.  Given  to  Stanford  University  on  his  death  in  1892, 
the  ranch  has  been  subdivided  into  fruit,  nut,  and  garden  tracts. 

US  99E  continues  through  far-stretching  grainfields  and  farmlands. 
At  37.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  here  to  RICHARDSON  SPRINGS,  9.6  m.  (hotel  and  cottages],  an 
all-year  resort  in  the  foothills  near  mineral  waters. 

CHICO  (Sp.,  little),  40.8  m.  (193  alt.,  7,961  pop.),  a  trade  center 
since  Gen.  John  Bidwell  planted  his  orchards  here,  stands  in  a  farm 
belt  producing  fruit,  grain,  and  almonds.  In  the  late  1840*5  John 
Bidwell,  a  member  of  the  first  overland  party  to  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada, 


466        CALIFORNIA 

combined  the  Rancho  Arroyo  Chico  and  Rancho  de  Farwell  into  the 
Rancho  Chico  which  became  renowned  for  its  great  and  varied  pro- 
ductivity and  its  miles  of  tree-arched  avenues.  Bidwell  maintained  an 
experimental  orchard  of  1,800  acres,  which  at  the  time  of  his  death 
contained  400  varieties  of  fruit.  A  pioneer  in  raisin  growing  and  olive 
oil  manufacture,  he  began  wine  making  in  1864  or  1865,  but  after  two 
years  plowed  up  his  vineyards.  He  later  ran  for  President  of  the 
United  States  on  the  Prohibition  Party  ticket.  When  in  1860  he  laid 
out  the  town  of  Chico,  he  offered  free  lots  to  any  who  would  build 
on  his  townsite.  Before  the  end  of  a  decade  Chico  was  a  city  of  2,ooo, 
boasting  hotels  and  churches — and  even  saloons  and  gambling  houses, 
despite  Bidwell's  advocacy  of  temperance. 

A  memorial  to  Chico's  founder  is  the  granite  monument  on  the  SITE 
OF  THE  BIDWELL  ADOBE,  built  for  him  by  the  Maidu  Indians  in  1852. 
Beyond,  in  a  parklike  preserve,  is  the  two-story,  stone  BIDWELL  MAN- 
SION with  its  broad  verandas  and  huge  central  tower.  The  mansion 
is  now  the  girls'  dormitory  of  the  CHICO  STATE  COLLEGE,  whose  tile- 
roofed  Romanesque  buildings  are  grouped  among  trees  about  broad 
green  lawns.  Construction  of  the  college  was  begun  in  1887  on  a 
lO-acre  plot  donated  by  Bidwell. 

The  INDIAN  VILLAGE,  where  lived  the  Maidu  (known  as  the  Bid- 
well  Indians),  extends  along  Sacramento  Avenue  (R)  on  the  northwest 
outskirts  of  town.  When  Bidwell  arrived  in  the  late  1840*5,  the  Maidu 
were  wild  as  deer,  the  men  going  about  wholly  naked,  the  women  clad 
only  in  skirts  of  grass.  Under  the  regime  of  Bidwell,  who  built  houses, 
a  school  and  a  church  for  them,  they  worked  as  ranch  hands  on  the 
property  that  had  belonged  to  their  ancestors.  Their  village  today  is  a 
desolate,  weed-grown  tract  of  weather-beaten  shanties  about  a  crumbling 
little  belfried  church. 

Donated  by  Bidwell's  widow,  2,4OO-acre  BIDWELL  PARK  (picnicking 
and  other  facilities},  at  the  east  end  of  Fourth  St.,  winds  for  10  miles 
along  Big  Chico  Creek,  a  narrow  strip  luxuriantly  green  with  vines, 
oaks,  and  sycamores,  which  served  as  the  Sherwood  Forest  of  The 
Adventures  of  Robin  Hood,  filmed  here  in  1937.  The  HOOKER  OAK, 
approached  by  South  Drive,  was  named  for  the  British  botanist,  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker,  who  in  1877  adjudged  it  the  world's  largest  oak  tree; 
it  has  been  estimated  to  be  1,000  years  old,  and  rises  101  feet.  From  its 
massive  trunk,  28  feet  in  circumference,  giant  branches  spread  over  an 
area  147  feet  in  diameter. 

At  42.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  here  to  the  UNITED  STATES  PLANT  INTRODUCTION  STATION,  2  m., 
(159  alt.)  a  24o-acre  farm  where  plants  brought  from  many  parts  of  the 
world  are  studied,  acclimated  and,  if  possible,  developed  into  proved 
species  for  American  soils. 

The  highway  cuts  through  plum  and  almond  orchards  to  the  road- 
side hamlet  of  DURHAM,  47.7  m.  (159  alt.,  1,500  pop.).  A  tract  of 
6,300  acres  here,  purchased  by  the  State,  was  subdivided  in  1918  and 


TOUR    SB     467 

sold  to  settlers,  many  of  them  war  veterans,  under  supervision  of  the 
State  Land  Settlement  Board. 

NELSON,  54.4  m.  (121  alt.,  200  pop.),  in  the  midst  of  a  grain- 
growing  area  where  the  first  wheat  was  planted  in  the  early  1850*5  is 
named  for  Capt.  A.  D.  Nelson,  early  wheat  grower. 

RICHVALE,  58.4  m.  (121  alt.,  100  pop.),  has  grown  up  in  the 
heart  of  California's  leading  rice-growing  region,  where  the  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  established  in  1908  a  rice-experiment  station 
that  tested  275  varieties.  In  1912,  1,000  acres  about  Richvale  were 
planted.  The  rice  thrived  and  spread  throughout  the  region.  The  side- 
roads  westward  run  through  swampy  fields  covered  with  the  rippling 
green  of  top-heavy  rice  plants.  Low  irrigation  dikes  weave  through 
them  in  intricate  patterns. 

At  61.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  highway. 

Left  here  to  OROVILLE,  7.9  m.  (205  alt.,  3,698  pop.)  (see  TOUR  6B), 
at  the  junction  with  State  24  (see  TOUR  6B). 

Deep  among  peach  trees  is -LIVE  OAK,  76.9  m.  (74  alt.,  800  pop.). 

Right  from  Live  Oak  on  a  paved  road  to  the  base  of  SUTTER  BUTTES, 
7  7/1.,  jutting  up  from  the  flat  valley  floor.  Of  the  four  jagged  peaks, 
SOUTH  BUTTE  (2,132  alt.)  is  the  highest.  The  buttes  are  the  eroded  re- 
mains of  an  ancient  crater  that  formerly  rose  twice  their  present  height. 
The  Indians  hereabouts  were  driven  from  their  homelands  by  horse  and 
cattle  thieves  who  found  hiding  places  in  the  buttes.  Just  before  the  Bear 
Flag  Revolt,  (see  TOUR  2A)  Capt.  John  C.  Fremont  and  his  expedition 
camped  here. 

The  road  continues  around  the  base  of  the  buttes. 

YUBA  CITY,  87.5  m.  (50  alt.,  3,605  pop.),  seat  of  Sutter  County, 
a  pleasantly  shaded  town  by  the  Yuba  River,  is  the  center  of  a  vast 
peach-growing  region.  One  tale  relates  that  Yuba  is  a  corruption  of 
Uva  (grape),  the  name  given  the  river  in  1824  by  Spanish  explorers 
who  found  its  banks  overgrown  with  wild  grapes;  another,  that  a 
branch  of  the  Maidu  tribe  in  the  neighborhood  was  called  the  Yu-ba. 
Laid  out  in  July  1849  by  Samuel  Brannan,  Pierson  B.  Reading,  and 
Henry  Cheever,  Yuba  City  stands  on  the  site  of  an  Indian  village  whose 
round  earthen  huts  overlooked  the  river.  Opposite  the  old-fashioned 
HALL  OF  RECORDS  in  its  tree-shaded  square,  229  B  Street,  a  giant  wal- 
nut tree  planted  about  1878,  rises  100  feet,  its  branches  spreading  over 
a  104- foot  area  from  a  trunk  155/2  feet  in  circumference  at  the  4-foot 
level. 

Yuba  City  is  at  the  junction  with  State  24  (see  TOUR  6B). 

US  99E  crosses  the  Feather  River  to  MARYSVILLE,  88.6  m.  (61 
alt.,  5,763  pop.),  seat  of  Yuba  County,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Feather 
and  the  Yuba  Rivers.  Here  in  1842  Theodore  Cordua  built  a  trading 
post  that  became  a  way  station  on  the  Oregon-California  Trail.  In  the 
winter  of  1848-49  Cordua  sold  out  to  men  who  opened  a  general  store 
and  laid  out  a  townsite.  Moving  spirit  behind  the  town's  early  growth 
was  Stephen  J.  Field,  later  appointed  by  Lincoln  to  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  who  arrived  in  1849  and  three  days  later  was  elected 


468       CALIFORNIA 

mayor,  chiefly  because  he  had  bought  200  lots  for  $16,250.  The  night 
of  his  election  the  town  was  named  Marysville  for  Mary  Murphy 
Covillaud,  a  survivor  of  the  Donner  party  and  wife  of  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  townsite.  Field  straightened  out  the  legal  tangle  on  the  land 
ownership,  drove  off  squatters  and  organized  posses  to  clear  out  cattle 
thieves.  Within  two  years  Marysville  was  a  town  of  5,000,  third 
largest  in  the  State,  with  an  iron  foundry,  a  theater,  a  jail,  two  banks, 
and  several  churches.  Stores,  saloons,  gambling  houses,  and  hotels  of 
lumber  and  canvas  crowded  around  the  plaza  above  the  river,  where 
barges  and  river  boats  tied  up — for  Marysville  overnight  became  the 
head  of  Feather  River  navigation.  Freight  and  passengers  went  on  by 
wagon,  pack  train,  saddle  horse,  or  on  foot  to  the  Yuba  and  Feather 
River  diggings;  by  1854  twenty  freighting  companies  were  operating  out 
of  here,  with  400  wagons  and  4,000  mules. 

Marysville  is  no  longer  a  river  town.  Hydraulic  mining  changed 
the  face  of  the  countryside,  burying  farms  and  villages  under  debris, 
choking  river  bottoms  with  silt.  Its  bed  raised  70  feet  or  more,  the 
Yuba,  on  which  Marysville  looked  down,  is  now  above  the  city  streets 
behind  great  earthen  dikes,  eight  to  74  feet  wide  at  the  crown,  con- 
structed after  1875.  A  brisk  little  city  of  wide  streets  and  shady  parks, 
Marysville  lives  now  on  trade  with  the  farmers  and  orchardists  of  this 
region  where  the  Thompson  seedless  grape  and  the  Phillip  cling  peach 
originated. 

Reminders  of  the  past  are  the  many  old  brick  buildings  that  line  the 
tree-arched  streets.  The  YUBA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  Sixth  and  D 
Sts.,  with  three  towers  looming  castlelike  above  brick  walls,  and  the 
CITY  HALL  and  fire  house,  Fourth  between  B  and  C  Sts.,  were  built 
in  1855-56.  Three  brick  churches  date  back  to  the  1 850*8 :  the  Episco- 
pal, Fifth  and  E  Sts.,  designed  in  Norman  style;  St.  Joseph's  Roman 
Catholic  (1855),  Seventh  and  C  Sts.;  and  the  Presbyterian  (1860), 
Fifth  and  D  Sts.  The  brick  STEPHEN  J.  FIELD  MANSION,  630  D  St., 
was  built  by  Marysville's  first  mayor.  The  RAMIREZ  HOUSE,  220-222 
Fifth  St.,  former  home  of  Jose  M.  Ramirez,  built  in  the  1850*8,  is  a 
rambling,  vine-shrouded  edifice  with  a  first  story  of  gray  stone  blocks 
and  a  second  of  wood,  with  outside  stairways  and  Gothic  windows. 

US  ggE  crosses  the  wide,  sandy  bottoms  of  shallow,  winding  Yuba 
River  and  runs  through  peach  orchards  to  the  junction  with  a  paved 
road,  90.4  m. 

Left  on  this  road  is  HAMMONTON,  9.8  m.  (135  alt.,  836  pop.),  which 
sprang  up  in  1905  when  the  Yuba  Consolidated  Goldfields  began  dredging 
in  the  Yuba  River  bottoms;  it  was  named  for  the  company's  W.  P.  Ham- 
mon,  builder  of  the  first  successful  dredge.  As  many  as  seven  giant 
dredges,  costing  from  $1,000,000  to  $3,000,000  each,  operated  here  in  land- 
locked artificial  basins,  scooping  up  earth  in  front,  washing  out  the  gold, 
and  moving  on,  trailed  by  piles  of  sand,  rock,  and  gravel. 

WHEATLAND,  101.6  m.  (go  alt.,  479  pop.),  is  a  village  of 
weather-beaten  tree-shaded  houses  among  hop  fields.  During  the  pick- 
ing season,  thousands  of  migratory  workers  camp  on  the  fringes  of  the 


ZXKSKK^^ 

Industry ,  Commerce 
and  Transportation 

&&<x<&^ 


MINERAL  SODA  WORKS,  INDEPENDENCE 


WARNER  BROS.  STUDIOS,  BURBANK 


CHINA  CLIPPER  PASSING  SAN  FRANCISCO 


PLANES  ON  ASSEMBLY  LINE,  SANTA  MONICA 


UNLOADING  STEEL  FOR  BAY  BRIDGES,  SAN  FRANCISCO 


MODERN  STUDIO  SET  DURING  FILMING 


CATERPILLAR  TRUCK  WITH  WHEELER 


GRAPES  INTO  WINE 


INSPECTING  PEACHES  AT  CANNERY 


I  li 


OIL  WELLS  ALONG  HUNTINGTON  BEACH 


OIL  TANKS 


TOUR    SB      469 

fields,  one  of  which  employs  as  many  as  4,000;  the  Wheatland  hop 
pickers'  "riot"  of  1913  (see  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT),  Califor- 
nia's first  important  strike  by  field  workers,  grew  out  of  their  protest 
against  miserable  living  conditions.  William  Johnson's  ranch  here,  set- 
tled in  1844-5,  was  the  first  settlement  reached  by  the  Argonauts  who 
crossed  the  Sierra  over  the  Donner's  Pass  branch  of  the  California  trail ; 
in  the  winter  of  1846-47  seven  of  the  Donner  party  came  here  to  seek 
help  for  those  still  snowbound  at  Donner  Lake  (see  TOUR  9 A}. 

SHERIDAN,  104.9  m.  (116  alt.,  198  pop.),  a  desolate  village  of 
ramshackle  frame  houses  in  the  midst  of  an  unshaded  plain,  was  first 
called  Union  Shed,  because  of  a  great  shed  built  in  1857  to  shelter 
freight  teams  from  summer  heat  and  winter  rains. 

LINCOLN,  112.8  m.  (163  alt.,  2,094  pop.),  a  trading  point  for  a 
wide  grain-  and  fruit-growing  area,  since  the  1870*5  has  made  pottery. 
The  smokestacks  and  many-windowed,  iron-roofed  buildings  of  the  huge 
pottery  and  terra  cotta  works  are  near  the  western  edge  of  town.  De- 
posits of  glass  sand  and  a  lignite  coal  mine  have  been  discovered  nearby. 

Softly  undulating  land,  patched  with  clumps  of  oaks,  sweeps  away 
from  the  highway  as  it  continues  to  ROSEVILLE,  123.4  m.  (6  alt., 
6,425  pop.),  which  clusters  about  the  extensive  Southern  Pacific  shops 
and  yards,  its  shady  side  streets  of  frame  dwellings  lined  with  olive, 
maple,  and  fig  trees.  Roseville  ships  plums,  berries,  almonds,  and  grapes 
chilled  in  its  huge  icing  plants,  in  large  quantities. 

Roseville  is  at  the  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9 A). 


ZXSX^^^ 


Tour  3  C 


Greenfield — Taft — Maricopa — Ojai — Ventura;  121.5  m.,  US  399 
Route  paralleled  between  Ojai  and  Ventura  by  Southern  Pacific  R.R. 

Accommodations  plentiful  except  in  mountains. 

Paved  roadbed.     Care  should  be  taken  in  slide  areas,  particularly^  during  and 

after  rains. 

US  399  crosses  the  flat,  torrid  floor  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  leav- 
ing broad  farming  and  grazing  lands  for  a  forest  of  oilwell  derricks. 
Ascending  the  Coast  Range,  the  highway  twists  for  almost  70  miles 
through  mountain  heights  and  descends  into  peaceful  Ojai  Valley. 

West  of  GREENFIELD,  0  m.t  at  a  junction  with  US  99  (see 
TOUR  3C),  is  PANAMA,  3.2  m.,  dependent  on  dairying. 

US  399  follows  a  straight  course  through  a  land  devoted  to  cattle 
raising.  In  the  summer,  it  seems  to  dance  in  the  shimmering  heat  waves. 


47°        CALIFORNIA 

At  17.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 


Right  on  this  dirt  road  to  the  STATE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK,  3.1   m.t 
where  herds  of  elk  are  occasionally  seen  grazing  from  beyond  the  bound- 


Passing  the  Elk  Hills  (R),  dotted  with  the  derricks  of  the  ELK 
HILLS  NAVAL  OIL  RESERVE,  US  399  enters  barren  Buena  Vista  Valley, 
22.1  m.  Southwest  of  the  bleached  Buena  Vista  Hills,  27.4  m.,  is 
Midway  Valley,  black  with  oil  derricks  that  rise  above  a  land  the  hue 
of  wood  ashes.  This  valuable  West  Side  Oil  Field  (also  called  the 
Midway  Sunset  Field),  dating  from  1899,  was  the  homeland  of  what 
was  probably  the  most  poverty-stricken  race  on  the  North  American 
continent.  The  wealth  is  far  from  exhausted,  partly  because  the  four 
companies — Standard,  Union,  Associated,  and  General  Petroleum — by 
mutual  agreement  and  their  monopoly  of  pipe  lines — control  both  the 
spacing  of  wells  and  the  production  rate  of  the  other  200  producing 
companies  in  the  field. 

FORD  CITY,  29.6  m.  (1,000  alt.,  2,900  pop.),  has  a  bleak  and 
treeless  business  street.  Adding  to  the  importance  and  size  of  the 
business  section,  is  Standard  Oil's  CAMP  11C  (1,200  pop.),  lying  west 
of  the  community.  In  the  boom  days  of  the  field,  Ford  City  was  an 
unnamed  tent  city;  its  plethora  of  Model-T  Fords  led  to  the  name. 

TAFT,  30.3  m.  (1,000  alt.,  3,442  pop.),  the  metropolis  of  the 
West  Side  Oil  Field,  is  bleakly  typical  of  the  oil  fields.  The  town  has 
three  men  to  each  woman  among  the  inhabitants,  a  very  busy  Supply 
Row  for  field  equipment,  and  a  monthly  population  turnover  of  tran- 
sient labor  that  frequently  amounts  to  25  per  cent  of  the  total  popula- 
tion. Although  most  of  Taft's  2O  bars  operate  all  night  because  of  the 
three  shifts  in  the  fields,  life  is  otherwise  quiet.  The  town  has  several 
civic,  social,  and  religious  organizations,  and  in  a  region  where  early 
settlers  purchased  water  by  the  quart,  school  facilities  have  recently  been 
improved  by  a  $50,000  plunge  for  children. 

Only  the  early  history  of  Taft  is  spectacular.  In  1908  the  Southern 
Pacific  and  Santa  Fe  decided  to  operate  a  joint  line — the  Sunset  (now 
owned  by  the  Southern  Pacific) — to  carry  prospective  investors  to  and 
from  a  settlement  camp  in  the  expanding  field.  When  this  camp  burned 
down,  a  battle  started  between  the  Southern  Pacific,  which  owned  land 
north  of  the  tracks,  and  J.  S.  Jameson,  who  owned  land  to  the  south. 
The  Southern  Pacific  erected  a  town,  Moron,  and  Jameson  pushed  a 
rival  community,  Jameson.  At  the  height  of  the  rivalry,  when  the 
outcome  of  the  battle  hung  upon  the  location  of  a  proposed  post  office, 
a  fire  obliged  the  Southern  Pacific  by  destroying  Jameson.  Moron  was 
chosen  as  the  site  of  the  post  office,  its  name  changed  to  honor  President 
Taft.  Later  Taft  was  incorporated  and  rebuilt  Jameson  became  South 
Taft. 

US  399  follows  Kern  St.  through  the  residential  areas  of  SOUTH 
TAFT  and  TAFT  HEIGHTS  into  an  arid,  derrick-sentineled  countryside. 
Gradually,  the  highway  rounds  the  outflanking  Temblor  Range. 


TOUR    3  c      471 

MARICOPA,  38  m.  (850  alt.,  1,071  pop.),  is  another  bleak  and 
dreary  product  of  the  oil  fields,  a  community  of  treeless  streets  and 
sun-baked  houses. 

US  399  ascends  GROCER  GRADE  of  the  Temblor  Range,  where 
blanched  desert  land  is  replaced  by  the  browns  and  blacks  of  mountain 
rock  and  the  green  of  chaparral. 

STUBBLEFIELD  GULCH,  49  m.,  widens  into  the  oak-decked 
floor  of  Cuyama  Valley,  a  green  region  of  isolated  farms.  Cuyama 
River  runs  along  the  highway  through  the  narrowing,  southern  section 
of  the  valley,  between  hills  increasingly  rugged. 

A  boundary  of  the  SANTA  BARBARA  NATIONAL  FOREST 
is  crossed  at  60.5  m.  Only  80,000  of  the  1,772,555  acres  are  strictly 
timberland;  the  reserve  is  primarily  for  protection  of  the  watershed. 
Fishing  and  hunting  in  this  unfrequented  region  are  excellent.  Streams 
here  are  kept  well  stocked  with  trout ;  deer,  quail,  wild  pigeon,  fox,  and 
even  mountain  lion  are  among  the  game. 

Continuing  upward  through  slashed,  oak-grown  hills  past  CUY- 
AMA PEAK  (5,880  alt.),  US  399  loses  the  accompanying  murmur 
of  the  Cuyama  River  and  begins  a  steep  and  twisted  ascent  to  Pine 
Mountain  Crest,  75.8  m.  (5,300  alt.).  Visible  (L)  is  REYES  PEAK 
(7,488  alt.).  Behind  is  a  tumultuous  terrain  of  rugged  green  hills; 
ahead,  scarred  country.  The  highway  reaches  a  trough  cut  in  the 
mountains  by  Sespe  Creek  and  follows  the  course  of  the  trout-stocked 
waters  as  its  banks  narrow  and  heighten.  Oaks  lean  from  precipitous 
gorge  sides. 

Crossing  a  last  summit  (3,700  alt.),  91.8  m.,  the  highway  follows 
an  erratic  course,  sweeping  through  the  three  WHEELER  GORGE  TUN- 
NELS, 100.8  m.,  concrete-lined  burrowings,  through  solid  mountain  sides. 

The  pleasant  countryside  is  characterized  by  its  many  vacation  re- 
sorts. Bridle  trails  mark  the  hillsides.  Hot  and  cold  mineral  springs 
and  plunges  and  rustic  resort  cabins  are  passed.  MATILIJA  CAN- 
YON, 104.1  m.,  is  abloom  through  the  summer  with  the  lovely  matilija- 
poppies.  These  flowers,  4  and  5  inches  in  diameter,  whose  white  petals 
and  yellow  centers  appear  to  have  been  cut  from  crepe  paper,  blossom 
from  bushes  that  reach  heights  of  5  and  6  feet. 

Ojai  Valley,  106.1  m.,  12  miles  long  and  3  miles  wide,  is  a  rolling, 
fertile  land  protected  from  inclemencies  of  weather  by  the  Topatopa 
Mountains  on  the  north  and  the  Sulphur  Mountains  on  the  south.  It  is 
dotted  with  luxuriant  oaks  and  sycamores  and  checkered  with  fruit 
orchards. 

At  108.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  OJAI,  1  m.  (743  alt.,  1,468  pop.),  the  residential 
heart  of  the  valley.  Originally,  this  affluent  municipality  was  called 
Nordhoff  in  honor  of  Charles  Nordhoff,  whose  column  in  the  New  York 
Herald  in  the  i87o's  and  booster  book  aided  the  California  real  estate 
boom  that  created  the  town.  (Charles  Nordhoff  is  grandfather  of  the  co- 
author of  the  Bounty  series.)  Although  in  1888  two  Yale  men,  S.  D.  and 
W.  L.  Thacher,  established  nearby  an  expensive  preparatory  school  for  the 
sons  of  the  wealthy,  Nordhoff  remained  primarily  a  rustic  village  until 


472        CALIFORNIA 

1916.  In  that  year,  however,  great  changes  occurred.  E.  D.  Libbey,  whose 
foo-acre  estate  and  Spanish-style  castle  adjoined  the  village,  persuaded  the 
residents  to  remodel  structures  in  Spanish  style  and  to  change  the  name 
of  the  community.  The  climate  was  advertised;  resort  hotels  sprang  up; 
retired  men  of  means  came  here  and  took  up  ranching;  ranchers  took  up 
culture;  businessmen  took  up  tourists;  and  architectural  development  was 
rapid. 

The  conductor,  Leopold  Stokowski,  has  a  home  here,  as  has  J.  Krish- 
namurti,  Hindu  poet  and  mystic.  The  valley  population  of  about  3,500 
is  swelled  during  winter  and  spring  months  by  an  influx  of  tourists  and 
vacationists.  Culture  is  encouraged  by  art  classes  every  Thursday  evening, 
Sanskrit  instruction  every  afternoon,  and  open  forums  maintained  by  the 
University  of  California.  Supplementing  these  activities  are  those  of 
numerous  organizations — choral,  histrionic,  terpsichorean,  orchestral,  and 
others.  The  Rosicrucians  and  the  adherents  of  the  American  Inner  School 
(headquarters  of  the  Theosophist  Society)  on  Krotona  Hill  form  one  social 
group;  the  memberships  of  the  Jack  Boyd  Club  and  the  Ojai  Valley  Coun- 
try Club  form  others.  The  Ojai  Valley  Tennis  Club  in  the  last  week  of 
April  conducts  a  State-wide  tennis  tournament,  during  which  even  the 
schools  are  closed.  So  constant  are  Ojai  activities  that  the  city  has  earned 
the  title,  "a  miniature  Santa  Barbara." 

South  of  the  Ojai  junction,  US  399  sweeps  between  ARBOLADA 
(R),  the  former  Libbey  estate — now  a  residential  subdivision — and 
the  OJAI  VALLEY  COUNTRY  CLUB  and  GOLF  COURSE  (L),  built  with 
its  prize-winning  architectural  design  at  an  expense  of  $250,000  and 
given  to  the  club  by  Mr.  Libbey. 

South  of  MIRROR  LAKE  (R),  110.4  m.,  a  marshy  abode  of  wild 
ducks,  US  399  leaves  Ojai  Valley  behind.  Oak-covered  hills  again  close 
in  upon  the  highway  and  the  accompanying  Ventura  River  spread. 

FRESNO  CANYON,  115.8  m.,  permits  a  view  of  FOSTER  PARK 
(L),  a  wooded  mountain  side  improved  by  a  great,  outdoor,  concrete 
AUDITORIUM,  the  gift  of  the  region's  wealthy  citizens.  South  of  the 
derricks  of  the  VENTURA  OIL  FIELD,  118.8  m.t  the  highway  crosses  the 
broadening  Ventura  River  Valley  to  the  junction  with  US  101  in  VEN- 
TURA, 121.5  m.  (see  TOUR  20} . 


&&<&^^^ 


Tour  4 


Junction  with  State  24 — Sierraville — Sierra  City — Auburn — Placerville 
— Sonora — Mariposa;  301.8  m.  State  49. 

Roadbed  narrow  and  unpaved  between  State  24  and  Sierraville,  sometimes  im- 
passable in  winter;  paved  elsewhere. 
Hotels  in  larger  towns;  camping  grounds  plentiful. 

When  James  Wilson  Marshall  found  a  few  flakes  of  gold  on  Janu- 
ary 24,  1848,  in  the  tailrace  of  a  mill  he  was  building  on  the  American 
River,  he  started  a  mass  movement  into  California.  More  than  100,000 


TOUR    4     473 

gold  seekers  poured  into  El  Dorado  within  the  next  two  years  in  a 
feverish  search  for  riches,  half  depopulating  some  eastern  villages  and 
causing  a  labor  shortage.  Some  men  made  a  comfortable  stake  but  more 
were  constantly  on  the  move  in  an  effort  to  find  richer  strikes — and  in 
the  end  had  nothing  to  show  for  their  frantic  activities.  Even  though 
they  panned  as  much  as  $100  worth  of  gold  a  day  for  a  time,  they  spent 
it  all  in  gambling  or  for  food,  drink,  and  shelter,  retailed  at  fantastic 
prices.  Sooner  or  later  perhaps  half  of  the  gold  hunters  went  back  to 
their  eastern  homes;  some  remained  to  hunt  ceaselessly  for  the  fabulous 
strike  that  was  never  made ;  others  moved  on  to  Nevada,  Oregon,  Idaho, 
Colorado,  and  other  places  where  gold  and  silver  were  found  in  the  next 
decades ;  and  a  considerable  number  settled  down  in  California,  speculat- 
ing in  land,  founding  towns,  and  establishing  businesses  of  one  kind 
and  another.  A  few  moved  to  high  positions  in  the  new  State. 

State  49  runs  through  the  very  heart  of  the  California  gold  country 
— including  the  Mother  Lode.  Within  a  decade  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  gold  were  taken  out  of  the  streams  and  hills,  the  bulk  of  it 
going  to  comparatively  few  men.  In  this  brief  span,  during  which 
mining  camps  mushroomed  on  every  river  bar  and  wandering  prospec- 
tors swarmed  the  hills  by  the  thousands,  a  civilization  sprang  up  over- 
night, endured  briefly,  and  fell  in  ruins — the  full-blown  but  short-lived 
civilization  of  the  wide-open,  riproaring  gold  towns.  After  its  decade 
of  glory,  as  placer  mines  gave  out  and  placer  miners  wandered  away, 
the  gold  region  lost  its  fine  flush  of  feverish  enthusiasm.  Gone  was  the 
day  of  the  roving  prospector  on  muleback,  whose  stock  in  trade  was  a 
pick  and  a  pan.  To  unlock  the  riches  in  the  years  that  followed,  tre- 
mendous labors  were  required  and  millions  in  capital.  The  giant  min- 
ing companies  with  their  vast  and  elaborate  equipment,  sank  shafts  deep 
to  underlying  quartz,  built  networks  of  tunnels,  stamp  mills  to  crush 
the  ore,  wing  dams,  and  ditches,  lifted  rivers  from  their  beds,  and 
brought  in  hydraulic  monitors  that  washed  whole  mountains  away. 

Along  State  49  are  strewn  the  relics  of  these  labors  and  of  the  men 
who  performed  them;  decaying  shanties  of  the  "pick  and  pan"  men, 
abandoned  hillside  shafts  of  the  quartz  mines,  high-piled  debris  of  the 
hydraulic  workings.  Some  of  the  gold  rush  towns  have  disappeared 
completely,  others  are  mere  heaps  of  rubbish.  Even  in  his  day  Mark 
Twain  could  write  of  ghost  towns:  "You  will  find  it  hard  to  believe 
that  here  stood  at  one  time  a  fiercely  flourishing  little  city,  of  2,OOO  or 
3,000  souls,  with  its  newspaper,  fire  company,  brass  band,  volunteer 
militia,  bank,  hotels,  noisy  Fourth  of  July  processions  and  speeches, 
gambling-halls  crammed  with  tobacco  smoke,  profanity,  and  rough- 
bearded  men  of  all  nations  and  colors,  with  tables  heaped  with  gold 
dust — streets  crowded  and  rife  with  business — town  lots  worth  $400  a 
front  foot — labor,  laughter,  music,  swearing,  fighting,  shooting,  stabbing 
— a  bloody  inquest  and  a  man  for  breakfast  every  morning — and  now 
nothing  but  lifeless,  homeless  solitude.  In  no  other  land,  in  modern 
times,  have  towns  so  absolutely  died  and  disappeared,  as  in  the  old  min- 
ing regions  of  California." 


474       CALIFORNIA 

A  few  towns,  kept  alive  by  continuing  or  sporadic  operations,  remain 
to  delight  those  who  take  pleasure  in  pioneer  relics.  Three  or  four  of 
them  nurture  their  picturesque  aspects  for  the  benefit  of  visitors,  even 
to  the  point  of  encouraging  some  "quaint  character"  who  can  grind  out 
the  tales  to  enchant  the  antiquarian.  The  surviving  settlements  are 
more  or  less  alike.  Each  grew  up  along  a  road  or  a  stream ;  hence  few 
have  even  a  single  straight  street.  In  each  the  building  that  has  best 
weathered  the  years  is  usually  the  office  of  the  Wells  Fargo  Company, 
which  shipped  out  the  gold;  it  had  to  be  sturdy  to  survive  attack  from 
the  considerable  number  of  gold  seekers  who  preferred  others  to  do  the 
backbreaking  digging  and  panning  for  them.  It  also  had  to  be  reason- 
ably fireproof  because  of  the  frequent  fires  resulting  from  the  careless, 
rough  and  tumble  life.  In  many  towns  some  old  stores  remain  because 
they,  too,  were  strongly  built;  like  the  express  offices  they  handled  gold 
and  were  subject  to  attack  by  bandits,  as  well  as  by  hilarious,  devil-may- 
care  celebrants.  A  characteristic  of  the  buildings  erected  with  the  need 
of  defense  in  mind  is  the  iron  shutters — heavy,  full  length  iron  doors 
that  protected  all  openings,  windows  and  entrances  alike.  These  doors 
were  usually  brightly  painted ;  the  blues,  reds,  and  greens  are  now  faded 
pastels.  Symbol  of  aristocracy  is  the  "ancient"  building  constructed  of 
lumber  "brought  round  the  Horn" — the  number  is  smaller  than  local 
pride  admits.  These  stand  behind  ailanthus  and  locust  trees,  sometimes 
in  good  condition.  Another  survivor  in  some  places  is  the  fraternal 
association  hall;  fittingly,  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  was 
particularly  strong  in  the  gold  country. 

The  region  still  yields  gold;  in  the  Mother  Lode  region  alone  175 
lode  mines  and  130  placer  mines  were  active  in  1937.  Smoke  began 
to  rise  from  old  stacks  of  hillside  workings  after  the  1933  rise  in  the 
price  of  gold  again  made  operations  profitable.  The  I93o's  also  brought 
thousands  of  unemployed  men  flocking  in  to  try  their  luck,  as  did  the 
forty-niners  fleeing  the  economic  collapse  of  the  1840*8.  Along  State  49, 
near  the  ruins  of  crude  cabins  built  by  the  men  who  first  panned  the 
creeks  are  the  shacks  and  tents  of  "snipers,"  who  work  the  river  gravels 
for  what  little  gold  they  can  find,  which  is  rarely  more  than  enough  to 
keep  them  in  coffee  and  beans.  Even  the  more  experienced  miners 
average  only  $1.53  a  day,  and  the  creeks  can  be  worked  only  for  an 
average  of  86  days  a  year. 

Near  State  49  between  Auburn  and  Mariposa  runs  the  Mother 
Lode  itself,  but  the  whole  region  covered  by  this  route  claims  the  name. 
Geologically,  the  Mother  Lode  is  a  long  narrow  strip  in  the  Sierra  foot- 
hills, a  mile  wide  and  120  miles  long.  Great  masses  of  quartz  crop  out 
at  intervals,  seamed  and  laced  with  gold — precious  yellow  metal  inlaid 
in  rock.  Because  of  the  more  or  less  continuous  deposits,  there  was  a 
belief  in  the  fifties  that  this  was  an  unbroken  ribbon,  set  with  gold,  like 
a  chain  of  massive  nuggets.  The  streams  in  the  region  and  the  ancient 
river  beds  were  filled  with  auriferous  gravel,  the  first  gold  taken  by  the 
early  miners. 

In  the  region  pierced  by  this  route  young  Bret  Harte  (see  LITER- 


TOUR    4      475 

ATURE)  picked  up  the  material  that  helped  set  the  pattern  for  what 
Stanley  Vestal  has  called  "the  histrionic  West/'  Westerns — novels, 
magazines,  and  movies — maintain  the  sentimental  tradition  first  accepted 
and  given  prestige  by  New  England  Brahmin  literary  patronage  of  such 
stories  as  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat. 

Section  a.    JUNCTION  WITH  STATE  24  to  EL  DORADO; 

1684  m.     State  49. 

State  49  branches  southwest  from  State  24  (see  TOUR  6B),  0  m.f 
i  mile  west  of  Chilcoot,  across  the  level  mountain-hemmed  Sierra 
Valley. 

LOYALTON,  11.5  m.  (4,949  alt.,  837  pop.),  named  during  the 
Civil  War  by  mountaineers  who  were  loyal  Union  men,  is  a  lumbering 
center.  An  ordinance  unusual  in  an  early  Western  town  forbade  the 
sale  of  liquor  within  the  "city  limits,"  with  the  result  that  Loyalton 
became  California's  second  largest  city;  its  incorporators  spread  the 
town  as  widely  as  possible  to  discourage  lumberjacks  from  walking 
beyond  the  city  limits  for  a  drink. 

SIERRAVILLE,  24.5  m.  (4,950  alt.,  180  pop.),  at  the  junction 
with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5b),  a  crossroads  center  where  four  stage 
lines  once  met,  lies  in  the  Sierra  Valley,  where  farming  began  in  1853. 
In  1 88 1  a  fire  swept  and  destroyed  practically  the  entire  business 
section,  which,  however,  was  soon  rebuilt. 

West  of  Sierraville  on  State  49  is  SATTLEY,  28.5  m.  (4,992  alt., 
30  pop.),  at  the  foot  of  the  steep  and  winding  climb  over  the  mountain 
through  YUBA  PASS  (6,700  alt.),  through  which  winter  storms 
occasionally  sweep,  marooning  travelers  as  they  did  the  Duchess  and 
John  Oakhurst  in  Bret  Harte's  tale  of  the  outcasts. 

At  42.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  here  into  a  rugged  wilderness,  where  resorts  and  camps  cluster 
along  almost  two  score  trout-stocked  lakes  fed  by  melting  snows,  to  GOLD 
LAKE,  6.9  m.  In  1850  one  Stoddard  led  a  group  of  miners  here  in  search 
of  a  lake  whose  shores,  he  asserted,  were  covered  with  pure  gold.  When 
they  found  no  nuggets  lying  about,  the  miners  almost  lynched  Stoddard  on 
the  spot.  The  expedition,  however,  led  to  discovery  of  the  rich  Plumas 
County  deposits.  At  LONG  LAKE,  10.4  m.,  is  ELWELL  PUBLIC  CAMP, 
starting  point  for  the  climb  to  MOUNT  ELWELL  (7,846  alt.),  which  offers 
fine  views  of  the  mountains. 

By  the  North  Fork  of  the  Yuba  River  lies  SIERRA  CITY,  46.8  m. 
(4,100  alt.,  250  pop.),  where  in  1850  settlers  panned  the  river  gravel 
for  gold.  From  the  jagged  SIERRA  BUTTES  (8,600  alt.),  rising 
sheer  above  it,  an  avalanche  roared  down  to  destroy  the  first  town  of 
shacks  and  tents;  but  Sierra  City  lived  to  make  its  fortune  from  the 
buttes.  Honeycombed  with  the  tunnels  of  quartz  mines  by  1852,  they 
yielded  gold  through  the  1850*8  and  i86o's.  Among  the  richest  claims 
was  the  Monumental  Mine,  where  a  loo-pound  gold  nugget  valued 
at  $25,000  was  found  August  18,  1860.  Still  producing  is  the  Buttes 


476        CALIFORNIA 

Mine,  opened  in  1850;  others,  such  as  the  Young  America,  Colombo, 
and  Gold  Point,  have 'taken  a  new  lease  on  life  since  1933. 

But  the  distant  clangor  of  the  stamp  mills  fails  to  offset  the  ghostly 
air  of  the  deserted  buildings  along  the  main  street.  At  its  head  (L) 
stands  an  empty  frame  hotel,  built  of  "resawn"  lumber,  with  broken 
windowpanes  and  sagging  beams.  At  the  far  end  is  another  old  hotel 
where  old-timers  tell  their  tales;  and  opposite  it  is  a  butcher  shop  with 
the  sign:  "Fresh  Meat  Tuesdays,  Thursdays  and  Saturdays."  In  the 
FIRE  HOUSE  (R)  is  a  two-wheeled  cart,  brought  round  the  Horn  in 
the  1850*8. 

An  imposing  structure  (R)  is  the  BUSCH  BUILDING  (1871),  which 
has  two  stories  of  brick  and  a  balcony  and  third  story  of  wood.  Over 
one  of  the  doorways  are  the  initials  "E.C.V.,"  standing  for  "E.  Clampus 
Vitus,"  the  hilarious  "Incomparable  Confraternity"  that  swept  through 
the  mining  country.  It  was  organized  in  Pennsylvania  in  1847  and 
transplanted  to  California  before  1853.  The  organization  was  one  of 
the  biggest  hoaxes  of  a  country  where  hoaxes  were  the  order  of  the  day. 
The  initiations  were  masterpieces  of  ingenious  and  humorous  torture, 
and  only  those  who  survived  them  understood  what  E.C.V.  stood  for. 
So  powerful  was  the  sway  of  the  mysterious  brotherhood  as  developed 
by  the  miners  that  newcomers  found  they  could  not  conduct  business  in 
mining  towns  until  they  had  joined  it.  When  Lord  Sholto  Douglas 
brought  his  theatrical  group  to  Marysville,  he  found  the  first  night 
audience  too  small  to  pay  for  the  rent  of  the  theater.  Enlightened  by 
a  friendly  miner,  he  applied  for  membership,  and  thereafter  the  miners 
flocked  to  his  company's  presentations. 

State  49  runs  westward  along  the  North  Fork  of  the  Yuba  River, 
where  slopes  rise  abruptly,  scarred  by  the  streams  of  the  hydraulic  giants 
that  tore  away  earth  and  gravel. 

DOWNIEVILLE,  59.4  m.  (3,000  alt.,  640  pop.),  seat  of  Sierra 
County,  is  in  a  little  basin  walled  by  sheer  mountainsides.  At  the 
western  end,  State  49  runs  through  JERSEY  FLAT,  with  cottages — 
some  of  them  built  in  the  i86o's — in  bright  gardens.  Across  the  river 
is  narrow,  locust-bordered  Main  Street  where  on  Saturday  nights,  when 
Downieville  had  a  population  of  5,ooo,  rows  of  horses  were  tethered 
to  the  posts  that  held  up  the  wooden  awnings  and  men  thronged  the 
boardwalks  lighted  only  by  the  rays  of  kerosene  lamps  shining  through 
saloon  windows.  During  the  week,  heavily  loaded  pack  trains  and 
lumbering  stagecoaches  choked  the  dusty  street,  while  miners  crowded 
the  stores  to  buy  grub  at  fabulous  prices.  The  first  Yankee  woman  to 
arrive  in  town  was  escorted  through  Main  Street  by  most  of  the  male 
citizens;  Signora  Elise  Biscaccianti,  famous  pianist  of  her  day,  was 
carried  in  on  men's  shoulders,  as  was  her  piano. 

In  September  1849,  Frank  Anderson  arrived,  the  first  man  to  pan 
gravel  here,  and  in  November,  Major  William  Downie  and  his  motley 
band — a  Kanaka  by  the  name  of  Jim  Crow,  an  Irishman,  an  Indian, 
and  10  Negro  sailors.  Downie  found  the  river  filmed  with  ice  the 
first  morning  he  went  out  to  pan,  but  the  gravel  was  so  rich  in  gold 


TOUR    4      477 

that  he  put  up  crude  cabins  and  set  his  men  to  sifting  the  snow-covered 
bars.  When  provisions  began  to  run  low,  he  sent  nine  of  the  men, 
including  Jim  Crow,  with  newly  dug  gold  to  buy  food  and  supplies  in 
the  lower  country.  Only  Jim  Crow  came  back,  and  he  not  till  spring, 
when  he  found  Downie  and  his  companions  on  the  verge  of  starvation. 
A  crowd  of  would-be  miners  followed  the  Kanaka  back  to  The  Forks. 
Camps  sprang  up  on  every  bar  and  flat.  At  one  of  them,  Tin  Cup 
Diggings,  each  of  three  owners  filled  a  tin  cup  with  gold  dust  every 
day.  There  is  a  story  that  Jim  Crow,  boiling  a  1 4-pound  salmon, 
found  flakes  of  gold  at  the  bottom  of  the  pot.  Gold  continued  to  turn 
up  in  surprising  places.  A  woman  who  kept  a  tent  restaurant,  sweeping 
her  dirt  floor  one  day,  saw  yellow  particles  and  investigated,  then  folded 
her  tent,  for  it  was  pitched  over  a  gold  mine.  On  Durgan's  Flat,  across 
the  river,  $80,000  worth  of  gold  was  taken  out  during  the  first  half  of 
1850;  in  ii  days  Frank  Anderson  and  three  companions  took  $12,900 
worth  from  a  claim  60  feet  square.  Still  enough  remained  to  make  it 
worthwhile  for  the  Chinese,  who  came  in  later  years,  patiently  to  lift 
the  heavy  stones  by  hand,  clearing  out  the  bed  of  the  North  Yuba. 

The  SIERRA  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE  was  erected  in  1855  on 
Durgan's  Flat;  it  has  12-paned  windows,  lofty  ceilings,  and  an  old-time 
courtroom.  In  its  yard  is  an  arrastre,  or  mill  wheel,  used  by  pioneers 
to  crush  gold  quartz.  Behind  it,  at  the  base  of  PIETY  HILL  (nearly 
every  mining  town  had  its  Piety  Hill)  is  the  GALLOWS  that  served  for 
executions  after  1857.  The  wooden  building  (1864)  in  front  of  the 
courthouse  houses  the  Downieville  Mountain  Messenger,  whose  first 
issue  (1853)  came  off  the  old  Washington  hand  press  now  in  the 
basement.  Where  Downieville's  movie  house  stands  today  was  the 
theater  in  which  Edwin  Booth,  Lola  Montez,  Lotta  Crabtree,  and 
other  famous  troopers  played  to  entertainment-starved  audiences  who 
showered  them  with  coins  and  gold  dust  pokes  worth  more  than  a  king's 
gift  after  a  command  performance.  Relics  of  the  days  when  gold  dust 
served  for  currency  are  preserved  in  the  MEROUX  MUSEUM  (open 
Sun.  and  holidays;  keys  with  storekeeper  weekdays}  on  Main  St., 
typical  of  the  earliest  substantial  mining  camp  construction,  with  walls 
of  flat  stones  laid  horizontally.  In  the  COSTA  STORE  (L),  on  Main 
St.,  built  in  1853  of  uncemented  shale  with  walls  4  feet  thick  at  the 
base  and  27  inches  at  the  top,  are  glass-enclosed  scales  that  still  weigh 
gold  dust  and  nuggets.  During  the  summer  the  store  buys  from  $50 
to  $60  worth  a  day  from  "snipers."  Under  the  overhanging  roof  of 
the  ST.  CHARLES  HOTEL  (L),  are  benches  and  chairs  polished  smooth 
by  countless  pairs  of  blue  jeans.  Except  for  a  row  of  locust  trees  in 
the  front  of  it,  the  St.  Charles,  with  a  balcony  running  the  length  of 
the  upper  story,  looks  much  as  it  did  when  James  McNulty  built  it  in 
1853. 

Superb  mountain  peaks  look  down  on  old  GOODYEAR'S  BAR, 
63.3  m.,  where  the  tumbling,  ice-cold  waters  of  Goodyear's  Creek  join 
the  North  Yuba.  Miles  and  Andrew  Goodyear  arrived  here  in  the 
summer  of  1849  and  built  the  solidest  cabin  in  the  region.  Miles  Good- 


CALIFORNIA 

year  had  come  west  in  1836  as  a  stripling  in  the  little  missionary  party 
led  by  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  on  his  way  to  establish  a  mission  along 
the  Columbia  River ;  when  the  missionary  stubbornly  insisted  on  taking 
a  wagon  through  from  Fort  Hall,  young  Goodyear  issued  his  ulti- 
matum. If  the  cart  went  on,  he  would  leave.  The  cart  continued, 
and  Goodyear  went  off  into  the  wilderness  alone.  In  time  he  took 
an  Indian  wife  and  started  farming  near  the  Great  Salt  Lake — the 
first  white  settler  in  the  region.  When  the  Mormons  arrived  in  1847, 
Miles  cleared  out  for  another  wilderness  in  California.  When  he  died 
in  the  fall  of  1849  his  brother  buried  him  in  a  gold  rocker  until  he 
could  take  the  bones  down  to  Benicia. 

Lively  camps  sprang  up  nearby:  Ranse  Doddler,  Hoodoo,  St.  Joe's 
and  Cutthroat  Bars,  Nigger  Slide,  and  Kennedy's  Ranch.  During  the 
early  1850*5  the  North  Yuba  was  diverted  from  its  channel  so  that 
gold  in  the  bedrock  could  be  taken  out;  and  each  summer,  after  winter 
floods  had  washed  out  the  makeshift  dams  of  the  preceding  season,  the 
tremendous  labor  of  rebuilding  them  was  repeated. 

At  this  point  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  mountain  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  which  follows  the  route  of  the  stage  road  built  from 
Marysville  in  the  early  i86o's,  to  the  present-day  GOODYEAR'S  BAR, 
0.2  m.  (3,200  alt.,  60  pop.),  a  handful  of  scattered  houses.  Through  pine 
and  cedar,  the  road  climbs  to  MOUNTAIN  HOUSE,  5.9  m.  (5,641  alt.),  where 
a  splendid  panorama  of  wooded  mountains  and  deeply  chiseled  canyons, 
with  glimpses  of  the  river  far  below,  opens  out  northward.  The  inn  that 
stood  here  was  a  stopping  place  as  early  as  1850,  when  2,500  mules  carried 
supplies  in  pack  trains  over  narrow  and  precipitous  trails  to  Downieville. 

At  FOREST  CITY,  8.7  m.  (4,500  alt.,  343  pop.),  high-gabled  houses 
cling  to  the  walls  of  the  ravine  up  which  climbs  the  main  street.  Here 
in  the  summer  of  1852,  a  company  of  sailors  found  gold.  Brownsville  they 
called  the  thriving  town  that  grew  up,  but  the  name  was  not  good  enough. 
Some  favored  the  poetic  Yomana,  Indian  name  for  a  nearby  bluff;  others, 
the  more  practical  Forks  of  Oregon  Creek.  The  final  decision  was  to 
name  the  town  for  the  first  woman  to  reside  there;  but  it  was  neither 
the  first,  nor  yet  the  second,  who  appropriated  the  honors,  but  the  third, 
Mrs.  Forest  Mooney,  aggressive  feminine  journalist. 

On  a  series  of  terraces  connected  by  winding  streets  perches  ALLE- 
GHANY,  12  m.  (4,500  alt.,  519  pop.),  where  all  the  citizens  depend  on  gold 
mining  for  a  living.  Gold  was  discovered  on  the  creek  below  in  May, 
1850,  by  one  of  several  parties  of  Hawaiians  (Kanakas  sent  out  by  a  cer- 
tain Captain  Ross,  reputed  son  of  King  Kamehameha).  At  the  lower  end 
of  Alleghany  is  the  BRADBURY  HOUSE,  where  lived  Thomas  J.  Bradbury. 
Working  the  nearby  Sixteen-to-One  Mine,  which  he  discovered  in  1908, 
he  found  20  years  later  that  the  neighboring  Tightner  Mine  was  tapping 
the  same  vein,  which  had  its  apex  in  his  own  backyard.  The  two  mines, 
together  with  the  nearby  Twenty-one,  were  consolidated  as  the  Original 
Sixteen-to-One  Mine,  which  still  produces. 

State  49  winds  along  the  North  Yuba,  where  tributary  creeks  spill 
down  precipitous  ravines.  Ahead  the  way  leads  up  GOLD  RIDGE, 
whose  slopes  are  luxuriantly  green  with  yellow  pine,  fir,  oak,  and 
madrone.  A  lone  cemetery,  all  but  obliterated  by  the  returning  forest, 
a  desolate  cabin,  or  an  ancient  apple  tree,  mark  the  sites  of  once  thriving 
gold  camps:  Galena,  Young's,  Railroad,  Depot,  and  Hell's  Hills, 


TOUR    4      479 

Celestial  and  Oak  Valleys,  Dad's  Gulch,  Indian  Springs,  and  Pike 
City. 

At  DEPOT  HILL,  76.1  m.,  is  the  JOUBERT  HYDRAULIC  MINE 
(L),  which  has  produced  $1,850,000  in  its  82  years  of  continuous 
operation  by  one  family  and  still  operates  during  the  rainy  season.  A 
gashed  hill,  a  metal  pipe  line,  and  hydraulic  monitor  (or  long  nozzle), 
long  sluice  boxes,  a  muddy  stream  red  with  detritus  from  the  mine  are 
the  signs  of  its  activities. 

At  81  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  mountain  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  which  runs  between  picket  fences  enclosing  weather- 
worn clapboarded  houses,  to  CAMPTONVILLE,  0.3  m.  (2,900  alt.,  75 
pop.),  a  hamlet  whose  spreading  elms  and  old-fashioned  flower  gardens 
emphasize  its  Yankee  origin.  Though  the  town  was  moved  twice  to  make 
way  for  hydraulic  operations  and  several  times  almost  destroyed  by  fire, 
the  old  houses  behind  picket  fences  on  the  outskirts  escaped  its  vicissitudes; 
most  of  the  other  buildings  were  restored  along  the  old  lines  after  the  fire 
of  1907.  At  the  western  end  of  town  stands  the  PELTON  MONUMENT  (R), 
with  a  model  of  the  Pelton  Water  Wheel  surmounting  a  pedestal ;  Lester 
A.  Pelton's  invention  of  the  wheel  here  in  1878  was  an  important  step 
in  the  development  of  hydroelectric  power. 

At  82.6  m.  on  State  49  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  road. 

Right  here  to  BULLARD'S  BAR  DAM,  7.6  m.  (1,500  alt.),  which  im- 
pounds the  North  Yuba's  waters  to  operate  generators  in  the  power-house 
at  its  base.  The  bar  was  named  for  a  Dr.  Bullard,  who  wandered  into 
town  after  a  shipwreck  off  the  California  coast  on  his  way  from  Brooklyn 
to  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Nothing  but  names  remain  as  memorials  of 
nearby  camps:  Foster's  Ferry,  Stoney,  Rock  Island,  Succor,  Slate  Range, 
Cut-eye  Foster's,  Kanaka,  Winslow,  Negro,  Missouri,  Condemned,  French- 
men's, and  others. 

NORTH  SAN  JUAN,  90.6  m.  (1,900  alt.,  135  pop.),  in  spite 
of  its  name,  was  as  much  a  Yankee  settlement  as  any  other  town  along 
the  Mother  Lode.  The  most  likely  explanation  of  the  Spanish  name 
is  that  Christian  Kientz,  a  Mexican  War  veteran,  saw  a  resemblance 
to  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  in  Mexico  in  the  hill  (L)  where  he  discovered 
gold  in  1853,  and  named  it  accordingly.  A  population  of  10,000 
gathered  here  when  the  town  was  headquarters  for  the  rich  hydraulic 
workings  on  San  Juan  Ridge.  Here  was  the  main  office  of  the  first 
long  distance  telephone  line  in  the  West,  strung  up  in  1878  for  60 
miles,  between  Milton  and  French  Corral,  to  connect  the  hydraulic 
mining  centers. 

Along  Main  Street,  bordered  with  poplars,  walnut  trees,  and  locusts, 
stand  decaying,  red  brick  business  houses  and  frame  buildings  with 
shake  roofs.  The  two-story  brick  ODD  FELLOWS  HALL  (L)  was  dedi- 
cated in  1860.  In  the  old  frame  NATIONAL  HOTEL  (R),  silk-hatted 
mining  company  officials  from  San  Francisco  discussed  gold  production 
with  superintendents  of  the  nearby  hydraulic  mines.  Next  door  (R) 
is  the  TOWN  HALL,  with  arched  doorway,  massive  iron  doors  and 
shutters,  and  fine  cornice  work;  from  its  second-story  iron  balcony,  the 
town  band  used  to  give  concerts.  An  old  brick  store  (L),  operating 


480        CALIFORNIA 

now  with  electric  refrigerators  and  cash  registers,  preserves  the  primi- 
tive register  in  which  steel  balls,  placed  in  the  groove  corresponding  to 
the  amount  of  purchase,  rolled  down,  rang  a  bell,  and  caused  a  marker 
to  spring  up. 

At  93.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  graveled  road. 

Right  here  to  FRENCH  CORRAL,  4.5  m.  (1,700  alt.,  138  pop.),  where 
a  Frenchman  built  a  corral  for  his  mules  in  1849;  it  is  the  oldest  town  in 
San  Juan  Ridge.  The  school  house  (L)  was  a  hotel  in  the  iSso's.  Behind 
the  solid  brick  walls  and  iron  doors  and  shutters  of  the  WELLS  FARGO  EX- 
PRESS OFFICE  (R)  millions  in  gold  were  guarded.  The  MILTON  MINING  AND 
WATER  COMPANY  OFFICE,  now  a  grocery  store,  was  the  lower  terminus  of 
the  Ridge  telephone  line.  One  of  the  Edison  instruments,  made  in  Boston 
in  1876,  is  preserved  here. 

At  94.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  mountain  road. 

Left  here  up  SAN  JUAN  RIDGE,  where  the  rich  quartz  veins  of  the 
mountain  peaks,  during  an  age  long  process  of  erosion,  were  washed  into 
a  preglacial  river  bed,  which  geologic  upheavals  lifted  high  and  dry  above 
today's  drainage  system.  Nowhere  in  California  was  hydraulic  mining 
undertaken  on  so  vast  and  spectacular  a  scale  as  here.  The  network  of 
flumes  and  canals,  more  than  300  miles  in  length,  cost  not  less  than  $5,- 
000,000.  The  ridge  is  almost  deserted  today.  The  Sawyer  Decision  of  Jan. 
23,  1884,  following  passage  of  the  Federal  Anti-Debris  Act  the  year  before, 
closed  all  the  hydraulic  mines  in  the  State,  ending  a  long  and  bitter  war- 
fare by  farmers  of  the  valley  lowlands  against  the  inundation  of  their  fields 
by  the  thousands  of  tons  of  silt  the  rivers  carried  down  from  the  mines. 

TYLER,  5.6  m.  (2,550  alt.),  called  Cherokee  in  the  i85o's,  has  a  handful 
of  weathered  houses,  a  church,  a  school  house,  and  the  inevitable  "diggin's." 

At  NORTH  COLUMBIA,  9.1  m.  (3,000  alt.,  156  pop.),  many  of  the  old 
homes  are  still  occupied,  although  the  superintendent's  office  across  the 
mining  ditch,  the  pretentious  Eureka  Lake  and  Yuba  Canal  Company  office 
building,  the  machine  shop  where  gold  was  once  retorted,  and  the  black- 
smith shop,  have  long  been  deserted. 

A  picture  of  decay  is  LAKE  CITY,  12.5  m.  (3,300  alt.),  where  two  or 
three  decrepit  houses  and  a  forlorn  hotel  (1855),  its  balcony  sagging  drunk- 
enly,  huddle  by  the  grassy  depression  in  the  pasture  which  was  once  the 
"lake." 

Neat  gardens  still  bloom  at  the  doors  of  the  old  homes  in  NORTH 
BLOOMFIELD,  15.5  m.  (3,200  alt.,  90  pop.),  along  the  broad,  locust-lined 
main  street.  In  the  MALAKOFF  MINE  OFFICE  gold  was  reduced  to  bars  for 
transportation  to  the  San  Francisco  Mint.  The  largest  single  bar  weighed 
a  quarter  of  a  ton  and  was  valued  at  $114,000.  At  the  edge  of  town  (L) 
rise  the  exquisitely  molded  pinnacles  and  minarets,  "touched  with  vivid 
colors  like  a  place  enchanted,"  of  the  MALAKOFF  MINE,  most  colossal  hy- 
draulic excavation  on  San  Juan  Ridge. 

The  name  of  SNOW  TENT,  19.5  m.  (4,250  alt.),  recalls  some  canvas 
station — snow-bound  in  winter — along  the  old  stage  route. 

Mail  is  brought  into  GRANITEVILLE,  28  m.  (4,900  alt.,  150  pop.),  by 
sleigh  or  on  snowshoes  in  winter.  Some  deep  quartz  mines  are  still  worked 
here. 

At  BOWMAN  LAKE,  34.4  m.  (5,500  alt.),  a  massive  dam  of  granite, 
part  of  the  Nevada  Irrigation  District  system,  stands  today  where  a  dam 
was  first  built  in  1868  and  twice  razed,  in  1872  and  1876. 

NEVADA  (Sp.,  snowy)  CITY,  106  m.   (2,450  alt.,  1,701  pop.), 
seat  of  Nevada  County,  has  always  drawn  its  wealth  from  gold  mines 


TOUR     4        481 

— the  rich  placer  diggings  of  the  i85o's  and  i86o's,  the  hydraulic 
excavations  of  the  1870*8,  and  the  deep  quartz  mines  of  today.  James 
W.  Marshall,  the  man  who  started  the  gold  rush  with  his  chance 
discovery  at  Coloma,  found  gold  at  Deer  Creek  in  the  summer  of  1848 
but  moved  on,  searching  for  richer  fields.  Within  two  years  10,000 
miners  were  working  every  foot  of  ground  within  a  radius  of  three 
miles.  Near  the  rich  gravel  beds  of  the  LOST  HILL  section  (L), 
uncovered  early  in  1850,  a  mushroom  town,  Coyoteville,  sprang  up, 
named  for  the  coyote  or  tunnel  method  of  mining;  during  the  two 
years  it  lasted,  the  gravel  banks  are  said  to  have  yielded  $8,000,000  in 
gold  dust  and  nuggets.  Forerunner  of  Nevada  City  was  Beer  Creek 
Diggings  or  Caldwell's  Upper  Store — so  called  for  a  log  cabin  store 
kept  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Caldwell. 

On  the  main  thoroughfare,  Broad  Street,  a  prominent  land  mark 
is  the  three-story  NATIONAL  HOTEL  (R),  an  important  stopping  place 
in  the  i86o's  and  1870*8,  when  five  or  six  stagecoaches  daily  lumbered 
down  the  street,  to  stop  with  a  jolt  in  front  of  it.  Inside,  at  the  long 
bar  over  which  $1,000  is  said  to  have  passed  every  day,  travelers  washed 
the  dust  out  of  their  throats  with  a  Pisco  punch  made  from  Peruvian 
brandy,  a  bonanza  cocktail,  or  the  miner's  standby,  Bourbon  whisky. 
On  Commercial  Street,  the  UNION  HOTEL  (R)  stands  on  a  site 
occupied  continuously  by  a  hostelry  ever  since  the  spring  of  1850,  when 
Madam  Penn  built  the  first  boarding  house  in  town;  this  industrious 
lady  often  took  her  turn  at  the  gold  rocker  in  the  ravine  beyond  Coyote 
Street  where  the  Stampses,  first  family  in  town,  settled  in  October 
1849.  The  ASSAYER'S  OFFICE  (R),  with  its  original  furniture  and 
iron  safe,  is  run  by  the  son  of  the  original  owner.  Although  $27,- 
000,000  in  gold  is  said  to  have  passed  through  the  office,  it  was  never 
held  up  or  robbed.  Here  the  first  samples  of  ore  from  the  Comstock 
Lode  in  Nevada  were  assayed  in  1858. 

State  49  strikes  southward  through  green  meadows  and  gardens 
and  over  gentle  hills.  In  the  meadows  where  GRASS  VALLEY, 
110.3  m.  (2,400  alt.,  3,817  pop.),  was  to  spring  up,  an  immigrant 
party  of  1849  found  their  half-starved  cattle,  which  had  strayed  from 
camp  on  the  heights,  feasting  on  the  green  grass.  In  August  1849  a 
band  of  20  men,  led  by  a  Dr.  Saunders,  built  and  wintered  in  the  first 
cabin  on  BADGER  HILL  (L),  where  homes  and  gardens  spread  today. 
The  rich  quartz  mines  which  were  to  make  Grass  Valley  one  of  the 
outstanding  gold  towns  were  not  tapped  until  1850.  On  pine-  and 
fir-clad  GO.LD  HILL,  at  the  eastern  outskirts  of  town  (R),  stands  the 
KNIGHT  MONUMENT,  commemorating  the  first  discovery  of  gold- 
bearing  quartz  in  California.  George  Knight's  find  of  1850  initiated 
an  industry  that  still  produces  wealth  long  after  the  depletion  of  the 
placers  and  the  close  of  hydraulic  operations.  Between  1850  and  1857 
the  GOLD  HILL  MINE  alone  produced  $4,000,000.  The  EMPIRE 
MINE  on  Ophir  Hill,  opened  in  1850,  and  the  NORTH  STAR  MINE 
on  Lafayette  Hill,  opened  in  1851,  have  yielded  $80,000,000  worth  of 
gold.  Others  still  in  operation  are  the  GOLDEN  CENTER  and  the 


482        CALIFORNIA 

IDAHO-MARYLAND,  opened  in  1863.  An  immense  outlay  of  capital 
and  labor  is  represented  in  the  stamp  mills,  cyanide  tanks,  and  shafts. 
The  quartz  veins,  one  nearly  two  miles  long,  are  honeycombed  with 
mine  workings.  The  Empire  mine  is  worked  to  the  7,000  level,  3,620 
feet  wholly  below  the  shaft  collar  at  928  feet  below  sea  level.  The 
deepest  mine  in  the  district  is  the  North  Star,  where  the  9,800  feet 
level  is  1,600  feet  below  sea  level. 

Grass  Valley's  wide,  paved  Main  Street  with  its  sidewalks,  filling 
stations,  and  neon  signs,  has  a  modern  prosperous  air.  But  wooden 
awnings  over  the  sidewalks  remain,  and  the  old  buildings,  some  with 
new  fronts,  retain  unchanged  interiors.  More  redolent  of  old  times 
are  the  side  streets,  where  the  homes  of  two  famous  early  day  residents 
stand.  At  the  corner  of  Mill  and  Walsh  Sts.  is  the  HOME  OF  LOLA 
MONTEZ,  to  which  the  famous  beauty,  who  was  born  Maria  Dolores 
Porris  Gilbert  and  lived  to  become  Countess  of  Lansfeld,  returned 
from  her  triumphs  in  Europe  and  America.  Here  she  lived  in  retire- 
ment from  1852  to  1854,  with  a  pet  bear,  some  dogs,  and  a  husband. 
The  husband  she  later  divorced  because  he  killed  her  bear  when  it 
clawed  and  bit  him.  The  beautiful  and  daring  Lola  brought  with  her 
a  reputation  that  made  her  the  talk  of  two  continents,  fame  for  public 
performances  of  the  Spider  Dance,  and  friendships  with  the  great.  In 
her  modest  cottage — since  altered  by  the  addition  of  a  second  story — 
she  entertained  at  soirees,  held  mainly  for  the  benefit  of  the  younger 
miners,  that  became  the  talk  of  the  Mother  Lode. 

Nearby  is  the  childhood  HOME  OF  LOTTA  CRABTREE  (see 
THE  THEATER),  Lola's  protegee.  Here,  in  the  two-story  house  at 
220  Mill  St.,  where  her  mother  boarded  miners,  Lotta  met  La  Montez. 
The  days  she  spent  with  the  glamorous  Lola,  learning  dance  steps,  and 
ballads  and  riding  horseback  through  the  woods,  turned  her  into  a 
dancer  and  actress.  Beginning  her  career  as  a  child  entertainer,  she 
traveled  from  camp  to  camp  with  her  mother.  At  the  age  of  16  she 
scored  a  triumph  in  San  Francisco,  and,  traveling  to  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
repeated  it. 

Right  from  Grass  Valley  on  State  20  to  ROUGH  AND  READY, 
4.4  m.  (1,900  alt.,  145  pop.).  Here  gold  was  discovered  by  a  group  of 
Wisconsin  men  who  arrived  in  September,  1849,  in  a  dozen  covered  wagons 
that  bore  the  name  of  the  town-to-be  painted  on  their  canvas  sides.  The 
leader  of  the  group  was  Captain  Townsend,  who  had  served  under  Gen. 
Zachary  Taylor,  old  "Rough  and  Ready"  of  Mexican  War  fame.  Popular 
legend  says  it  was  the  distaste  of  the  Wisconsin  men  for  newcomers  from 
New  England  that  prompted  them,  at  a  mass  meeting  called  by  E.  F. 
Brundage  in  1850,  to  organize  the  independent  State  of  Rough  and  Ready, 
adopt  a  constitution,  and  announce  their  secession  from  the  Union ;  thus 
they  would  have  more  freedom  to  deal  with  New  Englanders  as  they  felt 
they  should  be  dealt  with.  A  more  likely  explanation,  however,  is  their 
rebellious  objection  to  the  Federal  taxes  on  miners.  Today  the  Rough  and 
Ready  diggin's  are  half  hidden  by  chaparral ;  up  to  the  edge  of  town, 
where  aged  apple  trees  shade  weather  beaten  houses,  stretches  a  green 
meadow.  The  white  painted  frame  ROUGH  AND  READY  HOTEL  (L),  part  of 
which  dates  from  1853,  is  now  the  store  and  post  office. 


TOUR     4       483 

AUBURN,  134.6  m.  (1,360  alt.,  2,661  pop.),  spills  over  hill  and 
hollow,  encircled  by  orchard-covered  knolls.  Its  winding  streets,  where 
old-fashioned  white  houses  sit  back  among  maples  and  walnuts,  are 
dappled  with  a  leafy  lacework  of  sun  and  shadow.  Long  before  the 
orchards  were  planted,  this  was  a  mining  camp,  for  Claude  Ghana  and 
his  Indians  mined  gold  here  in  May  1848.  First  called  Wood's  Dry 
Diggings,  the  camp  was  renamed  a  year  later  by  miners  who  had  come 
from  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  with  Stevenson's  Volunteer  Regiment.  Pros- 
pectors poured  in  during  1849,  until  a  network  of  trails  radiated  to 
camps  in  the  hills  and  ravines;  these  became  turnpikes  choked  with 
stagecoaches,  mule  teams,  and  freight  wagons,  where  highwaymen  often 
lay  in  wait  for  hold-ups.  The  gold  gave  out,  but  Auburn's  decline 
was  circumvented  by  the  advent  of  the  railroad  in  1865,  and  by  the 
planting,  in  the  i88o's  and  1 890*5,  of  the  foothill  orchards.  The  flavor 
of  gold  days  lingers  in  Old  Town,  which  lies  in  a  hollow  at  the  head  of 
Auburn  Ravine,  overlooked  by  the  arcaded  dome  of  the  handsome,  tan 
brick  PLACER  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE.  Here  narrow  streets  twist  up- 
hill under  wide-branching  trees,  past  crumbling  brick  buildings  with 
sagging  iron  doors  and  shutters  and  over-hanging  balconies.  Still  open 
for  business  are  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  HALL  and  the  PLACER  COUNTY  BANK. 
The  Auburn  Herald  has  been  published  continuously  since  1852. 

At  Auburn  is  a  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9a). 

South  of  Auburn  the  rolling  countryside  gives  way  to  deep-cut 
gorges  twisting  between  mountain  ridges.  The  highway,  wide  and 
well-paved,  twists  in  and  out  through  rough  countryside  conveying 
.some  idea  of  the  hardships  its  early  prospectors  endured. 

At  138  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  road. 

Left  here,  over  the  route  of  the  old  turppike  up  FOREST  HILL  DIVIDE, 
over  which  in  the  iSfo's  a  constant  stream  of  traffic  poured.  An  arrow  on 
a  marker  at  3.5  m.  points  to  LIME  ROCK  (R)  across  the  canyon  of  the 
North  Fork,  where  a  woman  confederate  used  to  signal  to  highwaymen 
lying  in  wait  for  approaching  stages. 

At  intervals  are  the  sites  of  the  early  stage  stations:  GRIZZLY  BEAR 
HOUSE,  4.5  m.  (1,600  alt.),  BUTCHER'S  RANCH,  6.5  m.,  SHERIDAN'S,  7  m., 
MILE  HILL  TOLL  HOUSE,  9.3  m.,  and  SPRING  GARDEN,  11.2  m.  (2,400  alt.), 
where  fresh  vegetables  were  served  as  a  luxury. 

FOREST  HILL,  18.5  m.  (3,200  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  in  one  of  the  State's 
most  productive  cement  tunnel-mining  districts.  The  FOREST  HOUSE  (L), 
which  replaced  the  first  store,  a  brush  shanty  of  1850,  and  two  brick  stores 
with  iron  doors  and  shutters  of  the  gold-rush  period,  still  serve  men  from 
the  mines.  Into  the  mountain  to  depths  of  from  200  to  5,000  feet  penetrate 
the  shafts  of  big  mines,  among  them  the  Dardanelles,  the  Rough  and  Ready, 
and  the  Jenny  Lind. 

Left  from  "Forest  Hill  3  m.  to  YANKEE  JIM'S  (2,650  alt.,  16  pop.), 
where  only  a  cluster  of  cottages  and  the  acres  laid  waste  by  hydraulic 
mining  remain  as  evidence  of  the  days  when  this  was  the  trading  center 
for  camps  in  the  neighboring  canyons.  Just  north  is  SHIRT  TAIL  CAN- 
YON, which  acquired  its  name  in  the  summer  of  1849,  when  a  miner  was 
discovered  busily  panning  the  stream  clad  in  nothing  but  his  shirt.  Tribu- 
tary to  Shirt  Tail  are  other  canyons,  cutting  across  the  rough  highland 
country  that  might  have  become  Donner  County,  if  a  movement  of  1869 
had  succeeded.  The  proposed  new  county  would  have  included  such  settle- 


484        CALIFORNIA 

ments   as    Ground    Hog's    Glory,    Hell's    Delight,    Miller's    Defeat,    Ladies' 
Canyon,  Devil's  Basin,  Hell's  Half-acre,  and  Bogus  Thunder.    . 

On  the  main  side  road  is  MICHIGAN  BLUFF,  25.6  m.  (3,500  alt.,  39 
pop.),  on  the  brink  of  a  ridge  2,000  feet  above  the  Middle  Fork  of  the 
American  River.  Here  Leland  Stanford,  Who  became  one  of  the  "Big 
Four"  of  railroad  fame,  kept  a  store  from  1853  to  1855.  Most  of  the  frame 
and  brick  buildings  that  lined  the  locust-  and  poplar-bordered  street  are 
ruins. 

Crossing  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  River  at  LYON'S  BRIDGE 
(650  alt.),  State  49  winds  nearly  1,000  feet  up  the  east  side  of  the 
canyon  to  the  diminutive  settlement  of  COOL,  141.8  m.  (1,525  alt., 
10  pop.). 

Left  from  Cool  on  an  improved  road  is  GREENWOOD,  7.5  m.  (1,650 
alt.,  385  pop.),  where  the  Greenwoods,  a  father  and  two  sons,  found  gold 
and  built  their  cabin  in  the  spring  of  1848.  Discovering  that  hunting  was 
more  profitable  than  mining,  they  gave  up  their  claims  to  supply  prospec- 
tors with  venison. 

On  Oregon  Creek,  where  a  group  of  Oregonians  discovered  gold  in  1849, 
is  GEORGETOWN,  13  m.  (2,275  alt.,  679  pop.),  at  the  northern  end  of 
the  true  Mother  Lode.  Growlersburg,  it  was  called  in  1850,  when  George 
Phipps  led  a  company  of  sailors  in;  in  honor  of  him  the  present  title  was 
adopted  two  years  later.  In  its  prime  Georgetown  was  the  trading  center 
of  10,000  miners  from  almost  a  hundred  camps,  among  them  Mamaluke 
Hill,  Sailors'  Slide,  Divine  Gulch,  Spanish  Dry  Diggings,  and  Volcano- 
vine.  The  main  street,  with  locust  trees,  uneven  boardwalks,  stone  and 
brick  buildings — built  soon  after  a  fire  in  1856 — remains  much  as  it  was. 

A  monument  to  Alexander  Bayley's  blasted  dreams  is  the  BAYLEY 
HOUSE  (R),  145  m.,  built  as  an  inn.  Bayley  lavished  $20,000  on  this 
three-story  brick  mansion  with  its  Colonial  porticoes  and  terraced 
garden.  He  opened  the  house  with  a  grand  ball  on  May  15,  1862. 
Today  it  stands  a  wilderness  because  Bayley  guessed  wrong;  he  thought 
the  overland  railroad  would  be  carried  through  here. 

In  COLOMA,  155  m.  (850  alt.,  85  pop.),  at  a  spot  by  the  river 
that  the  Indians  called  Culloomah,  is  a  monument  of  stones  (L)  mark- 
ing the  SITE  OF  SUTTER'S  SAWMILL  (see  SACRAMENTO),  where 
on  Jan.  24,  1848,  James  W.  Marshall,  while  shutting  off  the  water, 
happened  to  notice  flakes  of  gold.  Marshall's  discovery  was  not  the 
first  in  California — six  years  earlier  gold  deposits  had  been  found  and 
worked  in  Placerita  Canyon  near  Los  Angeles — but  his  was  the  dis- 
covery that  spread  the  gold  lust  over  the  world.  From  every  town 
and  rancho  in  California  men  swarmed  in  until  by  summer  almost 
every  foot  of  ground  had  been  staked  out.  With  the  influx  of  fresh 
thousands  from  the  East,  the  gold  hunters  began  to  push  out  north 
and  south. 

Marshall's  discovery  won  him  little  but  hard  luck.  When  he  took 
his  samples  of  gold  to  Sacramento  to  be  tested,  he  was  laughed  at.  It 
remained  for  another  man,  Sam  Brannan,  a  San  Francisco  publisher, 
to  tell  the  world,  and  for  yet  others  to  claim  the  profits.  They 
swarmed  in  to  prospect  Marshall's  claims  and  posted  armed  guards  to 
keep  him  off  them.  When  he  appealed  to  the  courts,  friends  of  the 


TOUR     4        485 

trespassers  sat  as  judge  and  jury;  even  his  attorneys  sold  him  out  and 
joined  the  opposition.  For  ten  years  Marshall  was  spied  upon,  threat- 
ened, swindled— and  all  this  time  hated  so  violently  that  he  could 
scarcely  earn  a  living.  Turning  to  the  lecture  platform,  he  spread  his 
story  throughout  the  country ;  but  by  the  time  he  returned  to  California, 
twenty  years  after  his  discovery,  it  was  too  late.  Larger  interests  had 
consolidated  all  the  richer  veins  of  gold,  and  California  justice  was 
confirming  them  in  the  ownership  of  lands,  forests,  and  mines  squeezed 
from  the  early  settlers.  In  1872  public  opinion  forced  from  the  Legis- 
lature an  appropriation  of  $200  a  month  for  two  years  for  Marshall, 
but  at  the  next  session  this  was  cut  in  half.  Marshall  died  in  abject 
poverty  on  Aug.  10,  1885,  and  was  buried  within  sight  of  the  spot 
where  he  made  his  find. 

Little  is  left  today  of  the  Coloma  the  forty-niners  knew — only  a 
few  houses,  fallen  stone  walls,  and  the  ever  present  locust  trees.  Half 
hidden  by  matted  vines  and  Chinese  heaven  trees  are  the  CHINA  STORE 
and  the  JAIL  (R),  both  built  of  stone  and  both  guarded  by  iron  doors 
and  shutters. 

Right  from  Coloma  on  a  road  that  leads  uphill  to  the  MARSHALL  MONU- 
MENT, 0.5  m.,  a  State  park  of  18  acres.  The  bronze  MARSHALL  STATUE, 
high  on  a  granite  pedestal,  was  erected  by  the  Native  Sons  of  the  Golden 
West  in  1890  over  Marshall's  grave.  The  MARSHALL  CABIN,  where  he 
lived  from  1848  to  1868,  has  been  restored. 

South  of  Coloma,  State  49  passes  through  fruit  orchards.  So  scarce 
was  fruit  in  the  early  1850*5  that  $800  was  once  bid  for  one  small 
plot  containing  four  apple  trees.  The  lack  of  fruit,  green  vegetables, 
and  fresh  meat  in  the  miners'  diet  often  threatened  them  with  scurvy. 
Only  their  strenuous  physical  work  enabled  them  to  digest  their  steady 
fare  of  beans,  sowbelly  (salt  pork),  doughy  saleratus  bread — or  some- 
times, by  way  of  variety,  flapjacks — and  coffee  brewed  from  beans 
crushed  in  a  sack  between  two  stones  and  used  over  and  over  again. 
Real  bread  sold  for  a  dollar  a  slice  in  hotels,  and  butter  for  one  slice 
cost  a  dollar  extra.  Potatoes,  when  they  first  appeared  in  the  camps, 
sometimes  brought  a  dollar  apiece.  Only  after  1855,  when  men  began 
to  bring  their  wives  to  the  camps,  did  greens  become  plentiful,  for  the 
women  planted  small  kitchen  gardens. 

PLACERVILLE,  163.3  m.  (1,848  alt.,  2,322  pop.),  seat  of  El 
Dorado  County,  was  born  when  men  who  found  the  land  about  Coloma 
well  occupied  plodded  on  to  virgin  territory.  In  July  1848,  after  a 
tour  of  the  new  mines  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  foothills,  Gov.  Richard 
B.  Mason  reported  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  that  William  Daylor  and 
Perry  McCoon,  ranchers  from  the  Sacramento  Valley,  with  their  Indian 
retainers,  had  struck  it  rich  at  a  place  called  "Old  Dry  Diggin's"  ; 
they  had  taken  $17,000  from  one  small  ravine  in  a  week's  time.  Soon 
thousands  were  swarming  up  and  down  the  gulches  around  what  became 
known  as  the  Ravine  City.  The  lure  of  easy  wealth  brought  not  only 
miners  but  a  small  army  of  plundering  outlaws  known  as  the  Owls. 


486        CALIFORNIA 

One  night  three  of  them  held  up  a  Frenchman  named  Cailloux  at  the 
point  of  a  knife,  ransacked  his  cabin,  and  stole  50  ounces  of  gold  dust. 
Captured  the  next  morning,  the  three  culprits  were  speedily  tried  and 
hanged  from  the  great  oak,  known  thereafter  as  the  hang  tree,  which 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Coloma  Sts.  Punishment  for  later 
malefactors  was  as  swift.  The  street  became  the  alcalde's  courtroom, 
and  the  crowd  the  jury  for  such  men  as  "Irish  Dick"  Crone,  Bill 
Brown,  and  others  who  were  summarily  hanged.  Thus  Hangtown 
acquired  the  name  by  which  it  has  been  known  (unofficially)  ever 
since. 

From  the  first  a  strategic  point  on  the  overland  trail  and  the  Coloma 
Road,  Placerville  had  boomed  into  a  town  of  2,000  people  by  1850. 
By  1854  it  was  a  serious  contender  with  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento 
in  wealth  and  population,  surpassed  by  them  only  in  number  of  votes. 
Disastrous  fires  that  swept  most  of  the  town — three  times  in  1856  and 
again  in  1864  and  1865 — were  only  temporary  setbacks;  its  importance 
as  a  stopping  place  on  a  transcontinental  route  assured  its  prosperity. 
Through  Placerville  passed  the  Overland  Mail,  the  Pony  Express,  and 
the  overland  telegraph.  When  the  rush  to  the  Comstock  Lode  in 
Nevada  broke,  Placerville  became  the  chief  station  on  the  way  from 
the  west.  Through  it  poured  a  stream  of  ponderous  wagons  drawn 
by  six-mule  teams,  bearing  merchandise  and  provisions  to  the  Washoe 
mines.  During  these  turbulent  days  men  who  were  later  to  become 
industrial  giants  began  their  careers  here:  Mark  Hopkins,  later  a  rail- 
road magnate,  who  set  up  shop  on  the  muddy  main  street  with  a 
wagonload  of  groceries  from  Sacramento;  Philip  D.  Armour  of  meat- 
packing fame,  who  ran  a  small  butcher  shop  in  the  center  of  town ;  and 
John  Studebaker,  who  laid  the  foundation  for  a  great  automobile 
industry  by  his  success  in  building  miners'  wheelbarrows. 

Along  the  winding  banks  of  rock-lined  Hangtown  Creek,  where 
the  first  comers  settled,  twists  Placerville's  Main  Street  from  which 
scores  of  narrow  lanes  and  crooked  side  streets  lead  up  the  ravines  and 
hillsides  past  neat  clapboarded  cottages  in  tangled  old  gardens.  Now 
a  hotel  is  the  IVY  HOUSE  (L),  a  rambling  three-story  brick  edifice 
with  wide  two-story  verandas;  it  housed  the  Placerville  Academy  from 
1 86 1  to  the  1 890*5.  Also  of  brick  and  ivy  clad  is  the  METHODIST 
CHURCH,  on  a  corner  of  Main  St.  and  Cedar  Ravine,  dedicated  Sept. 
8,  1 86 1,  during  the  pastorate  of  Adam  Bland.  At  the  lower  end  of 
Main  St.  is  the  OLD  HANGTOWN  BELL,  which  hung  for  years  in  the 
Plaza,  where  it  was  rung  to  summon  the  vigilantes  or  sound  fire  alarms. 
At  ST.  PATRICK'S  CHURCH  (L),  near  the  edge  of  town,  an  old  silver 
bell,  the  gift  of  the  miners,  still  calls  the  faithful  to  worship;  built  in 
1865,  the  church  stands  on  the  site  of  the  frame  structure  built  in  1852. 

Placerville  is  at  a  junction  with  US  50  (see  TOUR  lOa),  with 
which  it  unites  southward  to  El  Dorado. 

South  of  Placerville,  State  49  heads  into  variegated  country,  climb- 
ing up  steep  slopes,  coasting  along  high  ridges  where  rivers  hundreds 
of  feet  below  churn  over  sands  once  rich  in  gold  and  shoots  down  into 


TOUR     4        487 

valleys.      In   places   it   winds   through    rolling   hills,    green    in    spring, 
burned  almost  white  by  the  sun  in  summer. 

By  WEBER'S  CREEK,  165.2  m.  (1,550  alt.),  is  the  SITE  OF 
WEBERVILLE,  where  in  1848  Capt.  Charles  M.  Weber,  founder  of 
Stockton,  mined  with  the  help  of  the  Indian  chief,  Jose  Jesus,  and  his 
twenty-five  retainers.  Setting  up  his  store  at  this  spot,  Weber  ex- 
changed beads  and  cloth  for  the  gold  brought  by  the  Indians,  who 
found  they  were  on  the  losing  end  of  the  bargain  only  after  he  had 
built  up  a  respectable  fortune. 

DIAMOND  SPRINGS,  176.3  m.  (1,791  alt.,  860  pop.),  now  a 
supply  center  for  lumbering  interests,  was  in  1849  a  camp  on  the  Carson 
Pass  Emigrant  Trail  and  remained  so  until  the  placer  and  quartz  mines 
in  the  outlying  hills  had  been  worked  out.  One  of  the  many  sandstone 
buildings  that  lined  the  main  street  is  the  GOLDEN  WEST  HOTEL  (L), 
recently  gutted  by  fire,  which  dates  from  1856.  At  about  the  same 
time,  the  lumber  for  the  CALIFORNIA  HOTEL  (L)  was  brought  round 
the  Horn. 

EL  DORADO  (Sp.,  the  golden),  168.4  m.  (1,610  alt.,  417  pop.), 
began  life  with  the  less  romantic  name  of  Mud  Springs,  inspired  by 
the  nearby  watering  place,  which  the  cattle  of  immigrants  had  trampled 
into  a  boggy  quagmire.  The  frame  HILL  HOTEL  (R),  built  in  1852, 
still  holds  together,  but  the  UNION  CHURCH  on  the  hill  (L)  is  only  a 
restored  version  of  the  structure  of  1853.  The  roofless  shells  and 
rusted  iron  shutters  of  three  old  business  buildings,  stand  (L),  over- 
grown by  ailanthus  trees. 

At  El  Dorado  is  the  western  junction  with  US  50  (see  TOUR 
Wa). 

Section  b.  EL  DORADO  to  MARIPOSA;  1334  m.  State  49. 

South  of  EL  DORADO,  0  m.,  State  49  continues  through  the 
Mother  Lode  country. 

On  the  SITE  OF  LO.GTOWN,  2.5  m.,  once  a  humming  camp,  are  the 
ruins  of  a  stamp  mill,  where  quartz  was  crushed  to  extract  the  gold. 
At  7.3  772.  is  the  MONTEZUMA  MINE,  from  which  probably  about 
$1,000,000  in  gold  was  taken. 

Between  El  Dorado  and  HUSE  BRIDGE  over  the  Cosumnes  River, 
10.1  m.}  once  stretched  a  continuous  line  of  stamp  mills.  Exploring 
miners  went  on  digging  up  every  foot  of  ground  for  gold,  until  not 
one  of  the  buildings  was  left  standing. 

PLYMOUTH,  14.6  m.  (900  alt.,  343  pop.),  amid  rolling  oak- 
dotted  fields,  preserves  little  evidence  of  its  former  wealth.  The 
PLYMOUTH  CONSOLIDATED  includes  all  the  deep  mines  in  this  country, 
which  produced  about  $15,000,000  worth  of  gold. 

Left  from  Plymouth  on  an  improved  road  to  FIDDLETOWN,  6.4  m. 
(1,700  alt.,  250  pop.),  settled  by  Missourians  in  1849.  "They  are  always 
fiddling.  Call  it  Fiddletown,"  said  one  Missouri  patriarch;  and  so  the 
name,  which  Bret  Harte  memorialized  in  An  Episode  of  Fiddletovm,  was 
chosen.  A  certain  Judge  Purinton,  whose  home,  the  PURINTON  HOUSE,  is  a 


488        CALIFORNIA 

local  landmark,  was  so  embarrassed  at  being  known  as  "the  man  from 
Fiddletown"  in  the  business  circles  of  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco,  that 
he  had  the  name  changed  to  Oleta  in  1878.  In  later  years,  however,  the 
pride  of  the  townspeople  in  the  original  name  revived  and  it  has  been 
officially  restored. 

On  Dry  Creek  is  DRYTOWN,  18.1  m.  (700  alt.,  150  pop.), 
which,  far  from  being  dry,  had  26  saloons  in  its  day.  In  the  surround- 
ing gulches — Blood,  Murderer's,  and  Rattlesnake — as  much  as  $100 
was  sometimes  washed  out  of  a  single  pan.  Some  of  the  inhabitants 
were  as  wild  and  woolly  as  the  names  of  the  gulches  indicate.  The 
recent  re-opening  of  some  of  the  quartz  mines — the  AMADOR  MOTHER 
LODE  and  the  FREMONT — keeps  80  to  90  men  employed.  Closed  since 
1926,  the  EXCHANGE  HOTEL  (R),  with  its  old  pump  and  watering 
trough,  is  plastered  with  posters  advertising  chewing  tobacco,  circuses, 
and  an  Italian  fiesta.  The  restored  TOWN  HALL  on  the  hill  (L),  hav- 
ing served  at  various  times  as  a  church,  dance  hall,  and  a  residence,  is 
now  (1939)  a  community  center. 

AMADOR  CITY,  21  m.  (1,100  alt.,  171  pop.),  at  the  bottom  of 
a  gulch  on  Amador  Creek,  was  a  camp  in  1849.  Here,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  creek,  was  the  Ministers'  Claim,  where  in  1851  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Davidson  and  three  other  preachers  made  the  first  quartz  discovery 
in  the  region.  The  three  reverend  gentlemen  made  quite  a  good  thing 
out  of  their  claim  on  weekdays,  and  preached  for  the  good  of  the  miners' 
souls  on  Sundays.  Quartz  mines,  such  as  the  famous  KEYSTONE  (L) 
— adjoining  the  original  Amador — yielded  fortunes;  in  1869,  when 
the  Bonanza  vein  was  discovered,  the  first  month's  crushing  paid 
$40,000.  Rows  of  decaying  frame,  brick,  and  stone  buildings  line  the 
main  street,  but  prospectors  still  haunt  the  neighborhood,  for  millions 
in  gold  may  yet  be  taken  from  the  ledge — they  hope. 

In  SUTTER  CREEK,  23.2  m.  (1,200  alt.,  1,013  pop.),  which 
Gen.  John  Augustus  Sutter,  in  search  of  a  site  for  his  sawmill,  passed 
up  in  favor  of  Coloma,  many  miners  decided  to  settle  down  after  the 
first  gold  fever  had  died.  Its  main  street  meanders  past  neat  little 
cottages  among  lawns,  flowers,  and  trees  and  the  scattered  dumps  of 
quartz  mines.  Among  the  older  brick  buildings,  besides  MASONIC 
HALL  and  the  KEYES  BUILDING,  is  the  HAYWARD  OFFICE,  head- 
quarters of  Alvinza  Hayward,  who  went  broke  many  times  trying  to 
make  the  quartz  finds  of  1851  pay.  Shafts  and  tunnels  had  to  be  bored 
through  solid  rock,  the  art  of  timbering  mastered  to  prevent  cave-ins, 
and  equipment  shipped  in  at  high  rates  from  the  East — it  all  required 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Many  men  in  the  district  were 
ruined  financially,  but  Hayward  kept  on  developing  his  mines  until 
he  had  an  income  of  $50,000  a  month.  One  of  his  holdings,  the 
CENTRAL  EUREKA  MINE,  opened  in  1869,  is  still  the  best  producer  in 
the  neighborhood.  Between  1859  and  1872  Leland  Stanford,  too,  had 
to  pour  so  much  cash  into  his  holding,  the  LINCOLN  MINE,  formerly 
the  Union,  that  he  once  offered  to  sell  for  $5,000.  Dissuaded  by  his 
superintendent,  Robert  Downs,  he  held  it,  made  a  fortune  out  of  it, 


TOUR     4        489 

and  sold  it  for  $400,000.  The  money  went  into  building  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad,  from  which  venture  Stanford  garnered  part  of  the 
millions  that  later  endowed  Stanford  University. 

At  MARTEL,  25.8  ra.  (1,500  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  a  junction  with 
an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  IONE,  9.4  m.  (300  alt.,  950  pop.),  a  camp  that  the 
first  miners  called  Bedbug  and  Freeze  Out.  Later,  when  churches,  homes, 
schools,  and  stores  replaced  the  miners'  tents,  the  citizens  decided  that 
neither  term  would  do  for  a  post  office  address.  They  chose  the  present 
name  in  honor  of  one  of  the  ladies  in  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton's  The  Last 
Days  of  Pompeii.  The  PRESTON  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL,  established  here  in 
1889,  is  a  State  reform  school  for  boys. 

JACKSON,  28.6  m.  (1,250  alt.,  2,000  pop.),  seat  of  Amador 
County,  boasts  of  having  some  of  the  deepest  mines  on  the  North 
American  continent.  No  ghost  town,  Jackson  is  full  of  life  and  bustle, 
its  main  street  crowded  with  stores,  cafes,  bars,  and  movie  houses,  for  the 
big  quartz  mines  on  the  northern  outskirts,  which  have  been  the  town's 
mainstay  for  80  years,  are  still  active.  The  ARGONAUT  and  the  KEN- 
NEDY mines,  whose  deepest  shafts  strike  a  mile  below  the  surface,  have 
produced  since  the  early  1850*8.  Up  to  1931  the  Argonaut  had  yielded 
$17,391,409  worth  of  gold. 

From  1848  to  1851  Jackson  was  important  as  a  stopping  point  on 
the  branch  of  the  Carson  Pass  Emigrant  Trail,  which  met  roads  here 
from  Sacramento  and  Stockton.  At  a  spring  on  the  banks  of  Jackson 
Creek,  teamsters  hauling  freight  between  Drytown,  and  Mokelumne 
Hill,  below,  and  miners  on  their  way  through  the  Mother  Lode  used 
to  break  their  journeys.  So  convivial  were  these  overnight  stops  that 
piles  of  bottles  collected  and  gave  the  town  its  first  name,  Bottileas. 
In  1850,  having  grown  to  respectable  size,  it  borrowed  the  name  of  an 
energetic  citizen,  Colonel  Jackson;  but  the  rough-and-ready  habits  of 
its  unruly  infancy  persisted.  More  than  10  men  were  strung  up  from 
a  great  oak  that  stood  on  Main  Street.  As  impatient  with  the  formali- 
ties of  government  as  it  was  with  those  of  the  courts,  Jackson  made 
itself  county  seat  in  characteristically  aggressive  style.  With  plenty  of 
gold  in  their  pouches,  a  group  of  Jacksonians  called  at  Double  Springs, 
the  county  seat  in  1851,  and  invited  all  the  county  officers  to  refresh- 
ments at  the  local  saloon.  During  the  festivities,  a  pair  of  Jackson 
men  loaded  all  of  the  county  archives,  seals,  and  paraphernalia  into  a 
buggy  and  whisked  them  off  to  Jackson.  Despite  the  subsequent  fury 
of  the  county  clerk,  Jackson  remained  the  county  seat.  Not  Jackson, 
however,  but  Mokelumne  Hill  enjoyed  the  last  laugh;  in  1852  the 
citizens  of  that  town  won  the  seat  from  Jackson.  The  overwhelming 
number  of  ballots  cast  in  the  election — several  times  as  many  as  there 
were  county  residents — was  due  to  unusual  industry;  mounted  men 
rode  all  over  the  county,  voting  at  every  camp  and  town.  A  decade 
later  Jackson  again  won  the  county  seat. 

Jackson's  Main  Street,  narrow  and  winding,  passes  between  rows 
of  iron-shuttered  stone  buildings  with  overhanging  balconies.  On 


49°        CALIFORNIA 

Courthouse  Hill  stands  the  brick  AMADOR  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE  of 
the  i85o's.  Opposite  is  the  WOMAN'S  CLUBHOUSE  with  its  Native 
Daughters'  Room,  where  the  Native  Daughters  of  the  Golden  West 
organized  in  1886.  Through  a  residence  section  with  schools  and 
churches,  the  road  winds  down  to  the  little  GREEK  ORTHODOX 
CHURCH  'midst  tombstones  and  cypress  trees. 

At  Jackson  is  a  junction  with  State  8  (see  TOUR  lOa). 

State  49  continues  south  over  open,  rolling  hills.  The  GINOCCHIO 
STORE  (L),  30.4  m.,  a  roofless  shell  with  stone  walls  and  iron  shutters, 
is  all  that  remains  of  BUTTE  CITY  (1,100  alt.),  a  mining  town  in 
the  1850*5.  Forgotten  miners  lie  in  a  forlorn  graveyard  on  a  hill  (R). 
Nearby  towers  the  conical  bulk  of  JACKSON  BUTTE  (2,348  alt.), 
an  isolated  volcanic  peak. 

BIG  BAR  BRIDGE,  31.8  m.,  spans  the  Mokelumne  River,  where  in 
the  fall  of  1848  Col.  J.  D.  Stevenson  and  men  of  his  discharged  regi- 
ment mined  gold.  Soon  camps  were  on  every  bar  and  flat  along  the 
stream.  Because  the  miners  were  an  unruly  bunch,  prone  to  brandish 
their  Colts  at  the  least  dispute,  Colonel  Stevenson  drew  up  what  was 
probably  the  first  code  of  miners'  laws  in  California.  Here  in  1850 
the  crude  Whale  Boat  Ferry  carried  passengers  across  the  river;  it 
was  replaced  by  a  bridge  that  yielded  as  much  in  tolls  as  did  many  a 
mine.  The  old  GARDELLA  INN,  at  the  northern  end,  and  KELTON'S, 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  bridge  are  now  dwellings.  Under  water 
lie  the  sites  of  former  camps,  inundated  by  PARDEE  RESERVOIR,  visible 
in  the  distance  (R),  which  supplies  the  cities  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
San  Francisco  Bay,  150  miles  away,  with  water. 

High  on  the  divide  between  the  Mokelumne  and  Calaveras  Rivers 
perches  MOKELUMNE  HILL,  38.4  m.  (1,500  alt.,  595  pop.),  over 
river  beds  that  yielded  rich  gold-bearing  gravels.  Settled  in  1848, 
"Mok  Hill,"  or  "The  Hill,"  grew  into  one  of  the  Mother  Lode's 
biggest  and  liveliest  towns.  It  is  said  that  at  one  time  one  man  was 
killed  each  week-end  for  17  weeks,  and  at  another,  five  men  in  one 
week.  From  1857  to  J866  Mokelumne  Hill  was  the  seat  of  Calaveras 
County.  Nearby  is  FRENCH  HILL,  scene  of  the  "French  War" 
skirmishes  of  1851,  in  which  American  miners  drove  off  Frenchmen 
and  appropriated  their  claims.  Here  too  is  NIGGER  HILL,  named  for 
the  Negro  who  drifted  into  town  one  day  in  the  1850'$  and  asked  the 
miners  what  they  did  for  a  living.  All  he  had  to  do,  they  told  him, 
was  dig  holes  in  the  ground  and  lift  out  nuggets.  For  a  joke,  they 
sent  him  to  a  hilltop  that  had  been  prospected  unsuccessfully  many 
times.  Within  two  days  he  returned,  casually  exhibiting  a  poke  of 
gold  dust  and  some  nuggets;  the  jokers  promptly  dropped  whatever 
they  were  doing  and  ran  to  stake  out  claims  on  the  hill. 

State  49  passes  the  walls  of  a  gray  ruin  roofed  only  by  the  green 
of  ailanthus  trees,  and  climbs  the  hill  to  the  I.O.O.F.  HALL  (L),  one 
of  California's  first  three-story  buildings.  Next  door  are  the  GOLDEN 
EAGLE  HOTEL  and  STURGES  STORE,  both  built  in  1854.  On  the  SITE 
OF  CHINATOWN  (R),  long  ago  destroyed  by  fire,  a  thousand  Chinese 


TOUR     4        491 

once  burned  punk  in  their  joss  houses,  bought  rice  in  their  shanty  stores, 
and — according  to  old-timers — sold  Chinese  slave  girls. 

On  a  vacant  lot  (L)  between  a  garage  and  barber  shop  is  the  SITE 
O,F  THE  ZUMWALT  SALOON,  where,  according  to  legend,  the  desperado, 
Joaquin  Murrieta,  sat  one  evening  playing  cards,  unrecognized.  The 
talk  got  round  to  him,  as  it  often  did.  Flushed  with  courage  and 
Bourbon,  a  young  miner  named  Jack  slapped  a  sack  of  gold  on  the 
table  and  cried,  "Here's  $500  which  says  that  I  can  kill  that  

-  Murrieta,  if  I  ever  come  face  to  face  with  him!"  Onto  the 
table  leaped  Murrieta,  a  pistol  in  each  hand,  "I  am  Murrieta.  Now 
is  your  chance!"  No  one  made  a  move.  The  man  with  a  price  on 
his  head  calmly  strode  out  of  the  saloon  and  rode  away. 

A  large  ailanthus  casts  its  shadow  over  the  balconies  of  two  stone 
buildings  (L) — the  LEDGER  HOTEL  and  the  FORMER  CALAVERAS 
COURTHOUSE,  now  the  hotel  annex.  Built  in  1856  as  the  Hotel  de 
1'Europe,  the  Ledger  has  been  renovated,  but  still  has  its  original  stone 
facade  and  windows,  black  walnut  bar  and  balustraded  staircase.  Dat- 
ing from  the  early  1850*5  is  a  little  white  church  (R),  built  with  gold 
collected  by  a  godly  and  determined  lady  who  stopped  the  men  as  they 
came  back  from  the  mines  at  night,  holding  out  a  miner's  pan  for 
contributions  of  gold  dust  and  nuggets.  From  Stockton  Hill  on  the 
southern  outskirts  of  town  rise  the  ruins  of  the  great  three-story  HEM- 
MiNGHOFFEN-SuESDORF  BREWERY,  like  some  ancient  abbey,  with 
crumbling,  roofless  walls,  shattered  archways,  and  great  vaults  choked 
with  fallen  stone  blocks. 

1.  Right  from  Mokelumne  Hill  on  an  oiled  road  is  FOSTERIA,  5.3  m. 
(1,500  alt.),  at  the  head  of  Rich  Gulch,  where  Senator  William  M.  Gwin 
once  operated  the  famous  GWIN  MINE. 

To  CAMPO  SECO,  11.9  m.  (700  alt.,  216  pop.),  the  Penn  Copper  Mine 
brought  wealth  in  the  i86o's.  Ruined  stone  buildings,  a  two-story  clapboard 
house,  and  a  cemetery  are  relics  of  the  past. 

2.  Left  from  Mokelumne  Hill  on  a  graveled  road  to  a  junction  at  1.3  m.; 
R.  here  to  the  sites  of  two  old  mining  camps:  JESUS  MARIA,  3.7  m.   (1,500 
alt.),  where  an  old  adobe  dwelling  built  by  Mexican  miners  is  now  a  gran- 
ary ;  and  WHISKEY  SLIDE,  7.4  m.,  where  the  ruined  JOHN  NOCE  HOUSE  of  the 
1850*8  exhibits  a  stone  chimney,  still  intact. 

South  of  Mokelumne  Hill,  State  49  runs  through  CHILE  GULCH, 
where  American  and  Chilean  miners  fought  the  "Chilean  War"  in 
December  1849.  The  Chileans'  practice  of  acquiring  claims  in  the 
names  of  their  peons  so  angered  the  Yankees  that  they  passed  laws 
against  it.  In  resistance  to  the  law  the  Chileans,  led  by  a  certain  Dr. 
Concha,  drove  the  Americans  out  of  the  gulch.  The  incident  embroiled 
the  United  States  in  a  diplomatic  dispute  with  Chile,  which  was  settled 
in  favor  of  the  Americans.  But  the  gulch  remained  the  scene  of 
violence;  a  monument  in  an  old  graveyard  keeps  alive  the  memory  of 
two  young  Massachusetts  men  who  "were  Cruelly  Murdered  at  the 
Chilean  Gulch,  July  18,  1851  by  three  Mexican  assassins  for  the  sake 
of  Gold." 


492        CALIFORNIA 

The  highway  crosses  the  NORTH  FORK  OF  THE  CALA- 
VERAS  RIVER,  41.5  m.,  so-called  because  Spanish  explorers  found 
Indian  skulls  (calaveras)  along  the  banks  of  its  lower  course. 

SAN  ANDREAS,  44  m.  (1,000  alt.,  1,082  pop.),  seat  of  Calaveras 
County,  was  first  a  Mexican  town,  as  a  few  scattered  adobe  dwellings 
built  in  1848  indicate.  Along  the  main  street — thinly  disguised  in 
their  modern  dress  of  paint,  stucco,  chromium,  and  plate  glass — are 
the  buildings  of  the  early  Yankee  era.  Documents  dating  back  to  1866 
are  preserved  in  the  courthouse;  relics  and  historic  records,  among 
them  a  red  sash  of  Joaquin  Murrieta's,  in  the  CALAVERAS  CHAMBER 
OF  COMMERCE  MUSEUM  (L)  at  the  north  end  of  town.  San  Andreans 
assert  that  here  in  the  barroom  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel — which 
burned  down  in  1926 — occurred  the  event  memorialized  in  Mark 
Twain's  The  Jumping  Frog1.  They  also  assert — and  so  does  many 
another  gold  country  town — that  here  Joaquin  Murrieta  began  his 
career  of  murder  and  banditry. 

South  of  San  Andreas  the  long  ridge  of  BEAR  MOUNTAIN 
(2,831  alt.),  rises  (R)  as  State  49  winds  through  dry  meadows  over- 
grown with  clusters  of  oaks. 

At  SAN  ANTONIO  CREEK,  49.4  m.,  the  few  decaying  buildings 
that  remain  of  FOURTH  CROSSING,  a  stop-over  point  of  stage- 
coaches appears  (R).  The  tallest  of  them  is  the  HERRICK  HOUSE, 
once  a  hotel;  next  to  it  are  the  REDDICK  HOUSE  and  the  remains  of 
an  old  stable.  Across  the  street  is  the  dance  hall. 

ALTAVILLE,  55.2  m.  (1,525  alt.,  320  pop.),  where  the  old  inn 
(L)  and  the  PRINCE  STORE  (R)  date  from  the  1850*5,  was  known  as 
Cherokee  Flat  when  Bret  Harte  made  it  the  setting  of  his  poem,  "To 
the  Pliocene  Skull."  Here  in  February  1866,  130  feet  down  in  the 
shaft  of  the  Mattison  Mine,  on  the  slopes  of  nearby  Bald  Hill,  was 
unearthed  the  Calaveras  skull.  A  storm  of  controversy  arose.  Un- 
questionably Pliocene,  declared  the  geologists,  were  the  mud,  gravel, 
and  sand  of  the  stratum  in  which  it  had  turned  up;  but  the  anthro- 
pologists, threatened  with  the  upset  of  every  theory  about  the  age  of 
man  on  earth,  were  not  so  sure.  Amused  at  the  discomfiture  of  J.  D. 
Whitney,  State  geologist,  the  public  hailed  the  affair  as  a  huge  hoax, 
perpetrated  by  enemies  he  had  made  when  he  interfered  with  plans 
of  local  financiers  for  selling  wild-cat  stocks.  Nevertheless,  Whitney, 
in  a  final  summary  that  appeared  13  years  later,  maintained  the  skull's 
authenticity;  the  last  official  word  on  the  subject  declared  the  skull 
to  be  prehistoric,  if  not  Pliocene.  Old-timers  still  insist,  however, 
that  the  affair  was  a  practical  joke — that  at  about  the  time  it  was  found, 
Dr.  Kelly,  the  Angels  Camp  dentist,  discovered  that  the  skull  of  an  old 
skeleton  he  kept  in  his  office  was  missing. 

ANGELS  CAMP,  56.2  m.  (1,500  alt.,  915  pop.),  was  named  not 
for  the  heavenly  host  but  for  one  of  Col.  J.  D.  Stevenson's  very  earthly 
volunteers,  a  man  called  Angel,  who  found  gold  on  the  creek  running 
through  town,  in  the  summer  of  1848.  The  man  who  made  Angels 
Camp  famous  was  Mark  Twain.  Local  people  insist  that  it  was  in 


TOUR    4      493 

their  HOTEL  ANGELS  barroom  that  Twain  one  winter's  night  heard 
the  story  on  which  he  based  The  Jumping  Frog.  Every  year  in  May, 
Angels  Camp  holds  a  Jumping  Frog  Jubilee.  In  the  main  event  frogs, 
after  rigid  inspection  to  prevent  loading  with  buckshot  as  in  Twain's 
tale,  compete  for  a  first  prize  of  $500.  Models  of  frogs  appear  in  the 
windows  of  stores  and  hotels.  One  restaurant  advertises  a  jumping 
frog  pie — made  of  prunes  and  raisins;  and  local  businessmen  have 
organized  a  Frog  Boosting  Club. 

Angels  Camp  was  also  the  locale  of  Bret  Harte's  story,  Mrs.  Skaggs* 
Husbands.  And  here,  in  a  little  theater  since  burned  down,  appeared 
Edwin  Booth.  Here,  too,  gold  was  reputedly  discovered  by  Bennager 
Raspberry,  whose  name  is  honored  by  Raspberry  Lane;  while  hunting, 
he  jammed  the  ramrod  in  his  gun,  and  when  he  shot  it  out  to  dislodge 
it,  it  stuck  in  the  earth  at  the  roots  of  a  manzanita  bush;  pulling  it 
out,  he  found  a  piece  of  glittering  quartz  in  a  rich  vein,  from  which 
he  took  $7,700  in  the  first  three  days.  Relics  of  mining  days  survive 
on  the  main  street,  despite  such  evidence  of  progress  as  neon  signs  and 
Venetian  blinds.  The  STICKLE  STORE  (L),  now  a  five-and-ten,  was 
built  in  1857  and  the  CALAVERAS  HOTEL  (R)  at  about  the  same  time. 
At  the  southern  city  limits  (L)  is  a  model  of  the  UNDERSHOT  WATER 
WHEEL  used  to  operate  an  arrastre  (mill)  for  crushing  gold  ore. 

Left  from  Angels  Camp  on  State  4,  a  paved  road,  is  VALLICITO  (Sp., 
little  valley),  4.8  ra.  (1,800  alt,  160  pop.).  Mounted  on  the  branches  of  a 
big  oak  tree  (R)  is  an  old  bell — brought  around  the  Horn — that  used  to 
summon  the  miners  of  this  once  lively  camp  to  Sunday  services. 

DOUGLAS  FLAT,  7.3  m.  (2,000  alt.,  85  pop.),  once  produced  enough 
gold  to  make  hundreds  rich  for  a  brief  period.  A  bank  as  well  as  a  store 
was  the  well-preserved  stone-walled,  iron-shuttered  GILLEADO  BUILDING  (L). 

At  MURPHYS,  9.1  m.  (2,200  alt.,  600  pop.),  the  brothers  Murphy,  John 
and  Daniel,  were  the  first  to  discover  gold.  The  town  has  the  usual 
Joaquin  Murrieta  legend:  here  the  ubiquitous  bad  man  is  said  to  have 
been  a  three-card  monte  dealer  in  1851  and  to  have  begun  his  bloody  career 
when  his  brother,  unjustly  accused  of  horse  stealing,  was  hanged,  and  he 
himself  flogged.  Outwardly  much  as  they  were  in  the  iSso's,  Murphys' 
store,  saloons,  and  business  houses  sprawl  along  the  main  street  in  the 
shade  of  elms  and  Chinese  heaven  trees.  In  front  of  them  in  the  evenings, 
their  chairs  tilted  back  against  the  walls,  loll  men  in  blue  jeans  and  broad 
felt  hats. 

The  MITCHLER  HOTEL  (L)  was  built  in  1856  by  John  L.  Sperry  to  accom- 
modate important  visitors  when  Murphys  became  the  gateway  to  the  Cala- 
veras  Big  Tree  Grove.  Inside  and  out,  the  Mitchler — which  Bret  Harte 
is  said  to  have  described  in  A  Night  in  Wingdam — remains  just  as  it  was. 
At  the  windows  hang  the  old  iron  shutters;  along  the  second-story  balcony 
runs  a  fine  iron  railing.  Embedded  in  the  trunks  of  the  heaven  trees  that 
shade  the  front  are  bits  of  the  wire  cable  once  used  for  hitching  horses,  and 
in  the  doorway  are  the  bullet  marks  left  from  the  time  when  a  stranger  shot 
the  town's  current  bad  man.  Inside,  horsehair  sofas  and  red  plush  furnish 
the  best  suite.  The  iron  safe  standing  behind  the  bar  preserves  old  ledgers 
with  the  names  of  such  notables  as  Horatio  Alger,  Jr.,  Charles  E.  Bolton 
(Black  Bart),  Thomas  Lipton,  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
John  Jacob  Astor,  Jr.,  John  Pierpont  Morgan,  and  Will  Rogers,  who  made 
a  movie  here  in  1934. 

Right  from  Murphys  1.1  m.  on  a  paved  road  to  MERCER'S  CAVE,  a  series 
of  20  caverns  filled  with  stalactite  and  stalagmite  formations.  SHEEP 


494        CALIFORNIA 

RANCH,  8.6  m.  (2,400  alt.,  75  pop.),  was  a  quartz  mining  camp  where 
George  Hearst,  father  of  newspaper  magnate  William  Randolph  Hearst, 
laid  the  foundations  for  his  fortune.  An  old  frame  hotel  with  double  bal- 
conies still  stands. 

State  4  continues  northwestward  through  rolling  mountain  country,  cut 
by  gorges.  The  CALAVERAS  BIG  TREES,  24.9  m.,  the  first  grove  of  Sequoia 
gigantea  discovered,  were  found  by  a  hunter  who  was  stalking  deer  for  a 
mining  camp  in  1854.  He  hurried  back  and  told  of  seeing  trees  taller  than 
the  masts  of  clipper  ships  and  thicker  than  houses. 

The  road  mounts  higher  into  the  Sierra  through  BIG  MEADOWS,  41.7 
m.  (6,600  alt.),  and  crosses  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Range  at  EBBETS  PASS, 
67.2  m.  (8,800  alt.),  discovered  in  the  i84o's.  State  4  comes  to  a  junction 
with  State  89  at  77.9  m.\  L.  here  on  State  89.  MARKLEEVILLE,  81.9  m. 
(5,500  alt.,  469  pop.)-,  in  a  high  mountain  valley  on  an  early  immigrant 
route,  was  settled  in  the  i85o's.  It  later  furnished  timber  for  the  mines  of 
the  Comstock  Lode. 

At  88.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  8 ;  R.  on  State  8,  8.1  m.  to  cross  the 
Nevada  Line  at  a  point  21.2  miles  south  of  Carson  City,  Nev. 

The  main  route  turns  L.  on  State  89-8  to  a  point  at  95  m.  where  State  8 
swings  sharply  L.  and  State  89  goes  R.  (for  both  routes,  see  TOUR  loa). 

By  State  49  on  ALBANY  FLAT,  58.5  m.,  stands  the  half-ruined 
ROMAGGI  BUILDING,  a  store,  saloon,  and  hotel  patronized  by  travelers 
on  the  road  to  the  wild  camp,  a  favorite  haunt  of  Joaquin  Murrieta 
and  his  gang,  on  the  Arroyo  de  los  Muertos  (creek  of  the  dead).  A 
sprawling,  two-story  edifice,  with  an  outside  stairway,  cellars,  and 
courtyard  walls,  it  was  built  of  rock  and  adobe  in  1852. 

The  somnolent,  half-deserted  village  of  CARSON  HILL,  60.1  m. 
(1,400  alt.,  50  pop.),  looks  like  a  ghost  of  the  old  days.  CARSON  HILL, 
rising  (L)  above  the  village,  was  the  richest  diggings  in  the  whole 
Mother  Lode.  In  Carson  Creek  James  H.  Carson,  led  to  the  spot  by 
friendly  Indians,  found  gold  in  August  1848.  The  180  ounces  of 
gold  that  he  panned  in  10  days  were  the  first  of  more  than  $20,000,000 
worth  that  diggings  here  have  produced.  A  great  gash  in  the  hillside 
shows  the  position  of  the  MORGAN  MINE,  where  15  miles  of  tunnels 
pierce  the  hill  and  one  shaft  bores  3,500  feet  below  sea  level.  Here 
the  largest  nugget  ever  found  in  the  United  States,  a  solid  mass  of 
gold  weighing  195  pounds  and  valued  at  $43,534,  was  taken  out  Nov. 
22,  1854.  The  story — another  time-worn  veteran  of  the  mining 
country — is  that  a  man  called  Hance,  chasing  a  stray  mule  in  the 
vicinity,  discovered  the  mine  when  he  saw  an  outcropping  of  quartz  in 
which  yellow  metal  gleamed;  with  a  rock  he  knocked  off  a  chunk  of 
gold  weighing  14  pounds.  When  Hance  sold  his  claim  to  Col.  Alfred 
Morgan  and  five  associates,  the  fight  over  a  rich  prize  began;  miners 
said  that  Morgan  and  his  partners  had  each  exceeded  the  limits  of 
land  one  man  could  claim.  A  hoodlum  named  Billy  Mulligan,  backed 
by  a  tough  bunch  recruited  from  the  San  Francisco  ''Hounds, "  stepped 
in,  seized  part  of  the  claim,  and  held  it  for  a  time.  After  several 
years  of  violence,  the  courts  put  Morgan  in  possession,  but  litigation 
continued  until  the  entire  property  had  come  into  the  hands  of  another 
man,  James  G.  Fair,  of  Comstock  Lode  fame. 

MELONES  (Sp.,  melons),  63.5  m.  (700  alt.,  75  pop.),  in  the 
days  when  it  boasted  a  population  of  5,000,  was  one  of  the  toughest 


TOUR    4      4.95 

camps.  Melones  took  its  name  from  a  nearby  camp,  where  Mexican 
miners  found  coarse  gold  in  the  shape  of  melon  seeds.  Earlier  it  was 
called  Slumgullion,  for  the  thick,  sticky  mud  along  the  river  banks; 
and  before  that,  Robinson's  Ferry,  for  the  man  who  ferried  travelers 
across  the  river.  Robinson  sold  the  ferry  in  1856  to  Harvey  Wood, 
who  acquired  a  county  franchise  to  operate  it  for  50  years.  Within 
six  weeks  after  the  Morgan  mine  was  opened,  the  ferry  made  $10,000 
for  him,  and  as  time  went  on,  it  continued  to  earn  so  much  that  he  could 
spend  $40,000  on  the  toll  roads  approaching  it. 

State  49  winds  up  a  ravine  to  a  junction  with  a  paved  road  at 
65.6  m. 

Left  here  up  JACKASS  HILL,  where  the  men  who  packed  supplies  in 
to  the  miners  used  to  stop  overnight,  tethering  their  donkeys.  Mark  Twain, 
who  spent  5  months  here  in  1864-5,  wrote:  "...  a  flourishing  city  of  two 
or  three  thousand  population  had  occupied  this  grassy  dead  solitude  during 
the  flush  times  of  twelve  or  fifteen  years  before,  and  where  our  cabin 
stood  had  once  been  the  heart  of  the  teeming  hive  .  .  ."  On  the  summit  is 
MARK  TWAIN'S  CABIN,  1  m.,  restored  except  for  the  chimney  and  fireplace ;  a 
monument  of  quartz  rock  commemorates  Twain's  stay  here  as  a  guest  of 
the  Gillis  brothers,  at  a  time  when  he  had  to  flee  San  Francisco  because 
of  debts.  He  used  to  sit  under  the  oak  before  the  door  and  smoke  his 
pipe.  It  was  here  that  he  met  the  original  of  Dick  Baker  in  Roughing  It, 
Dick  Stoker,  of  whom  he  wrote:  "One  of  my  comrades  there — another  of 
those  victims  of  eighteen  years  of  unrequited  toil  and  blighted  hopes — was 
one  of  the  gentlest  spirits  that  ever  bore  its  patient  cross  in  a  weary  exile: 
grave  and  simple  Dick  Baker,  pocket  miner  of  Dead-Horse  Gulch." 

In  MORMON  GULCH,  where  Mormon  miners  once  pitched 
camp,  stands  TUTTLETOWN,  66.6  m.  (1,500  alt.,  164  pop.), 
which  became  a  trade  center  and  pack-mule  stop  on  the  old  Slumgullion 
road,  after  Judge  A.  A.  H.  Tuttle  built  his  log  cabin  here  in  August 
1848.  Mark  Twain  used  to  come  down  Jackass  Hill  to  trade  at  the 
SWERER  STORE  (L),  a  stone  structure  erected  in  1852.  In  the  same 
year  was  built  the  right  wing  of  the  old  frame  TUTTLETOWN  HOTEL 
(L),  whose  drinking  trough  is  now  a  goldfish  pond. 

At  67.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  RAWHIDE  MINE,  2.5  m.,  where  $6,000,000  has 
been  taken  from  deep  quartz  veins.  Rawhide  Flat  at  this  point  gives  a 
good  view  of  TABLE  MOUNTAIN  (L),  celebrated  in  Bret  Harte's  tales. 
This  flat-topped  volcanic  mountain,  a  half-moon  stretching  for  60  miles, 
and  the  region  contiguous  to  the  Stanislaus  River  constitute  the  true  Bret 
Harte  country.  As  a  young  man,  late  in  1855,  Harte  passed  through  the 
region  hunting  for  a  camp  that  would  hire  him  as  a  teacher.  Here  he 
gained  the  impressions  that  he  wove  into  the  sentimental  tales  that  im- 
pressed stay-at-home  Easterners  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly  circle  and  made 
him  famous. 

At  70.7  m.  on  State  49  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  SHAWS  FLAT,  1  m.  (2,100  alt.,  15  pop.),  where 
Mandeville  Shaw  planted  an  orchard  in  1849  and  where  Tarleton  Caldwell 
later  planted  a  garden  and  black  walnut  trees.  Here  in  1855  were  dis- 
covered the  gold  deposits  of  an  ancient  river  channel,  so  rich  that  the  yield 
of  Caldwell's  claim  alone  was  estimated  at  $250,000.  Tunnels  were  sunk 


49.6        CALIFORNIA 

far  into  Table  Mountain ;  such  men  as  James  G.  Fair  and  John  B.  Stetson 
got  their  start  here.  The  camp  was  called  Whimtown  because  of  the  many 
whims  (windlasses)  used  in  hoisting  ore  from  the  shafts.  The  MISSISSIPPI 
HOUSE  (R),  at  the  crossroads,  was  once  a  hotel,  store,  and  post  office.  Still 
in  service  are  the  old  bar  and  the  patched  bar  chairs.  From  the  ceiling, 
covered  with  stained  muslin,  hang  kerosene  lights;  on  the  walls  are  guns, 
sconces,  horn  spoons,  and  other  mining  relics. 

At  71.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  COLUMBIA,  1.8  m.  (2,200  alt,  200  pop.),  a  ghost 
of  what  was  once  the  "Gem  of  the  Southern  Mines,"  the  richest,  noisiest, 
fastest  growing,  most  spectacularly  wicked  camp  in  the  Mother  Lode. 
Roundabout  lie  300  acres  of  weirdly  shaped,  brush-mantled  crags,  laid  bare 
when  the  top  soil  was  sluiced  away  to  uncover  the  rich  gravel  beneath. 
From  these  acres  have  come  $87,000,000  in  gold.  A  party  of  Mexican 
miners,  driven  from  their  claims  by  gringos,  found  new  diggings  here  in 
March,  1850;  with  backbreaking  labor  they  carried  ore  in  sacks  to  the 
streams  and  there  pounded  it  in  mortars  and  washed  it.  In  the  same  month 
Dr.  Thaddeus  Hildreth,  his  brother,  and  three  others,  camping  here  over- 
night, were  drenched  by  a  sudden  downpour.  As  they  waited  for  their 
blankets  to  dry  out  the  next  morning,  March  27,  one  of  the  party,  John 
Walker,  tried  his  luck  at  prospecting.  He  struck  it  rich,  and  within  the 
first  half  week  the  Yankees  were  taking  out  15  pounds  of  gold  a  day.  By 
mid-April,  Hildreth's  Diggings  had  6,000  residents,  the  advance  guard  of 
an  army  that  was  to  swell  to  15,000.  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  settle- 
ment had  a  serious  setback  to  overcome,  for  the  imposition  of  a  $20  tax  on 
foreign-born  miners  and  the  drying  up  of  the  streams  in  summer  combined 
to  drive  away  all  but  one  of  the  6,000  inhabitants.  Recovering  speedily 
from  this  handicap,  it  forged  ahead  to  become  a  full-fledged  metropolis, 
with  143  faro  games,  30  saloons,  4  banks,  27  produce  stores,  3  express 
offices — and  an  arena  for  bull-and-bear  fights,  which,  described  by  Horace 
Greeley  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  is  said  to  have  given  Wall  Street  its 
best-known  phrases. 

Columbia,  one  of  the  best  preserved  of  the  ghost  towns,  has  more  ancient 
and  fewer  modern  buildings  than  any  other  spot  in  the  Mother  Lode.  On 
Kennebec  Hill  at  the  southern  outskirts,  among  cypresses,  rises  the  square 
brick  tower  of  ST.  ANN'S  CHURCH,  built  in  1856,  which  has  altar  murals 
painted  by  James  Fallon.  Main  Street,  following  the  contour  of  what  was 
Matelot  (Fr.,  sailor)  Gulch,  has  wide-branching  shade  trees,  brick  and 
stone  facades,  old  iron  doors  and  shutters,  fancy  wrought  iron  railings, 
and  shade-covered  sidewalk  canopies.  At  its  southern  end  in  FALLON'S 
HOTEL  (R),  where  artist  James  Fallon's  father  did  the  honors  in  the 
i86o's  and  i87o's.  The  old  red  brick  WELLS  FARGO  OFFICE  (adm.  25$}  is 
now  a  museum;  it  contains  old  account  books  showing  what  prices  once 
were;  sugar  $3  a  pound,  molasses  $5  a  gallon,  flour  $1.50  a  pound,  onions 
$i  a  pound,  sardines  and  lobsters  $4  a  can,  candles  50^  apiece,  and  special 
miners'  knives  $30  each.  The  onetime  saloon,  the  STAGE  DRIVERS'  RETREAT 
(adm.  free],  Main  and  Fulton  Sts.  (L),  is  now  the  Golden  Nugget  Club 
of  old-timers  and  a  museum;  the  bar  remains,  and  the  old  piano,  brought 
around  the  Horn.  Across  the  street  (R)  is  the  KNAPP  GROCERY  STORE,  with 
heavy  iron  doors  barred,  which  was  saved  from  fire  in  1857  when  two  bar- 
rels of  vinegar  were  thrown  on  the  flames.  In  the  FIREHOUSE  (R)  are  two 
old  fire  engines  and  an  old  fire  hose  of  riveted  buffalo  hide;  Papeets,  the 
older  of  the  two,  was  built  for  King  Kamehameha  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
brought  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  and  sold  to  Columbia  in  1855. 
The  PIONEER  SALOON  (R),  Main  and  Jackson  Sts.,  built  in  1858,  housed 
a  saloon  and  gambling  hall  on  the  ground  floor  and  a  fandango  hall  in  the 
cellar.  Beyond  is  the  ruined  CHINA  STORE,  half-hidden  behind  ailanthus 
trees.  The  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  (1864),  Jackson  and  Gold  Sts.,  replacing 


TOUR    4      497 

a  church  of  1853,  is  at  the  edge  of  the  former  plaza  from  which  the  bell 
now  hanging  in  the  church  tower  used  to  summon  miners  to  fires,  mass 
meetings,  and  hangings.  On  the  top  of  the  hill  at  the  northern  outskirts 
is  the  two-story  red-brown  schoolhouse,  opened  for  its  first  term  April  14, 
1862.  Beside  it  is  a  graveyard  with  marble  headstones  bearing  old-fash- 
ioned epitaphs. 

SONORA,  73.5  m.  (1,850  alt.,  2,278  pop.),  seat  of  Tuolumne 
County,  is  on  seven  small  hills.  Though  it  had  little  room  to  spread 
between  the  wooded  hillsides  of  its  canyon,  it  has  long  since  outstripped 
its  old-time  rival,  Columbia,  and  boasts  of  churches,  schools,  and  like 
civic  improvements.  In  1848  this  was  Sonorian  Camp,  settled  by 
Mexicans  from  the  state  of  Sonora.  By  November  of  that  year  half 
of  the  population  was  rotting  with  scurvy.  A  town  government  was 
organized  to  establish  a  hospital,  which  treated  the  victims  with  raw 
potatoes  at  $1.50  a  pound  and  lime  juice  at  $5  a  bottle.  During  1849 
men  of  several  nations  arrived,  until,  on  Saturday  nights,  the  narrow 
streets  were  packed  with  as  many  as  5,000  miners.  In  June  1850,  the 
new  "gringo"  government,  unappreciative  of  Sonera's  pioneers,  imposed 
a  $20  tax  on  foreign-born  miners.  Alarmed  at  the  Yankee  treachery, 
Mexicans,  Chileans,  and  others  gathered  for  discussion.  Fearing  an 
attack,  the  Americans  organized  a  mass  meeting  under  the  American 
flag,  and  headed  by  fife  and  drum,  with  banners  waving  and  guns 
popping,  they  marched  in  a  mob  on  the  camp.  The  Mexicans,  how- 
ever, also  fearing  an  attack,  were  pulling  down  their  tents  and  fleeing 
to  hunt  new  diggings.  When  the  excitement  subsided,  Sonora  found 
itself  with  but  a  fifth  of  its  former  population. 

Not  Yankees  but  Chileans  in  1851  discovered  the  richest  pocket 
mine  in  the  Mother  Lode,  the  BIG  BONANZA  (prosperity)  on  PIETY 
HILL  (R).  Yankees,  however,  garnered  its  greatest  riches,  when  three 
partners,  who  had  acquired  the  mine  at  little  cost  in  the  1870*5,  hit  a 
deposit  of  almost  pure  gold  after  working  it  for  some  years.  In  one  day 
they  took  out  $160,000  and  within  a  week,  $500,000.  The  Big 
Bonanza  still  produces. 

The  acquisitive  instincts  of  Sonora's  settlers  were  perhaps  best 
shown  by  a  certain  Judge  Sullivan.  In  the  first  case  tried  before 
him  he  collected  three  ounces  of  gold  from  the  defendant,  a  Mexican, 
for  stealing  a  certain  Mr.  Smith's  leggings,  and  one  ounce  from  the 
plaintiff  himself  for  bothering  the  judge  with  so  trivial  a  complaint 
as  the  loss  of  the  leggings.  Again,  when  a  wealthy  citizen  haled  a 
penniless  man  into  court  for  stealing  a  mule,  Judge  Sullivan  decreed 
that  the  wealthy  man  should  pay  both  fine  and  costs,  since  "the  court 
could  not  be  expected  to  sit  without  remuneration." 

On  the  narrow  side  streets  are  adobe  facades  with  overhanging 
balconies,  mellowing  frame  houses  in  old  gardens,  and  heavy,  ivy-clad 
stone  walls.  ST.  JAMES  CHURCH  (R),  built  in  1860,  rears  a  cross- 
tipped  spire  above  cypress  trees  and  lilac  bushes.  The  one-story,  red- 
brick BAUMAN  BREWERY  on  Washington  Street  opposite  the  high 
school,  once  supplied  beer  to  40  saloons.  The  two-story  GUNN  ADOBE 
(R),  at  the  southern  edge  of  town,  was  built  by  Mexican  laborers  for 


CALIFORNIA 

Dr.  Lewis  C.  Gunn  in  1850.  With  new  wings  and  balcony,  it  is  now 
the  Hotel  Italia.  The  hotel  parlor  was  Gunn's  office  as  first  county 
recorder  and  his  print  shop,  where  on  July  4,  1850,  he  started  the  first 
newspaper  published  in  the  mining  region,  the  Sonora  Herald. 

At  Sonora  is  a  junction  (L)  with  State  108  (see  TOUR  6b), 
which  here  unites  with  State  49. 

State  49-108  winds  into  JAMESTOWN,  77.4  m.  (1,500  alt., 
814  pop.),  which  has  retained  some  of  its  old  facades,  balconies,  and 
sidewalk  roofs.  Called  Jimtown  by  the  miners,  it  was  named  for 
Col.  George  F.  James,  a  San  Francisco  lawyer  who  tried  his  luck  at 
mining  here  in  1848  but  fought  with  other  miners  and  left.  Its  pros- 
perity sprang  partly  from  the  rich  mines  of  TABLE  MOUNTAIN— 
where  the  HUMBUG  yielded  $4,000,000  in  its  day,  some  of  it  in  nuggets 
the  size  of  hens'  eggs. 

The  WOODS'  CROSSING,  78.4  m.,  marked  by  a  monument  of  gold 
quartz,  was  a  busy  camp  in  1848  and  1849,  after  the  Reverend  James 
Woods  and  his  party  discovered  gold  in  the  creek. 

CHINESE  CAMP,  84.3  m.  (1,400  alt.,  237  pop.),  which  Bret 
Harte  wrote  about  as  "Salvado,"  is  only  a  handful  of  brick  and  adobe 
buildings.  No  trace  is  left  of  the  5,000  Chinese  who  mined  for  gold 
here  in  the  1850*8.  Their  very  origin  is  a  mystery;  some  say  that  a 
ship's  captain  left  his  vessel  in  San  Francisco  Bay  and  brought  his 
Chinese  crew  here  to  mine,  others,  that  they  were  employed  by  English 
prospectors.  Only  2  miles  west,  on  a  plain  at  the  foot  of  Table 
Mountain,  was  fought  the  first  tong  war  in  California.  On  Sept.  26, 
1856,  armed  with  pikes,  shovels,  pitchforks,  daggers,  clubs,  and  a  few 
muskets,  900  men  of  the  Yan  Wo  Tong  and  1200  of  the  Sam  Tu 
Tong  battled.  After  several  hours  of  yelling  and  clashing,  both  sides 
withdrew.  Since  the  warriors  had  never  before  used  muskets,  the  total 
casualties  were  four  killed  and  four  wounded.  At  Chinese  Camp  is  a 
junction  with  State  120  (see  TOUR  3b),  which  unites  westward  with 
State  49. 

In  WOOD'S  CREEK  CANYON,  87.4  m.t  are  the  hoists,  dumps, 
and  stamp  mill  of  the  EAGLE  SHAWMUT  MINE,  producer  of  $5,000,000 
in  gold. 

JACKSONVILLE,  88.7  m.  (900  alt.,  63  pop.),  honors  Col.  Alden 
Jackson  who  discovered  gold  here  in  June  1849.  Fire  has  destroyed  all 
of  the  old  buildings  except  the  JACKSONVILLE  HOTEL  (L),  built  in 
the  i85o's. 

At  91.2  m.  is  the  western  junction  with  State  120  (see  TOUR  3b) . 

From  the  MOCCASIN  CREEK  POWER  HOUSE  (L),  93.9  m.,  with 
workers'  bungalows  on  green  lawns,  State  49  climbs  the  steep  sides 
of  Moccasin  Creek  ravine,  skirting  views  of  range  after  range  of 
mountains,  green  in  the  foreground,  blue  in  the  distance. 

COULTERVILLE,  104.7  m.  (1,675  alt.,  380  pop.),  is  among 
almost  treeless  mountains  covered  with  chaparral  and  sagebrush.  For- 
tunes came  out  of  these  bare-looking  slopes  during  the  wild  years  when 
3,000  Yankees  and  more  than  1,000  Chinese  tramped  the  streets  of 


TOUR    4      499 

Coulterville,  then  called  Banderita,  for  the  small  red  bandannas  used 
by  the  first  Mexican  settlers.  Little  traffic  passes  through  now;  once 
in  a  while  a  stray  cow  wanders  through  the  street,  or  a  pack  mule 
loaded  with  prospector's  trappings;  men  dressed  in  blue  jeans  and  work 
shirts  stroll  about,  unhurried.  In  the  plaza,  fringed  by  old  stone  and 
adobe  edifices,  is  an  oak  from  which  many  a  bad  man,  according  to 
cherished  local  legend,  dangled  at  the  end  of  a  rope.  Along  the  main 
street,  catalpa  and  umbrella  trees  shade  brick  and  stone  buildings,  some 
roofless  and  crumbling.  In  front  of  the  JEFFERY  HOTEL  (L),  which 
has  catered  to  several  generations,  at  almost  any  time  of  day  or  evening, 
sit  a  squad  of  grizzled  old-timers  with  stubbly  chins,  locally  called  the 
"Grand  Jury." 

South  of  Coulterville,  State  49  climbs  steep  grades  up  mountain 
slopes  that  drop  abruptly  hundreds  of  feet  by  the  roadside. 

BAGBY,  115.9  m.  (1,000  alt.,  36  pop.),  formerly  Benton  Mills, 
is  now  little  more  than  a  store,  a  couple  of  frame  houses,  and  a  station 
on  the  Yosemite  Valley  Railway.  The  foundations  of  FREMONT'S 
MILL  AND  DAM  are  by  the  river  near  the  bridge.  John  C.  Fremont, 
in  the  early  1 850*5,  claimed  this  land  as  a  part  of  his  Mariposa  grant 
and  spent  thousands  of  dollars  on  mills  and  mining  equipment. 

Crossing  Merced  River  the  highway  ascends  the  steep  slopes  of 
HELL  HOLLOW,  a  climb  affording  spectacular  views.  At  the 
PACIFIC  MINE,  118.7  m.,  gold  is  being  taken  from  a  quartz  vein.  A 
turnout  at  120.1  m.  offers  an  unusual  view.  The  river  twists  and 
turns  a  thousand  feet  below;  to  the  north  and  west  a  seemingly  endless 
procession  of  ranges  melts  into  haze. 

Now  almost  deserted,  BEAR  VALLEY,  121.6  m.  (2,100  alt.), 
was  built  by  Fremont  as  headquarters  for  his  rich  Mariposa  mines. 
A  jagged  stone  ruin  (R),  a  tree  growing  within  its  walls,  is  FREMONT'S 
COMPANY  STORE  opened  in  1851.  Across  the  street  are  the  FOUNDA- 
TIONS OF  THE  FREMONT  HOUSE,  where  Fremont  and  his  wife,  Jessie, 
lived  for  a  short  time.  Fremont's  44,ooo-acre  Rancho  de  las  Mariposas 
(ranch  of  the  butterflies)  was  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  when  he 
bought  it  for  $3,000  in  1847.  Discovery  of  gold  the  year  after  made 
the  gold-bearing  foothills  eastward  so  much  more  desirable  that  Fre- 
mont "floated"  his  lands  in  that  direction — and  the  United  States 
courts  confirmed  him  in  his  ownership  here,  though  the  place  was  50 
miles  east  of  the  original  claim.  The  move  put  Fremont  in  line  to 
become  a  rich  man  for  there  seemed  to  be  wealth  hidden  in  the  quartz 
ledges  here.  From  a  place  within  pistol  shot  of  Bear  Valley's  main 
street,  $200,000  was  taken  within  four  months  in  1851.  Fremont, 
however,  had  many  troubles.  First  were  the  miners  who  swarmed  the 
new  diggings  with  the  assertion  that  Mexican  grants  covered  only 
agricultural  and  grazing  rights,  not  minerals.  A  small  war,  with  the 
aid  of  militia  sent  by  a  compliant  governor,  was  required  to  oust  them. 
Then  followed  lengthy  litigation  in  the  face  of  hostile  public  sentiment, 
piling  up  court  costs  and  lawyers'  fees;  on  top  of  that  was  a  ruinous 
outlay  for  stamp  mills,  tunnels,  and  shafts;  and  finally,  ore  did  not 


50O        CALIFORNIA 

persist  below  the  surface.  Later  Fremont  said,  "When  I  came  to  Cali- 
fornia I  hadn't  a  cent.  Now  I  owe  two  million  dollars!" 

Beside  the  road  at  126.1  m.  are  the  ruined  walls  of  flat  rocks  and 
adobe  of  a  TRABUCCO  STORE  (R),  trading  post  of  the  early  1850*8  for 
old  MOUNT  OPHIR,  126.2  m.  An  obscure  trail  leads  through  the 
brush  to  the  ruined  mint,  where  hexagonal  gold  slugs  worth  $50  each 
were  coined  in  the  early  i85o's. 

MOUNT  BULLION,  128.2  m.  (2,100  alt.,  16  pop.),  was  Prince- 
ton, until  a  more  picturesque  name  was  suggested  by  the  nearby  moun- 
tain, which  was  named  for  Fremont's  father-in-law,  Senator  Thomas 
Hart  Benton — nicknamed  Old  Bullion  because  of  his  many  political 
battles  about  currency.  Here  more  than  2,000  miners  used  to  call  for 
their  mail.  The  low,  iron-shuttered  adobe  (L)  is  the  MARRE  STORE, 
which  supplied  the  miners  in  the  i86o's.  Just  south  of  Mount  Bullion 
is  the  old  PRINCETON  MINE;  first  owned  by  Fremont,  the  Princeton 
produced  millions  in  gold. 

Right  from  Mount  Bullion  on  a  graveled  road  to  HORNITOS  (Sp.,  little 
ovens),  13  m.  (1,000  alt.,  62  pop.),  which  got  its  name  from  the  appellation 
given  the  tombs  of  its  early  Mexican  settlers;  two  of  them,  shaped  like 
square  bake  ovens,  lie  in  ruins  on  the  hillside  below  the  weather-beaten 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  camp  here  in  1849  was  known  for  its 
fiestas,  fandango  halls,  gambling,  and  shooting  frays.  In  the  ruined 
GHIRARDELLI  STORE,  the  "chocolate  king"  of  later  days  began  building  his 
fortune  as  a  merchant.  Facing  the  plaza  is  (R)  the  old  FANDANGO  HALL 
in  which  the  miners  sported  when  they  came  in  flush  from  the  "diggin's." 
The  two-story  HORNITOS  HOTEL,  on  an  upper  street,  was  built  in  1860. 
The  jail,  built  of  stone  with  a  strong  iron  door  and  one  little  window  near 
the  ceiling,  was  the  scene  of  an  early  tragedy.  A  Chinese,  after  having 
been  constantly  annoyed  by  an  American  miner,  lost  his  patience  and  shot 
his  tormentor.  He  was  lodged  here  and  when  attempts  to  lynch  him  failed, 
a  man  handed  the  prisoner  some  tobacco  through  the  window;  as  the 
Chinese  stretched  out  his  hand,  several  of  the  miners  seized  it,  pulled  him 
against  the  window,  fastened  a  rope  around  him,  and  tore  him  to  pieces. 

MARIPOSA   (see  TOUR  3b),  133.4  m.,  is  at  a  junction  with 
State  140  (see  TOUR  3b}. 


ZXSXM^^^^ 


Tour  5 


Junction  with  US  99 — Bartle — McArthur  Memorial  (Burney  Falls) 
State  Park — Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park — Quincy — Truckee;  277.7 
m.,  State  89. 

Roadbed  paved  between  US  99  and  US  299,  Manzanita  Lake  and  Lake  Almanor, 
and  Quincy  and  Blairsden;  elsewhere  dirt  or  gravel.  Accommodations  at  con- 
venient intervals:  lakeside  hotels,  resorts,  camps. 


TOUR     5        5OI 

State  89  cuts  southeastward  across  northeastern  California,  seeming 
to  seek  out  high  and  inaccessible  splendors.  It  plunges  through  the 
Cascade  Range,  comes  to  a  chaotic  region,  where  lava  has  made  no 
man's  lands  of  the  forests,  and  emerges  between  ridges  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  whose  granite  crags  rise  sheer  from  steel-blue  lakes.  The 
mark  of  man  is  plain  along  the  route:  forests  thinned  by  lumbermen, 
carved  mountainsides  and  piles  of  tailings  left  by  miners,  lakes  created 
in  hydroelectric  developments.  The  road  flows  smoothly  through  the 
Feather  River  region,  passes  old  mining  towns,  mountain  stockfarms 
where  cowboys  ride  herd,  and  reaches  lakes  and  meadows  where 
emigrant  parties  fought  the  Sierra  snows — now  a  playground  of  summer 
and  winter  sports. 

Section  a.    JUNCTION  WITH  US  99  to  MORGAN  SPRINGS; 
139  m.f  State  89. 

State  89  branches  east  from  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR 
3a),  0  m.,  2  miles  south  of  Mount  Shasta  City. 

SNOWMAN  HILL,  5.2  m.,  rises  (R)  within  200  yards  of  the 
highway  from  Shasta's  lower  slopes.  Glistening  with  snow  from  De- 
cember to  March,  the  hill  is  popular  with  winter  sports  enthusiasts, 
who  gather  for  ski  tournaments,  snow  frolics,  and  tobogganing. 

McCLOUD,  10.6  m.  (3,254  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  is  a  typical  lumber 
town,  loud  with  the  whine  of  the  great  buzz  saws  in  its  mills,  where 
huge  logs  become  sweet-smelling  yellow  lumber.  The  town  preserves, 
under  altered  spelling,  the  name  of  the  Scot,  Alexander  Roderick 
McLeod,  who  in  1827  led  southward  the  first  band  of  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  trappers  to  penetrate  northern  California.  They  narrowly 
escaped  starvation  and  death  when  severe  weather  forced  them  to  cache 
their  furs  and  traps  and  seek  a  warmer  climate. 

Left  from  McCloud  is  a  road  leading  through  the  once  heavily  timbered 
McCloud  Flat  country,  built  up  of  glacial  silt  from  Mount  Shasta. 

MUD  CREEK,  3.4  m.,  is  in  the  area  devastated  by  the  mud  flow  from 
Konwakiton  Glacier  in  August,  1924.  Breaking  loose  from  the  creek  banks, 
the  avalanche  of  water  and  sediment  spread  over  the  country,  leaving  it  a 
desolate  waste.  The  glacial  sediment,  deposited  in  many  places  to  a  depth 
of  15  feet,  overflowed  into  the  McCloud  River  and  was  carried  southward 
for  several  hundred  miles. 

At  9.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  0.5  m.,  to  the  MC- 
CLOUD ICE  CAVES.  Entrance  is  by  a  12-foot  ladder  through  a  cave-in. 
The  caverns  extend  east  and  west  for  nearly  three-tenths  of  a  mile.  In  the 
west  cave  the  glittering  wall  of  ice  remains  until  midsummer. 

BARTLE,  32  m.  (3,97O  alt.,  10  pop.),  is  a  station  on  the  McCloud 
Logging  Railroad  (a  common  carrier  if  passengers  are  willing  to  ride 
in  the  caboose).  Guns  and  other  paraphernalia  unearthed  here  in  1874 
were  believed  to  be  part  of  the  McLeod  party's  cache.  Headwaters  of 
the  McCloud  River  rise  in  this  vicinity. 

At  Bartle  is  the  junction  with  the  dirt  Lava  Beds  National  Monu- 
ment Rd.  (see  TOUR  8 A). 


5O2        CALIFORNIA 

CAYTON,  48  m.  (3,300  alt.,  26  pop.),  and  CLARK  CREEK, 
52  m.  (3,000  alt.,  12  pop.),  lie  in  a  valley  meadow  between  FORT 
MOUNTAIN  and  SOLDIER  MOUNTAIN  (L)  and  RED 
MOUNTAIN  (R). 

At  54  m.  State  89  enters  McARTHUR  MEMORIAL  (BURNEY 
FALLS)  STATE  PARK,  a  335-acre  recreational  area  (60  improved 
camp  sites;  showers,  cooking  and  laundering  facilities),  surrounding 
BURNEY  FALLS,  where  Lost  River  rushes  from  its  underground  channel 
to  plunge  in  a  double  cataract — divided  by  a  rocky  island — 128  feet  into 
the  gorge.  Pine  needles  cushion  the  trail  that  winds  down  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  canyon.  As  the  steady  roar  of  the  falls  grows  louder,  a 
fine,  cool  mist,  heady  and  invigorating,  bathes  the  pine-scented  air.  The 
trail  leads  to  the  edge  of  the  wide,  dark-watered  pool  at  the  base  of  the 
falls,  seen  streaming  in  twin  ribbons  of  white  foam  against  purple  rock 
and  blue  sky.  From  the  steep,  moss-covered  banks  on  the  far  side  of 
the  gorge  grow  giant  pines,  green  and  straight.  Many  smaller  water- 
falls spring  from  the  massed  lava,  bathing  the  walls  with  thin  streams 
of  transparent  silver.  At  the  foot  of  the  falls,  Lost  River  dashes  along 
its  boulder-strewn  course  to  LAKE  BRITTON,  a  mile  distant,  where 
a  dam  impounds  its  waters  and  those  of  the  Pit  River.  The  lake,  kept 
stocked  with  bass,  is  a  favorite  with  sportsmen.  There  is  excellent  trout 
fishing  in  Burney  Creek,  a  mile  above  the  falls. 

At  61  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8a). 

The  road,  striking  into  Hat  Creek  Canyon,  follows  the  winding 
course  of  this  stream  southward  past  HAT  CREEK  POST  OFFICE 
(L),  83  m.  (3,300  alt.). 

SUBWAY  CAVE  (L),  81  m.  (flashlights  required  for  exploration), 
extends  through  an  old  lava  flow  for  several  hundred  feet,  with  a  flat, 
level  floor  and  a  ceiling  6  to  25  feet  high. 

The  road  crosses  the  northeastern  boundary  of  LASSEN  VOL- 
CANIC NATIONAL  PARK  at  99  m.,  within  Lassen  National  Forest. 
The  forest,  a  i,3o6,727-acre  reserve  of  rugged  mountains,  high  plateaus, 
forests,  and  lakes  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
southern  tip  of  the  Cascade  Range,  was  set  aside  in  1906.  The  park, 
a  l63-square-mile  mountainous  expanse  surrounding  the  dormant  vol- 
cano, Lassen  Peak,  was  created  in  1916.  Blacktail  and  mule  deer 
abound,  and  sometimes  a  black  bear  appears;  the  chipmunks,  which  are 
especially  numerous,  are  so  tame  they  beg  for  food.  Fishing  is  good 
here.  During  winter  months,  the  Lassen  Ski  Club  stages  tourna- 
ments. 

The  weird,  lava-devastated  acres  of  the  park  are  full  of  evidence  of 
historic  and  prehistoric  volcanic  upheavals — sheer,  jagged  cliffs;  great 
irregularly  shaped  rocks;  fumaroles;  boiling  lakes,  and  mud  pots  that 
bubble  and  steam  angrily;  and  wide  ejecta-strewn  areas  where  the 
countryside  was  laid  waste  by  hot  blasts,  smothering  lava,  and  mud 
flows.  In  sharp  contrast  with  the  olive  greens,  yellows,  reds,  and  clay- 
whites  of  the  volcanic  phenomena  are  the  fresh  greens  of  the  forests 
and  grasses  that  are  slowly  reclaiming  the  devastation  created  by  the 


TOUR     5         503 

volcano.    In  winter,  when  the  park  is  a  rolling  blanket  of  snow,  the  gas 
and  steam  vents  present  a  paradoxical  picture  of  boiling  coldness. 
Just  within  the  park,  at  99.7  m.,  State  89  joins  with  State  44. 

Right  on  State  44  (stage  service  to  Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park  four 
times  weekly)  is  VIOLA,  7  m.  (4,390  alt.,  65  pop.)-  The  road  drops  gradu- 
ually  to  SHINGLETOWN,  18  m.  (2,700  alt.,  320  pop.)  and  then  precip- 
itously to  MILLVILLE,  37  m.  (512  alt.,  65  pop.),  so  named  because  the  first 
grist  mill  in  the  county  was  opened  there. 

REDDING  (see  TOUR  3a),  49.5  m.,  is  as  the  junction  with  US  99  (see 
TOUR  3a). 

State  89  becomes  the  Lassen  Peak  Loop,  and  passes  between  pine 
fringed  MANZANITA  LAKE  (R)  and  REFLECTION  LAKE 
(L) — popular  for  fishing,  swimming,  and  boating — which  mirror  in 
their  placid  surfaces  the  towering  heights  of  Lassen  Peak  and  Chaos 
Crags  (see  below). 

At  the  eastern  end  of  Manzanita  Lake  is  the  settlement  of  MAN- 
ZANITA LAKE  (post  office,  campgrounds,  lodge,  cabins,  store), 
100.5  m.  (5,845  alt.),  an  all-year  resort.  At  EDUCATIONAL  HEAD- 
QUARTERS here  are  presented  lectures  on  the  park's  flora  and  fauna, 
geology,  and  natural  history.  The  MAY  LO.OMIS  MEMORIAL  MUSEUM 
specializes  in  the  history  of  the  region,  with  exhibits  of  lava  specimens 
gathered  during  Lassen's  eruptive  period,  and  photographs  of  the  vol- 
cano in  action. 

The  CHAOS  JUMBLES,  102.2  m.,  covering  a  wide  stretch  on 
both  sides  of  the  highway,  are  the  tops  of  the  Chaos  Crags  which  broke 
off  and  tumbled  down. 

The  road  swings  northward  in  a  hairpin  curve  which  carries  it 
briefly  outside  the  park's  boundaries  and  then  southward.  It  climbs 
through  a  pass  between  the  sloping  sides  (R)  of  RAKER  CREEK 
(7,466  alt.),  and  the  domes  (L)  of  CHAOS  CRAGS  (8,458  alt.),  old 
lava  plugs,  forced  up  about  200  years  ago.  Chaos  Crags  are  aptly 
named,  for  nowhere  in  the  park  is  there  a  scene  of  wilder  confusion.  It 
is  hard  to  express  the  feeling  of  wonder — of  being  transported  into  some 
older  world — engendered  by  their  gigantic  disarray.  The  pinkish  lava 
domes  are  magnificent  piles  of  angular  pointed  blocks  heaped  in  almost 
inconceivable  disorder  among  projecting  pinnacles.  Encircling  them  are 
enormous  banks  of  pointed  talus,  some  1,000  feet  high.  The  crags  were 
formed  in  three  stages  of  volcanic  activity — first,  the  piling  up  of  a  series 
of  cinder  cones  by  explosive  eruptions;  then  the  pushing  up  of  steep- 
sided  domes  of  viscous  lava ;  and  finally,  the  tearing  down  of  the  domes 
by  new  explosions  that  hurled  vast  masses  of  lava  fragments  over  the 
vicinity.  The  remnant  of  a  cinder  cone  formed  in  the  first  stage,  its 
crater  600  feet  wide  and  60  feet  deep,  still  appears  on  the  southern  slope 
of  the  crags. 

HOT  ROCK  (R),  107.2  m.f  a  large,  black  boulder  of  lava,  is  said 
to  have  retained  its  warmth  for  a  week  after  it  had  been  blasted  from 
the  volcano. 

Through  EMIGRANT  PASS,  109  m.,  an  old  trail  once  ran  along  the 
west  fork  of  Hat  Creek. 


504        CALIFORNIA 

The  DEVASTATED  AREA,  109.7  m.f  is  a  great  V-shaped  sec- 
tion, starting  where  the  lava  and  mud  flowed  down  the  northeast  slope 
of  Lassen  Peak,  and  widened  as  it  swept  toward  the  park  boundary. 
The  mud,  lava,  and  heat  of  the  1915  eruptions  denuded  the  region  of  all 
vegetation.  Volcanic  ash  and  ejecta,  either  carried  by  the  mud  and  lava 
flows  or  tossed  by  terrific  blasts,  blanket  the  entire  area.  Stripped  of 
foliage,  the  trunks  of  some  large  trees  reach  polelike  toward  the  sky. 
Nature  is  slowly  reforesting;  small  trees  have  taken  root  in  the  bleak- 
ness. 

At  SUMMIT  LAKE  RANGER  STATION,  111.9  m.  (R),  a  ranger  is 
glad  to  supply  information  and  advice  on  almost  any  subject  concerning 
Lassen  Park — from  how  to  build  a  campfire  to  the  hibernating  habits 
of  bear. 

SUMMIT  LAKE,  112.2  m.  (R),  is  a  good  camping  spot  (two 
campgrounds;  fishing^  hiking).  Trails  radiate  to  the  CHAIN-OF- 
LAKES  district  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  park. 

As  the  highway  continues  south,  WHITE  MOUNTAIN  (R),  a 
dome  volcano  of  the  same  type  as  Lassen  Peak,  named  for  the  color  of 
its  soil  and  rock,  rises  close  to  the  road. 

At  KINGS  CREEK  MEADOWS,  117.2  m.  (7,400  alt.),  are 
public  campgrounds  (campfire  programs  niffhtly  during  season}. 

Right  from  this  point  on  a  foot  trail  to  KINGS  CREEK  FALLS,  1.3  m. 

At  121.8  m.  is  the  summit  (8,512  alt.)  of  the  Lassen  Peak  Loop 
(parking  space) . 

Right  from  the  summit  on  a  foot  trail  2.5  m.  to  LASSEN  PEAK  (10,453 
alt.)  (round  trip  3  hours),  the  only  volcano  recently  active  in  the  United 
States.  One  of  a  long  succession  of  volcanoes — Mount  Rainier,  Mount 
Hood,  Mount  Shasta,  and  ancient  Mount  Mazama — Lassen  Peak,  standing 
at  the  point  where  a  southerly  spur  of  the  Cascade  Range  joins  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  is  the  only  one  not  yet  extinct. 

The  peak  was  named  San  Jose  by  the  Spanish  soldiers  under  Capt.  Luis 
Argiiello,  who  sighted  it  in  1820.  It  was  renamed  for  Peter  Lassen,  Danish 
pioneer  who  in  1848  led  an  immigrant  band  off  the  Overland  Trail  in  a 
supposed  short-cut  to  the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  travelers  suffered  such 
hardships  in  crossing  the  craggy  region  around  the  peak  that  their  route 
was  dubbed  "Lassen's  Folly." 

The  great  cone,  a  good  example  of  the  rather  rare  dome  type  of  volcano, 
was  formed  by  stiff,  viscous  lava  thrust  up  through  the  vent  in  a  bulging 
domelike  form  around  the  crater  of  an  older,  gently  sloping  volcano  of 
the  shield  type.  As  the  dome  rose,  a  rock  mantle  (talus)  of  broken-off 
fragments  sheathed  its  slopes.  Unlike  most  dome  volcanoes,  Lassen  has  a 
funnel-shaped  crater  formed  by  escaping  gases,  so  violent  that  at  times 
they  still  shoot  forth  volcanic  "ash."  Once  an  oval-shaped  bowl  1,000  feet 
across  and  360  feet  deep,  it  is  now  nearly  choked  up  with  rough  lava. 

For  two  centuries  Lassen  had  slumbered,  wrapped  in  a  snowy  mantle; 
suddenly  on  May  30,  1914,  it  began  blasting  forth  cold  lava,  cinders,  and 
smoke.  The  first  eruption  opened  a  new  vent  in  the  old  crater,  in  which 
melting  snow,  trickling  down,  was  converted  into  steam.  For  a  year  mild 
explosions — more  than  150  in  all — continued,  throwing  out  chunks  of  cold 
lava  that  were  not  warm  enough  to  melt  snow  and  clouds  of  dust  that  were 
carried  by  the  winds  as  far  as  15  miles  southward.  Not  until  May,  1915, 


TOUR     5        505 

did  the  first  glowing  lava  appear,  streaming  from  a  notch  in  the  crater's 
rim  down  the  northeastern  slope  in  a  i,ooo-foot-long  tongue.  As  the  snow 
melted,  mud  flows  swept  ao-ton  boulders  5  to  6  miles  into  Hat  Creek  and 
Lost  Creek  valleys.  Three  days  later,  a  scorching  blast  felled  trees  3  miles 
away,  while  smoke  and  volcanic  ash  spiraled  into  the  sky  5  miles  above 
the  crater.  The  volcano's  force  was  virtually  spent  by  the  end  of  1915, 
although  it  occasionally  spewed  forth  steam  and  ash  during  the  next  2 
years.  After  a  final  series  of  violent  outbursts  in  May  and  June,  1917, 
it  subsided  into  its  former  peace,  having  erupted  about  300  times  in  all. 
Although  not  yet  extinct,  it  is  not  expected  to  erupt  again  for  many  years. 

LAKE  HELEN  (8,000  alt.),  122.5  m.  (R),  named  for  Helen 
Tanner  Brodt,  first  white  woman  to  climb  Lassen  Peak,  lies  within 
the  serrated  crater  rim  of  ancestral  Mount  Tehama,  once  the  dominat- 
ing volcano  of  the  region.  The  giant  crater  at  the  peak  of  its  sloping 
cone,  which  had  ceased  erupting  before  the  Ice  Age,  was  destroyed  by 
violent  explosions,  which  left  behind  a  great  bowl,  or  caldera,  encircled 
by  remnant  peaks — Brokeoff  Mountain,  Mount  Diller,  and  Black  Butte. 

At  122.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  foot  trail. 

Left  here  1.3  m.  to  BUMPASS  HELL  (round  trip  about  2^/2  hours],  a 
small  inferno  of  mud  springs,  geysers,  boiling  pools,  steam  and  hot  gas 
vents  (fumaroles).  The  sulphurous  gases  of  the  steam  vents,  which  send 
up  clouds  of  vapor  in  the  cool  air  of  morning  and  evening,  change  the 
lavas  into  yellow,  olive  green,  or  red  earthy  materials,  or  into  white  clay- 
like  substances. 

LAKE  EMERALD  (fishing  prohibited),  123  m.  (R),  reflects  in 
its  crystal-clear  waters  the  jagged  relics  of  the  ancient  crater  rim.  The 
trout  gleaming  in  its  clear  depths  snap  at  morsels  of  food  tossed  by- 
visitors. 

The  SULPHUR  WORKS,  127.7  m.,  visible  from  the  road,  is  an 
area  of  steam  vents,  boilers,  and  mud  pots  which  show  that  the  lava 
beneath  the  surface  has  not  entirely  cooled.  Below  the  roadway  (R) 
are  natural  cauldrons  of  bubbling  hot  mud.  A  wooden  platform  allows 
good  views,  but  the  slippery  footing  makes  closer  exploration  dangerous. 
Above  the  road  (L)  are  smaller  pools  filled  by  scalding  sulphur  springs, 
whose  chemical  content  is  apparent  both  from  the  odor  and  from  the 
yellows,  greens,  and  reds  of  the  rock  and  soil  over  which  the  waters 
spill.  A  shady  creek,  ice  cold,  tumbles  over  its  rocky  bed  only  a  few 
yards  from  the  steaming  pools. 

Lassen  Peak  Loop  twists  downward,  skirting  the  lower  slopes  (R) 
of  Eagle  Peak  (9,211  alt.),  Mount  Diller  (9,086  alt.),  Diamond  Peak 
(7,969  alt.),  Brokeoff  Mountain  (9,232  alt.),  and  (L)  of  Black  Butte 
(8,208  alt.) — all  remnants  of  ancient  Mount  Tehama's  crater  rim. 
The  highest,  Brokeoff  Mountain,  has  one  side  jaggedly  split  away.  On 
Diamond  Peak,  steam  vents  in  the  old  crater  wall  are  visible. 

At  129.1  m.  is  the  SULPHUR  WORKS  CHECKING  STATION  (open 
6  a.m.-io  p.m.),  and  at  131  m.  the  road  crosses  the  southern  boundary 
of  Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park  through  a  stone  gateway  erected  in 
honor  of  Rep.  John  E.  Raker,  who  fathered  the  establishment  and 
development  of  the  park. 


506        CALIFORNIA 

At  134  m.  the  route  turns  L.  to  MORGAN  SPRINGS  (see 
TOUR  6A),  139  m.  at  the  junction  with  State  36  (see  Tour  6A)  ; 
R.  here.  State  89  and  State  36  are  united  for  19  miles  (see  TOUR 
6A).: 


Section  b.    JUNCTION  WITH  STATE  36  to  TRUCKEE; 

119.1  m.     State  89. 

State  89  branches  southward  from  its  junction  with  State  36  (see 
TOUR  6A),  0  m.,  3  miles  southwest  of  Chester  (see  TOUR  6A). 

LAKE  ALMANOR  (L),  2.4  m.,  an  island-studded  sheet  of  water 
45  square  miles  in  extent,  is  one  of  California's  largest  reservoirs  used 
for  hydroelectric  development.  The  name,  despite  its  Spanish  sound, 
was  coined  from  syllables  of  the  names  Alice,  Martha,  and  Elinore — 
daughters  of  the  pioneer  Earl  family,  whose  father  was  president  of  the 
Great  Western  Power  Company.  Peter  Lassen's  trail  passed  through 
the  site  of  Lake  Almanor,  then  called  Big  Meadows.  About  midway 
of  its  length,  at  30.8  m.,  is  the  ALMANOR  INN  (boating;  bathing;  fish- 
ing). Lake  Almanor  is  noted  for  the  size  and  abundance  of  its  trout. 

At  LAKE  ALMANOR  DAM,  14.4  m.,  the  highway  crosses  the 
North  Fork  of  the  Feather  River,  and  climbs  to  a  point  from  which 
there  is  a  view  of  the  Sacramento  Valley,  50  miles  to  the  west. 

Circling  eastward  again,  State  89  enters  historic  country — the  dis- 
trict of  the  Northern  Mines,  where  gold  rush  immigrants  found  the 
precious  metal  in  its  original  quartz  veins,  not  scattered  over  hillsides 
by  glaciers  and  carried  to  river  bars  by  the  streams'  action,  as  in  so 
many  other  mining  regions.  Profitable  up  to  the  present  time  have  been 
some  of  these  mines,  accounting  for  part  of  the  prosperity  of  GREEN- 
VILLE, 24.4  m.  (3,500  alt.,  520  pop.),  and  CRESCENT  MILLS, 
29.4  m.  (3,500  alt.,  160  pop.).  Here  fertile  agricultural  lands  reach 
into  the  mountains. 

There  is  a  gentle  climb  to  INDIAN  FALLS,  32.7  m.  (4,000  alt., 
45  Pop.). 

At  35.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  24  (see  TOUR  6B),  which 
unites  with  State  89  for  33  miles;  L.  here  on  State  24-89  (see  TOUR 
6B). 

State  89  branches  southward  from  its  junction  with  State  24  at 
BLAIRSDEN  (see  TOUR  6B),  68.7  m. 

At  73.1  m.  is  CLIO  (4,581  alt.,  45  pop.),  a  hamlet  that  could  not  at 
first  decide  what  to  call  itself.  Several  names,  all  unsatisfactory,  had 
been  suggested,  when  the  keeper  of  the  general  store  became  aware  of 
the  name  of  the  heating  stove  at  which  he  was  looking.  "Clio!"  he 
cried.  ''There's  a  name  for  our  town."  And  Clio  it  became. 

CALPINE,  84.1  m.  (5,000  alt.,  600  pop.),  lies  in  the  agricultural 
area  of  Sierra  Valley,  one  of  the  few  level  regions  in  the  county.  It  is  a 
fruitful  valley,  a  mile  high. 

At  87.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  49  (see  TOUR  4a),  which 
unites  with  State  89  for  5  miles.  Left  here  on  State  89-49. 


TOUR     6        507 

State  89  branches  southward  from  its  junction  with  State  49  at 
SIERRAVILLE  (see  TOUR  4a),  92.7  m. 

At  Little  Truckee  River,  102.8  m.,  is  a  junction  with  an  improved 
road. 

Right  here,  7  m.,  over  an  early  route,  to  WEBER  LAKE  (6,769  alt.), 
which  mirrors  in  one  square  mile  the  beauty  of  the  forested  mountains  that 
encompass  it. 

At  106.8  m.  on  State  89  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  mountain 
road. 

Right  here  2.9  m.  to  INDEPENDENCE  LAKE  (7,000  alt.),  3  miles  long 
and  very  deep,  from  which  flows  one  of  the  main  branches  of  the  Little 
Truckee  River.  It  was  named  by  the  international  charmer,  Lola  Montez 
— for  whom  lofty  MOUNT  LOLA  (9,167  alt.),  to  the  north  is  named — on 
July  4,  1853,  when  she  came  from  Grass  Valley  (see  TOUR  4a)  with  a 
picnic  party. 

A  typical  lumber  camp  is  HOBART  MILLS,  112.1  m.  (5,925  alt., 
516  pop.),  with  its  immense  sawmills,  surrounded  by  miles  of  logged- 
over  country. 

At  the  confluence  of  ALDER  and  PROSSER  CREEKS,  114.6  m., 
the  California  Emigrant  Trail  came  in  from  the  Northeast.  Some- 
where in  this  region  the  families  of  George  and  Jacob  Donner  in  their 
slow-moving  wagons  (see  TOUR  9a),  lagging  behind  the  rest  of  the 
party  because  of  a  broken  axle,  were  halted  by  falling  snow  at  the  end 
of  October  1846.  Encamped  in  crude  huts  of  canvas  and  boughs  banked 
with  snow,  cut  off  by  5  miles  of  drifts  from  their  fellow  travelers  at 
Donner  Lake,  they  tried  to  hold  off  starvation.  Here  the  body  of 
George  Donner  was  buried  by  Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kearny's  men  in  June 

1847. 

TRUCKEE,  119.1  m.  (5,818  alt.,  1,000  pop.)  (see  TOUR  9a)y  is 
at  the  junction  with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9). 


mssoxs^^ 


Tour  6 


(Lakeview,    Ore.) — Alturas — Susanville — (Reno,    Nev.) — Bridgeport 
— Bishop — Independence — Randsburg — San    Bernardino — San    Diego ; 
US  395- 
Oregon  Line  to  San  Diego,  824.9  m.       • 

Paved  roadbed  throughout;  open  all  seasons;  snow  during  winter  in  northern 
section.     Southern  Pacific  R.R.  parallels  route  between  Oregon  Line  and  Raven- 


5C>8        CALIFORNIA 

dale;    Western    Pacific   R.R.    between    Litchfield    and    Susanville    and    between 

Doyle   and   Nevada    Line;    Southern    Pacific   R.R.    between    Nevada    Line    and 

Inyokern. 

Accommodations  limited   except   in   larger   towns. 

Though  running  so  far  inland  behind  the  Sierra  Nevada  that  it  dips 
for  some  distance  through  Nevada,  US  395  is  nonetheless  the  shortest 
route  between  southern  California  and  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

Section  a.  OREGON  LINE  TO  NEVADA  LINE;  213.2  m.  US  395. 

This  section  of  US  395  runs  through  northeastern  California  across 
the  level  sagebrush  carpeted  floors  of  a  chain  of  upland  valleys,  walled 
by  tumbled  mountain  sides.  Contrasting  sharply  with  the  flat  sweep 
of  brushland  are  sawtoothed  mountain  ranges.  This  is  a  dry,  desolate 
land  with  harsh  beauty  of  coloring — the  yellow-gray,  dun,  and  gray 
green  of  brush  and  plains;  the  brownish  green  of  pine  and  juniper;  the 
red  brown  of  crags. 

Here  civilization  seems  remote.  On  the  isolated  fields  and  pastures, 
which  the  first  log-cabin  settlers  guarded  with  shotguns  from  hostile 
Indians,  the  wilderness  of  sagebrush  still  encroaches.  Something  of  the 
early  West  still  appears  in  the  spurred  cowboys  in  lo-gallon  hats,  who 
herd  their  steers  off  the  highway  to  make  room  for  motorists,  and  in 
such  relics  as  the  creaking  pump  by  the  well  in  the  yard  and  the  rail 
fences. 

US  395  crosses  the  Oregon  Line  14  miles  south  of  Lakeview,  Ore., 
at  PINE  CREEK,  0  m.  (4,900  alt.),  where  along  rutted  dirt  streets 
sagging  frame  houses  sprawl  among  willows  and  cottonwoods. 

US  395  skirts  the  .base  (L)  of  the  WARNER  MOUNTAINS 
(5,000-10,000  alt.)  for  60  miles.  The  higher  peaks  of  the  range  are 
snow-clad  the  year  round.  In  monotonous  succession  their  undulating, 
brush-grown  slopes,  bristling  near  the  peaks  with  scrubby  juniper  and 
crags,  overshadow  the  highway.  Goose  Lake  Valley  (R)  sweeps  into 
the  distance.  A  tawny  fringe  of  pastures  and  hayfields  slopes  down  to 
the  blackish  mud  flats  of  dry  GOOSE  LAKE,  once  10  miles  wide  and 
28  to  40  miles  long.  The  lake  was  dry  in  1849  when  immigrants  drove 
their  oxcarts  across  its  bed;  but  the  heavy  rains  of  following  years 
refilled  it,  and  later  settlers  moved  freight  across  it  in  boats.  When 
it  again  went  dry  in  1924,  the  old  road  over  the  lake  bottom  appeared, 
with  traces  of  campfires  and  abandoned  wagons. 

At  9.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  BUCK  CREEK  RANGER  STATION,  at  the  entrance  to 
MODOC  NATIONAL  FOREST,  0.6  m.,  1,500,594  acres.  Here,  amid  every 
type  of  mountain  country — from  io,ooo-foot  peaks  to  level  pine-clad  pla- 
teaus— streams  and  lakes  abound  in  trout,  and  the  forests  in  game  fowl  and 
Rocky  Mountain  mule  deer.  Throughout  the  Warner  Mountain  sector,  the 
Forest  Service  maintains  a  string  of  public  camps. 

The  road  emerges  from  pine  woods  at  2.7  m.  to  wind  over  the  rock- 
strewn  sagebrush  wastes  of  Fandango  Valley  and  up  the  craggy,  juniper- 
wooded  slopes  of  FANDANGO  MOUNTAIN  (L),  to  the  summit  of  FAN- 


TOUR     6        5O9 

DANGO  PASS  (6,100  alt.),  7.8  m.  Through  the  pass  from  the  desert 
country  eastward,  in  the  early  iSfo's,  came  an  immigrant  wagon  train. 
Passing  the  summit,  the  travelers  looked  down  upon  the  little  valley  and 
the  shining  waters  of  Goose  Lake.  Finding  game,  grass  and  sweet  water, 
they  camped.  In  their  joy  at  what  they  thought  was  safe  arrival  at  the 
end  of  their  journey,  the  company  began  to  dance  a  hilarious  fandango; 
suddenly,  Indian  warriors,  watching  from  the  forest,  swooped  down  with- 
out warning  and  massacred  them. 

From  the  summit  of  Fandango  Pass  appears  65-mile-long  Surprise 
Valley,  with  a  chain  of  three  dry  lakes:  Upper,  Middle,  and  Lower.  The 
valley  owes  its  name  to  the  surprise  of  a  party  of  Nevadans,  who  came 
upon  it  unexpectedly  while  pursuing  Indians  in  1861. 

At  11.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  rough,  graveled  road;  i.  L.  here 
5.3  m.  across  the  fields  and  pastures  of  the  valley  to  FORT  BIDWELL, 
16.8  m.  (4,740  alt.,  462  pop.),  overshadowed  by  the  Warner  Mountains 
and  the  great  barren  Bidwell  Mountains.  Here,  in  1866,  was  established  a 
fort,  named  for  John  Bidwell,  where  cavalrymen  were  stationed  to  hold 
the  Indians  in  check.  Abandoned  as  a  military  post  in  1892,  it  became  a 
Government  school  for  descendants  of  once  hostile  tribesmen.  In  1930 
the  barracks  were  torn  down.  The  Indians  remain,  housed  in  neat  white 
cottages  clustered  round  the  schoolhouse  and  hospital  on  the  western  edge 
of  town. 

2.  Right  from  the  junction  along  dry  Upper  Lake  21  m.  to  CEDAR- 
VILLE  (see  below). 

Along  the  line  of  US  395  creaking  prairie  schooners  rolled  in  the 
late  1840*5.  Here  ran  the  Applegate  Cut-off.  In  June  and  July  1846, 
Jesse  and  Lindsey  Applegate,  with  the  help  of  13  others,  opened  the 
route  that  bears  their  name,  and  that  autumn  piloted  about  100  wagons 
over  it  from  Fort  Hall,  Idaho,  into  Oregon.  The  Applegate  Cut-off 
passed  between  Middle  and  Upper  Lakes,  along  the  western  edge  of 
Surprise  Valley,  through  Fandango  Pass,  down  into  Goose  Lake  Valley, 
and  southward  along  the  lakeshore.  From  Goose  Lake's  southern  end, 
it  struck  northwestward  across  the  lava  beds  past  Tule  and  Clear  Lakes 
into  the  Klamath  country  of  southern  Oregon. 

Crossing  Lassen  Creek,  US  395  climbs  the  burned-over  slopes  of 
towering  Sugar  Hill.  As  it  rounds  a  bend  at  14.3  m.,  the  whole  stretch 
of  Goose  Lake  springs  suddenly  into  view.  The  highway  descends  to 
the  valley  floor.  Among  fields  with  scattered  barns  and  corrals  are 
orchards  where  excellent  apples  grow. 

DAVIS  CREEK,  22  m.  (4,995  alt.,  84  pop.),  amid  pastures  spotted 
with  clumps  of  willows,  is  a  mere  handful  of  ramshackle  houses  and 
abandoned  store  buildings. 

The  highway  leaves  Goose  Lake  Valley  at  28.4  m.,  and  winds  up 
over  a  rocky  waste  of  sagebrush  and  juniper  to  dip  into  the  canyon  of 
the  PIT  RIVER  (R),  31.4  m.,  a  creek  winding  over  brush-grown 
bottoms  through  craggy  slopes.  Along  the  canyon  bed,  like  a  half- 
ruined  wall  of  crumbling  stone  winding  in  and  out  around  the  edge  of 
the  hilltops,  rise  the  rocky  palisades  that  fringe  the  vast  plateau  lying 
to  the  west.  Over  this  tableland,  known  as  the  Devil's  Garden,  grows 
one  of  the  largest  unbroken  stands  of  western  juniper,  a  tract  of  300,000 
acres. 

At  37.1  7/2.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 


5IO        CALIFORNIA 

Left  on  this  road,  over  a  desolate  mesa,  to  the  cottonwood  bordered  can- 
yon of  THOMAS  CREEK,  6  m.,  along  which  the  road  climbs  to  BONNER 
GRADE,  8.3  m.,  named  for  John  H.  Bonner,  who  built  this  road  over  the 
Warner  Mountains  in  1869. 

Deep  among  pine  and  fir  is  the  Forest  Service  CEDAR  PASS  PUBLIC  CAMP, 
9.6  m.  Beyond  a  bend  at  10.3  m.,  great  beetling  crags,  blackish  and  tinged 
with  rose,  jut  pinnaclelike;  for  one  mile  these  rocky  masses  overhang  the 
highway. 

CEDAR  PASS  SUMMIT  (6,350  alt),  11.2  m.,  affords  a  view  of  tumbled 
peaks  and  ridges  wooded  with  bristling  conifers.  In  graceful  curves  the 
road  winds  downward  along  Cedar  Creek.  As  pines  give  way  to  junipers 
at  lower  levels,  far  stretching  Surprise  Valley  appears  ahead,  and  beyond 
is  the  dim  blue  line  of  mountains  in  Nevada. 

CEDARVILLE,  17.9  m.  (4,768  alt.,  400  pop.),  is  an  old-fashioned  village 
with  wide,  tree-lined  dirt  streets,  along  which  stand  old  white  clapboarded 
houses.  One  block  R.  of  Main  St.,  in  a  grove  of  tall  cottonwoods  stands 
the  CRESSLER  AND  BONNER  TRADING  POST,  a  tiny  cabin  of  hand-hewn  logs 
with  a  shake  roof,  worn  and  weathered.  Its  builder,  one  Townsend,  was 
killed  by  Indians  soon  after  he  built  it  in  1865;  his  widow  sold  it  to 
William  T.  Cressler  and  John  H.  Bonner,  who  set  up  the  first  store  in 
Modoc  County,  a  trading  post  that  carried  on  a  thriving  business  with 
immigrants  and  later  with  the  settlers  of  Surprise  Valley. 

The  highway  winds  on  over  rolling  country,  across  willow-fringed 
Pit  River  and  into  the  level  valley  of  the  South  Fork  of  the  Pit. 

At  42.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8a)  which, 
between  this  point  and  Alturas,  is  united  with  US  395. 

ALTURAS,  43.5  m.  (4,446  alt.,  2,338  pop.)  (see  TOUR  8a),  is  at 
the  junction  with  US  299  (see  TOUR  8a). 

South  of  Alturas  are  pastures  and  scattered  farmhouses.  Farther 
southward  is  a  rolling,  dreary  waste  of  sagebrush. 

At  60.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  1.7  m.  to  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  and 
through  a  wooden  gate  0.3  m.  to  a  fork  in  the  road;  L.  here,  through 
another  wooden  gate,  1.6  m.  to  a  farmhouse  at  the  base  of  the  hills.  Here 
a  wagon  track,  impassable  except  on  foot,  leads  (L)  through  the  barnyard 
and  across  swampy  fields  1  m.  to  the  mouth  of  CROOK'S  CANYON,  where 
tiny  Hilton  Creek  gurgles  among  boulders  overgrown  with  sagebrush  and 
juniper. 

Beyond,  at  the  base  of  a  rock-crowned  hill,  is  the  INFERNAL  CAVERNS 
BATTLE-GROUND.  Over  the  pleasant  valley  meadows  six  white  marble 
headstones  mark  the  graves  of  six  of  the  men  killed  here  September  26, 
1867:  two  sergeants  and  four  privates  of  the  Twenty-third  Infantry  and 
the  First  Cavalry.  The  battle  occurred  when  a  band  of  about  100  Sho- 
shones,  Paiutes,  and  Pits  who  had  terrorized  the  country  round  about  were 
cornered  by  Gen.  George  Crook  and  a  force  of  65  soldiers.  In  a  seemingly 
impregnable  fortress  of  caves  and  rocks  the  Indians  took  their  stand. 
After  two  days  of  fighting,  they  were  forced  out,  but  only  after  eight  of 
Crook's  men  had  been  killed  and  14  wounded. 

After  passing  LIKELY,  63.1  m.  (4,500  alt.,  75  pop.),  in  the  midst 
of  wide-spreading  pastures,  US  395  climbs  to  a  low  pass  between  rugged 
South  Fork  Mountain  (R)  and  Tule  Mountain  (7,136  alt.)  (L),  to 
twist  over  South  Fork  Mountain's  lower  slopes  and  wind  along  the 
shores  of  Tule  Lake  Reservoir  (L),  then  descend  again  to  valley  plains. 


TOUR     6        511 

MADELINE,  76.6  m.  (5,300  alt.,  92  pop.),  stands  at  the  upper 
end  of  a  dreary  sagebrush  waste.  About  the  railroad  station  huddle  a 
bleak  tavern,  gas  stations,  and  a  handful  of  shanties. 

Across  the  vast  plain  the  highway  continues  southward  to  RAVEN- 
DALE,  98.1  m.  (5,300  alt.,  19  pop.),  a  group  of  cattle  corrals  and  old 
houses  with  peeling  paint.  Then  it  enters  a  rolling,  juniper-dotted 
wilderness  and,  at  107.2  m.,  cuts  into  a  wild  region  of  rocky  ridges, 
broken  and  jagged.  Along  the  edge  of  the  low  tableland  (R)  stands 
a  rocky  embankment  like  a  breastwork  of  stone  piled  by  hand. 

Green  and  fresh,  Secret  Valley  appears  suddenly  like  an  oasis  far 
below  beyond  the  crags;  but  its  meadows  soon  give  way  to  another 
sagebrush  waste. 

As  US  395  winds  down  from  the  pass,  128.2  m.,  Honey  Lake 
Valley,  walled  by  the  lofty  peaks  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  (R),  appears 
in  a  widening  panorama  of  fields  and  pastures,  clumps  of  trees  and 
rooftops.  A  valley  40  miles  long  and  20  miles  wide,  it  was  long  the 
only  settled  section  of  Lassen  County.  Its  first  dwellers  named  it  for 
the  honeydew  on  trees  and  shrubs,  from  which  the  Indians  made  a  sort 
of  molasses.  Here  lived  two  Indian  tribes ;  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra, 
the  poverty-stricken  Washo,  numbering  only  900  in  1859;  over  the 
rest  of  the  valley,  the  Pah  Ute,  6,000  or  7,000  in  number.  The  Pah 
Ute  proved  friendly  to  white  men,  visiting  their  houses  and  trading 
furs.  Their  chief,  Old  Winnemucca,  in  1856  signed  a  treaty  with  the 
whites  that  provided  for  punishment  to  Indians  for  thieving  and  to 
white  men  for  molesting  squaws. 

Across  the  sluggish,  tule-bordered  Susan  River,  deep  among  willows, 
the  highway  cuts  into  lush  fields,  past  farmhouses  and  windmills  in 
clumps  of  bushy  cottonwoods.  Here  sprawls  old-fashioned  STAND- 
ISH,  138.7  m.  (4,000  alt.,  115  pop.),  with  a  steepled  church  and 
belfry-topped  schoolhouse,  and  a  string  of  ancient  stores  and  houses. 

At  147.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  36  (see  TOUR  6 A). 

JOHNSTON VILLE,  148.1  m.  (4,100  alt.,  13  pop.),  where  tree- 
shaded  houses  gather  about  a  schoolhouse,  was  the  home  of  pioneer 
Robert  Johnston.  It  once  bore  the  name  Toadtown  because  toads 
covered  the  ground  during  heavy  rainstorms. 

US  395  here  swings  sharply  southeast.  Overshadowed  by  the 
rugged,  forested  Sierra  is  JANES  VILLE,  155.1  m.  (4,236  alt.,  200 
pop.).  Along  the  highway  for  a  mile  in  forest  clearings,  straggle  red, 
sagging  frame  houses,  abandoned  stores,  and  a  little  white  schoolhouse 
with  the  ever-present  belfry.  Here  in  1857  Malcolm  Bankhead  raised 
his  two-story  house  of  logs  and  a  blacksmith  shop.  The  town  was 
named  for  his  wife,  when  the  post  office  was  opened  in  1864. 

A  few  widely  scattered  houses,  a  store,  and  gas  station  are  all  that 
remain  of  BUNTINGVILLE,  157.2  m.,  named  for  A.  J.  Bunting  who 
opened  a  store  here  in  1878. 

South  of  Buntingville,  beyond  the  strip  of  farmland  and  pasture 
glimpsed  between  black  oaks  and  pines  (L)  appears  the  vast,  blackish 
bottom  of  dry  HONEY  LAKE. 


512        CALIFORNIA 

MILFORD,  167.3  m.  (4,180  alt.,  69  pop.),  is  a  few  old  buildings, 
on  the  edge  of  the  orchards  and  pastures. 

DOYLE,  185.7  m.  (4,260  alt.,  68  pop.),  amid  sagebrush,  is  hemmed 
in  by  desolate  slopes.  The  route  continues  southeastward  between 
mountain  walls,  on  one  side  rock  ribbed  and  barren,  forested  with  green 
on  the  other. 

STOY  JUNCTION,  205.4  m.,  marks  the  junction  with  State  24 
(see  TOUR  6B). 

More  and  more  rugged  grow  the  rocky  walls  of  the  Sierra,  as  the 
highway  runs  through  an  arid  expanse  to  reach  the  glistening  white 
sheet  of  dry  ALKALINE  LAKE  and  the  NEVADA  LINE,  213.2  m.,  at  a 
point  15.6  miles  west  of  Reno,  Nev.,  and  83.2  miles  north  of  a  second 
crossing  of  the  California  Line. 

Section  b.     NEVADA  LINE  to  BISHOP;  131.5  m.     US  395. 

Skirting  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  this  section  of  US 
395  winds  through  rugged,  thinly  settled  country,  warm  and  leafy  in 
summer,  bitterly  cold  and  often  piled  with  impenetrable  snowdrifts  in 
winter.  Geologically,  this  region  is  young.  The  great  cinder  cones  of 
Mono  Craters — some  reaching  an  elevation  of  9,000  feet — and  numer- 
ous bubbling  hot  springs  are  evidences  of  a  great  igneous  field  not  yet 
burned  out;  it  is  estimated  that  volcanic  activity  may  have  taken  place 
here  as  recently  as  500  years  ago.  Sheep  and  cattle  graze  in  the  valleys, 
but  the  rugged  back  country  is  seldom  penetrated  save  by  sportsmen  who 
come  to  hunt  deer  and  to  fish  in  the  numerous  high,  cold  lakes. 

US  395  crosses  the  Nevada  Line,  0  ra.,  76  miles  south  of  Reno  (see 
NEVADA  GUIDE).  TOPAZ  LAKE  (L),  on  the  line,  a  tranquil 
body  of  water  encompassed  by  pinon-strewn  hills,  was  formed  in  1920-21 
when  the  course  of  Walker  River  changed  and  inundated  about  1,800 
acres  of  a  flourishing  ranch. 

After  skirting  Topaz  Lake,  US  395  passes  between  SLINKARD'S 
CANYON,  3.5  m.,  and  its  broad  residual  delta  (L),  and  traverses 
Antelope  Valley. 

WALKER  RIVER,  4.2  m.,  is  the  valley's  principal  source  of  water. 
In  1827  Jedediah  Smith,  traveling  what  was  to  become  the  Sonora 
Trail  over  the  Sierra  in  the  first  crossing  of  that  range  by  a  white  man, 
trod  the  banks  of  this  stream  on  his  eastward  trek  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
In  1833-34  tne  trapping  and  exploring  party  of  Capt.  Joseph  Walker 
reached  the  river,  followed  it  to  its  source,  and  then  battled  through  the 
defiles  of  the  Sierra  for  23  days  before  entering  the  central  plains  of 
California.  This  was  the  first  westward  passage  of  the  mountains.  In 
1841  the  Bidwell-Bartleson  party,  first  of  the  overland  settlers,  followed 
this  same  river,  and  a  decade  later  the  trail  had  become  a  well-defined 
road  leading  into  the  central  gold  fields. 

COLEVILLE,  9.4  m.  (5,750  alt.,  50  pop.),  a  tourist  and  farm 
trading  hamlet,  lines  both  sides  of  the  highway  beneath  scattered  shade 
trees. 


TOUR     6        513 

WALKER  CANYON,  15  m.,  cut  by  the  willow-lined  river,  is  at 
the  lower  end  of  Antelope  Valley. 

A  boundary  of  MONO  NATIONAL  FOREST  is  crossed  at  16  m. 
Giant  pines  lean  over  Walker  River,  and  cottonwoods  and  willows  lend 
greenery  to  the  jagged,  crumbling  walls  of  granite  that  tower  above  the 
road. 

SHINGLE  MILL  PUBLIC  CAMP,  20.3  m.,  is  a  pine-sheltered  clearing 
beside  the  river. 

CHRIS  FLATS  PUBLIC  CAMP  (stoves  and  tables),  24.2  m.,  lies  on  a 
sandy  bar  of  the  riverbank  beneath  cottonwoods  and  pines. 

At  28.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  108,  paved. 

Right  on  State  108,  which  ascends  the  Sierra  Nevada,  crossing  it 
through  SONORA  PASS  (9,642  alt.),  15.2  m.  Hordes  of  fortune  hunters 
swarmed  over  the  route  after  the  Sonora-Mono  road  to  the  Nevada  silver 
mining  country  was  cleared  in  the  i86o's.  The  road  descends  past  a  string 
of  outing  camps  to  DARDANELLE  (cabins],  31.2  m.  (5,775  alt.,  10  pop.), 
lying  near  the  base  of  the  striking  serrated  mountain  ridge  (R)  for  which 
it  is  named. 

The  TUOLUMNE  COUNTY  PUBLIC  CAMP  (L)  is  at  32.5  m. 

The  way  leads  down  the  crest  of  the  narrow  ridge  between  the  Stanis- 
laus River  (R)  and  the  beautiful  North  Fork  of  the  Tuolumne  (L). 

Cow  CREEK  RANGER  STATION,  49.5  m.  (5,750  alt.),  consists  of  a  few  tree- 
shaded  buildings. 

At  the  mountain  resort  of  STRAWBERRY,  53.5  m.  (5,240  alt.),  is  the 
junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  2  m.  to  PINECREST,  a  mountain  camp 
on  the  southern  shore  of  STRAWBERRY  LAKE,  near  ELEANOR  LAKE. 
The  lakes  are  guarded  by  granite  cliffs  surmounted  by  tier  upon  tier  of 
somber,  dark  green  pines. 

LONGBARN  (hotel],  63.9  m.  (5,000  alt.,  25  pop.),  is  in  a  summer  and 
winter  sports  area.  The  snow-blanketed  slopes  round-about  are  thronged 
in  season  with  skiers  and  tobogganers.  Close  by  is  the  i,8oo-foot  toboggan 
slide  of  the  Tuolumne  Club. 

CONFIDENCE,  69.7  m.  (4,250  alt.,  63  pop.),  trading  village  of  the 
surrounding  mining  and  lumbering  area,  was  named  for  the  nearby  Confi- 
dence Mine,  that  justified  its  name  by  producing  $4,250,000  in  gold. 

At  75.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  1  m.  to  SOULSBY- 
VILLE,  (3,000  alt.,  320  pop.),  a  mining  town  dating  back  to  1856. 

At  80.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  on  this  road  7  m.  is  TUO- 
LUMNE (2,600  alt.,  2,000  pop.),  a  mill  center  of  sugar  pine  lumbering, 
lying  in  a  circular  basin  on  Turnback  Creek. 

SONORA,  83.2  m.  (1,925  alt.,  2,278  pop.),  (see  TOUR  4b),  is  at  the 
junction  with  State  49  (see  TOUR  4b]. 

FALES  HOT  SPRINGS,  31.8  m.,  were  discovered  in  1867  by 
Archibald  Samuel  Fales,  who  crossed  the  plains  in  1851.  Fales  had 
been  a  prospector,  and  a  driver  and  guard  on  the  Bodie-Sacramento 
Stage  Line;  but  rheumatism  necessitated  his  settling  in  the  mud. 
Around  his  mud  bath  there  sprang  up  a  saloon,  a  freight  depot,  sheep 
pens,  and  accompanying  evidences  of  civilization.  The  present  estab- 
lishment is  a  rustic  collection  of  buildings  around  a  concrete  pool  whose 
waters,  laden  with  sodium,  calcium,  and  magnesium,  have  a  tempera- 
ture of  1 80  degrees. 


514        CALIFORNIA 

US  395  continues  its  ascent  through  hills  that  begin  to  lose  their 
rotundity  and  rise  in  spires  of  crumbling  rock. 

DEVIL'S  GATE,  33.1  m.  (7,549  alt.),  a  great  perpendicular  mass 
of  cracked  green  rock,  rises  sheer  above  both  sides  of  the  highway. 

HUNTOON  PUBLIC  CAMP,  (stoves)  40.5  m.,  is  (L)  beside  a  small 
mountain  stream,  a  tributary  of  Walker  River. 

Forsaking  the  course  of  the  creek,  the  route  crosses  the  southern 
boundary  of  MONO  NATIONAL  FOREST,  42.1  m.,  and  ap- 
proaches secluded  Bridgeport  Valley,  where  small  bands  of  cattle  graze. 

BRIDGEPORT,  45.7  m.  (6,473  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  in  a  valley 
ringed  by  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Sierra  and  low,  pinon-covered  hills. 
Dilapidated,  partly  crushed  houses,  long  since  abandoned,  evidence  the 
weight  of  winter  snows.  Bridgeport  owes  its  existence  to  a  geographical 
misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Mono  County, 
who,  in  1864,  were  amazed  to  learn  that  their  county  seat,  Aurora, 
was  in  Nevada.  Hurriedly  the  county  papers  were  transferred  from 
Aurora  to  a  tiny  roadside  camp  that  later  became  Bridgeport.  The 
town  grew  prosperous  in  the  days  when  gold  was  plentiful,  and  built 
its  gingerbread  courthouse.  Today,  with  gold  scarce,  it  subsists  upon 
what  mining  activity  remains,  upon  the  surrounding  farm  trade,  and 
tourist  patronage. 

The  ornate  MONO  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  a  two-story,  white  struc- 
ture (L)  ornamented  with  red-trimmed  windows,  has  appeared  fre- 
quently in  motion  pictures.  A  cannon  on  its  lawn  is  celebrated  locally 
as  having  been  a  repository  for  "hooch"  during  prohibition  days. 

South  of  Bridgeport  US  395  again  climbs  into  the  mountains. 
Green  foliage  covers  the  bottoms  of  the  canyons;  snow-capped  peaks 
glisten  in  the  distance;  pinon  and  pines  give  verdant  ornamentation  to 
mountainsides  scarred  with  green  and  black  rock  formations  of  increas- 
ing prominence. 

At  53.1  772.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road,  4.1  m.;  L.  on  this  road 
is  BODIE,  13.7  m.  (8,374  a't'»  I25  P°P-)-  From  1876  to  1880  a  mining 
town  with  12,000  inhabitants,  Bodie  is  today  an  aggregation  of  shacks 
clustered  below  the  great  mill  and  mine  (R)  on  the  mountain.  Gold  was 
first  discovered  in  the  Mono  region  in  1852;  the  Mono  Trail  was  blazed 
from  Big  Oak  Flat  through  the  present  Yosemite  Park,  and  in  1859  W.  S. 
Body  found  gold  here.  But  in  1864  the  Sonora  Pass  wagon  road  was 
opened,  removing  much  of  the  Mono  Trail  traffic,  in  1870  the  Aurora  mine 
failed,  and  it  was  not  until  1876  that  fortune  again  smiled  with  the  unex- 
pected development  of  the  Bodie  Mine,  a  wildcat  venture.  Population 
figures  leaped.  Saloons  and  gambling  halls  prospered;  drunken  miners 
threw  2o-dollar  gold  pieces  in  the  streets  for  small  boys  to  spike  with  their 
tops.  Occasionally  guns  blazed  in  the  streets;  the  phrase,  "Bad  man  from 
Bodie,"  became  popular.  By  1883  all  the  mines  but  two  had  closed,  and 
in  1887  even  they  were  consolidated.  Finally,  on  June  24,  1932,  fire  de- 
stroyed most  of  what  remained.  The  ROSECLIP  MINE  on  the  hill  above  (R) 
reopened  in  October,  1936. 

Ascending  the  long  grade,  US  395  winds  through  hills  clothed  with 
meager  bunch  grass,  desert  sage,  and  needle  grass. 


TOUR     6        515 

The  SITE  OF  DOGTOWN  (L),  53.7  m.,  several  hundred  yards  from 
the  highway,  is  marked  by  a  few  remnants  of  the  stores  and  houses  of 
the  early  mining  town,  probably  the  earliest  settlement  in  the  entire 
region.  Its  life  was  short,  for  in  1859  the  population,  lured  by  more 
attractive  prospects,  moved  en  masse  to  neighboring  Monoville. 

VIRGINIA  LAKE  JUNCTION,  59.7  m.  (8,138  alt.),  at  the 
summit  of  the  grade,  is  a  gas  station,  store,  and  a  group  of  tourist  cabins. 

MONO  LAKE,  69  m.,  though  it  appears  fresh  and  inviting,  is 
actually  a  briny  deep,  in  which  nothing  but  one  small  species  of  salt- 
water shrimp  and  the  larvae  of  one  tiny  black  fly  can  live.  Its  waters 
are  so  impregnated  with  soluble  alkaline  materials  that  storms,  often 
violent  in  this  region,  sometimes  pile  the  shores  with  a  soapy  foam 
several  feet  thick.  In  the  87  square  miles  of  water  of  the  lake  more 
than  19  different  chemicals  are  held  in  solution.  Rising  above  volcanic 
PAOHA  ISLAND  in  the  lake's  center,  there  is  visible  on  clear,  still 
days  a  misty  vapor  from  the  island's  hot  spring.  Another  extinct  crater, 
NEGIT  ISLAND,  also  juts  above  the  blue  surface  of  the  lake.  Above 
it  occasionally  soar  terns,  locally  called  "Mono  pigeons,"  and  sea-gulls 
that  have  flown  inland  from  the  Pacific.  The  lake  has  achieved  a 
certain  measure  of  fame  in  literature  and  legend.  Mark  Twain  tells 
in  Roughing  It  of  a  dog  that  attained  a  running  speed  of  250  miles 
an  hour  after  taking  a  swim  in  the  lake.  A  more  modern  tale  is  of  a 
long-haired  dog  that  emerged  from  a  swim  with  nothing  left  but  its 
bark.  But  the  water  that  feeds  Mono  Lake  will  not  go  to  waste  much 
longer,  for,  soon  purified,  it  will  go  into  the  new  Mono  Basin  Aqueduct 
and  help  to  slake  the  thirst  of  metropolitan  Los  Angeles.  The  drainage 
from  five  streams,  the  Mill,  Rush,  Walker,  Leevining,  and  Parker,  is 
to  be  diverted  by  conduits  leading  to  Grants  Lake,  six  miles  south  of 
Mono  Lake,  where  it  will  be  impounded.  From  this  Grants  Lake  Dam 
another  conduit  will  lead  the  water  to  a  12-mile  tunnel  emerging  near 
a  tributary  of  the  Owens  River,  whence  it  will  flow  down  to  the 
Los  Angeles  Aqueduct  at  Aberdeen. 

MONOVILLE,  69.1  m.  (6,419  alt.,  20  pop.),  a  resort  settlement 
on  the  shore  of  Mono  Lake,  is  a  summer  supply  center  for  campers 
and  miners.  Monoville  thrived  in  the  wild  boom  days  but,  unlike  most 
mining  towns,  history  records  no  bloodcurdling  deeds  of  its  early  period ; 
it  was  always,  apparently,  as  peaceful  as  it  is  today.  It  was  still  fighting 
to  be  the  county  seat  in  1864,  and  served  for  50  years  as  the  starting 
point  for  those  seeking  for  "the  lost  cement  mines."  According  to  local 
legend,  these  mines  were  discovered  by  three  German  brothers  on  their 
way  to  California  in  the  1850*8  and  were  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
Owens  River.  In  the  vein  of  cement  they  found  "lumps  of  gold  set 
like  raisins  in  a  pudding" ;  but  a  bitter  winter  drove  the  brothers  from 
their  find,  killing  two  and  leaving  the  third  insane.  It  was  his  babbled 
story  of  treasure  that  started  the  prolonged  treasure  hunt. 

LEEVINING,  71.8  m.  (7,000  alt.,  80  pop.),  derives  its  name  from 
nearby  Leevining  Canyon,  named  for  Lee  Vining,  who  in  1852  led  a 
party  of  prospectors  to  the  first  gold  strike  there. 


5l6        CALIFORNIA 

At  72.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  120,  the  Tioga  Pass  route 
(see  YOSEMITE  TOUR  3). 

South  of  Leevining  is  a  view  (L)  of  a  group  of  the  MONO 
CRATERS,  73.1  772.  Four  of  them,  resembling  gigantic  ash  heaps, 
are  immediately  and  easily  discernible.  Actually  there  are  20,  forming 
a  crescent-shaped  range,  along  the  base  of  which  US  395  proceeds  Jor 
10  miles  through  Pumice  Valley,  covered  with  fine  silt  pumice  of  past 
volcanic  eruptions. 

The  AEOLIAN  BUTTES  (L),  78.1  m.,  scarred  and  crumbled 
steps  of  red  rock,  are  the  oldest  volcanic  formations  on  Mono  Basin. 

At  99.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  MAMMOTH  POST  OFFICE,  4  m.,  a  few  small 
houses  and  stores.  At  4.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here 
3.5  m.  to  an  EARTHQUAKE  FAULT  (R),  and  to  the  DEVIL'S  POST  PILE  NA- 
TIONAL MONUMENT,  11.5  m.,  a  rectangular  area  2.5  miles  long  and  0.5 
miles  wide,  extending  along  both  sides  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  San  Joaquin 
River  and  containing  clear  evidence  of  recent  volcanic  activity.  The  40- 
foot  cliff  of  columnar  basalt  rearing  above  the  turbulent  San  Joaquin  is 
composed  of  columns  that  are  nearly  perfect  prisms.  Two  feet  in  diameter 
and  almost  vertical,  they  fit  together  like  the  cells  of  a  honeycomb.  Most 
of  the  prisms  are  pentagonal,  though  there  are  some  with  four  or  six  sides. 
Littering  the  base  of  the  cliff  are  fragments  of  these  prisms  shaken  down 
by  some  long-past  earthquake. 

Ten  miles  north  are  BANNER  PEAK  (12,953  alt.)  and  MOUNT 
RITTER  (13,153  alt.)  ;  just  south  of  the  latter  are  the  MINARETS,  pinna- 
cles of  dark  granite. 

South  of  the  Devil's  Post  Pile  are  the  RAINBOW  FALLS.  Here  the 
San  Joaquin  makes  a  i4o-foot  perpendicular  drop  into  a  box  canyon,  creat- 
ing a  scene  of  mist-sprayed  grandeur. 

At  8  m.  on  the  main  side  road  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  or  L. 
here  into  the  vast  region  of  lakes  and  resorts  known  collectively  as  MAM- 
MOTH LAKES  (8,931  alt).  These  lakes,  the  joy  of  fishermen  and  vaca- 
tionists, were  once  the  scene  of  one  of  California's  feverish  gold  rushes. 
In  the  summer  of  1878  the  town  of  Mammoth  had  a  population  of  125; 
in  1879  it  had  2,500.  A  string  of  settlements  had  sprung  up  in  the 
canyon  and  two  semi-weekly  newspapers  flourished.  But  the  exceptionally 
bitter  winter  of  1879-80  caused  most  of  the  miners  to  abandon  their  claims, 
and  of  those  who  remained  three  were  frozen  to  death.  Although  Mam- 
moth had  a  brief  return  of  prosperity  in  1880,  the  mines  were  nearly  ex- 
hausted, and  the  next  year  saw  the  final  decline. 

At  103.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  CONVICT  LAKE,  2.5  m.  (7,583  alt.),  a  pellucid 
sheet  of  blue,  fronted  by  a  rustic  resort  for  fishermen  and  backed  by  the 
imposing  height  of  Mount  Morrison  (12,245  alt.).  On  September  17,  1871, 
29  convicts  escaped  from  the  Nevada  State  Penitentiary  and  made  their 
way  to  this  lake,  where  they  attempted  to  winter.  Six  of  the  desperadoes 
started  south,  and  on  their  way  met  and  murdered  William  Poor,  a  mail 
carrier.  Outraged  citizens  in  Aurora  and  Benton  organized  a  posse,  which 
set  out  for  the  convict  stronghold.  The  posse  reached  the  lake  on  Sep- 
tember 24,  and  engaged  in  a  gun  battle  in  which  Robert  Morrison  (for 
whom  the  distant  peak  is  named)  was  killed.  Several  of  the  convicts 
escaped,  but  were  later  captured;  two  were  hanged  at  Bishop;  another 
was  returned  to  the  penitentiary. 


TOUR     6       517 

The  semiarid  undulations  of  Long  Valley  stretch  away  (L),  and 
in  the  far  background  rise  the  WHITE  MOUNTAINS  (14,242  alt.). 

The  ascent  of  SHERWIN  GRADE  is  begun  at  119.1  m.  Over  bare 
hills  the  highway  climbs  to  the  summit,  119.7  m.  (6,430  alt.),  from 
which  is  a  view,  ahead  and  below,  of  vast  Owens  Valley  and  the  silver 
line  of  Owens  River.  From  the  summit  the  road  descends  in  tortuous 
hairpin  curves,  frequently  flanked  (R)  by  sheer  drops. 

US  395,  flanked  (R)  by  the  dull  hues  of  the  TUNGSTEN 
HILLS,  traverses  greener  country  and  proceeds  over  the  floor  of  Owens 
Valley  between  rows  of  poplars  and  oaks.  Occasionally  hayfields  and 
cornfields  border  the  road. 

BISHOP,  131.5  m.  (4,147  alt.,  1,159  pop.),  is  the  largest  town  in 
Owens  Valley,  and  the  chief  business  center  of  the  area.  It  is  a  supply 
point  for  stockraising  and  mining  interests.  (Much  tungsten  is  mined 
in  the  vicinity.)  Sportsmen  know  it  as  a  gateway  and  outfitting  point 
for  camping,  fishing,  and  packing  trips  into  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which 
rise  (R)  more  than  10,000  feet  above  the  town. 

Bishop  was  named  for  Bishop  Creek,  which  in  turn  was  named  for 
Samuel  A.  Bishop,  a  Fort  Tejon  stockman,  who  drove  the  first  herd  of 
cattle  into  Owens  Valley  in  1861.  He  built  two  rough  pine  cabins  on 
his  St.  Francis  Ranch  that  were  besieged  by  Paiutes  during  the  Indian 
uprisings  of  the  i86o's,  and  several  times  thereafter  until  Fort  Inde- 
pendence (see  below)  was  established  in  1862.  By  1863  settlers  had 
come  into  Owens  Valley  in  increasing  numbers,  and  the  village  sprang 
up  3  miles  northeast  of  Bishop's  ranch. 

At  the  northern  end  of  Bishop  is  the  junction  with  US  6  (see 
TOUR  la),  which  unites  with  US  395  for  123  miles. 

Right  from  Bishop  on  State  139  along  Bishop  Creek  to  the  junction  with 
South  Fork  Rd.,  11  m,;  L.  7.5  m.  to  SOUTH  LAKE  (9,750  alt.),  source  of 
the  South  Fork  of  Bishop  Creek  and  popular  for  trout  fishing.  The  main 
stream  of  Bishop  Creek,  which  runs  from  the  Lake  Sabrina  region  in  the 
high  Sierra  to  Owens  River  at  Bishop,  is  14  miles  in  length.  Its  North, 
Middle,  and  South  Forks  penetrate  a  mountain  area  of  more  than  200 
lakes.  Dropping  an  average  of  400  feet  per  mile,  the  main  stream  is 
equipped  with  seven  power  stations,  the  highest  at  an  elevation  of  8,000 
feet.  Its  waters  are  also  used  for  irrigation. 

The  Paiute  inhabited  this  region  before  the  arrival  of  white  men.  Among 
the  most  primitive  of  American  Indians — neither  planting,  tilling,  nor  cul- 
tivating the  soil — none  the  less  they  used  the  waters  of  this  creek  to  aid 
the  growth  of  their  wild  food  plants.  They  watered  the  plots  of  wild 
seed,  shrubs,  and  tubers  in  the  spring  by  damming  the  creek  and  running 
a  ditch  to  each  field.  In  the  fall  the  dam  was  destroyed  and  the  waters 
allowed  to  return  to  the  main  channel. 

On  State  139  is  LAKE  SABRINA,  15  m.  (9,150  alt.),  headwaters  of  the 
Middle  Fork  of  Bishop  Creek,  and  noted  for  its  rainbow  and  golden  trout. 
From  the  lake  five  peaks  towering  13,000  feet  are  visible. 

Section  c.     BISHOP  to  BROWN  124.7  m.     US  395-US  6. 

This  section  of  US  395  penetrates  a  land  of  contrasts — cool  crests 
and  burning  lowlands,  fertile  agricultural  regions  and  untamed  deserts. 


5l8        CALIFORNIA 

It  is  a  land  where  Indians  made  a  last  stand  against  the  invading  white 
man,  where  bandits  sought  refuge  from  early  vigilante  retribution;  a 
land  of  fortunes — past  and  present — in  gold,  silver,  tungsten,  marble, 
soda,  and  borax;  and  a  land  esteemed  by  sportsmen  because  of  scores 
of  lakes  and  streams  abounding  with  trout  and  forests  alive  with  game. 
The  highway  follows  the  irregular  eastern  base  of  the  towering  Sierra 
Nevada,  past  the  highest  peak  in  any  of  the  States — Mount  Whitney — 
at  the  western  approach  to  Death  Valley,  the  Nation's  lowest,  and 
hottest,  area. 

South  of  Bishop,  0  m.,  US  6-395  traverses  the  length  of  flat  Owens 
Valley,  an  85-mile  trough.  Although  little  rain  falls  here,  the  land 
has  great  fertility.  The  Owens  River,  receiving  the  waters  of  swift 
tributaries,  supplies  unlimited  amounts  of  irrigation  water.  Much  of 
the  farm  land,  however,  has  been  acquired  by  the  city  of  Los  Angeles 
as  watershed  adjuncts  to  the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct,  which  taps  Owens 
River. 

BIG  PINE,  16.5  m.  (4,002  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  a  quiet  village  whose 
wooden  sidewalks  are  shaded  by  great  oaks  and  maples.  Catering  to 
motorists  and  the  outfitting  of  fishing,  packing,  and  hiking  parties  bound 
for  the  high  Sierra  constitute  its  chief  sources  of  income. 

Right  from  Big  Pine  on  Big  Pine  Creek  Rd.  to  GLACIER  LODGE  (rates 
reasonable},  12  m.,  and  to  a  hiking  trail  at  14  m.;  straight  ahead  on  this 
trail  to  PALISADES  GLACIER,  20  m. 

TINEMAHA  RESERVOIR  (L),  24  m.,  is  a  collecting  basin  of 
the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct  System. 

US  395  cuts  through  POVERTY  HILLS,  24.3  m.f  between  scat- 
tered masses  of  volcanic  outcroppings.  Lava  deposits  appear  with  in- 
creasing frequency,  and  at  30.3  m.  (L)  is  an  extensive  lava  bed. 

ABERDEEN,  31.6  m.  (3,814  alt.,  25  pop.),  is  the  starting  point 
of  the  LOS  ANGELES  AQUEDUCT,  which  is  233  miles  long.  It 
took  five  years  to  build  (1908-1913),  and  cost  $23,000,000.  More 
than  40  miles  of  tunnel  were  bored  through  solid  rock,  the  longest 
section  measuring  26,780  feet.  The  completed  aqueduct  includes  142 
separate  tunnels  aggregating  almost  52  miles  in  length,  12  miles  of  steel 
siphons  about  10  feet  in  diameter,  24  miles  of  open,  unlined  conduit, 
39  miles  of  open  cement-lined  conduit,  and  98  miles  of  covered  conduit. 
The  gravity  system  is  used  throughout. 

At  42.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road  and  with  a  dirt  road. 

1.  Right  on  paved  road  to  MOUNT  WHITNEY  STATE  FISH  HATCHERY  (open 
9-5  weekdays),  1.4  m.  whose  red  stone  buildings  occupy  a  parklike  tract. 
Between  two   and  one-half   and  three   and   one-half  million  trout  fry   are 
distributed  annually  from  the  hatchery. 

2.  Left  on  dirt  road  0.1  m.  to  the  RUINS  OF  FORT  INDEPENDENCE.    A  decay- 
ing, one-story  log  cabin,  once  the  officers'  quarters,  is   all  that  remains   of 
the  military  camp  that  played  a  part  in  quelling  the  Inyo  County  Indian 
uprisings  in  the  i86o's.     The  fort  was  established  July  4,  1862,  and  main- 
tained until  1877. 


TOUR     6        519 

INDEPENDENCE,  45.8  m.  (3,925  alt.,  408  pop.),  seat  of  Inyo 
County,  is  an  outfitting  point  for  pack  trips  into  the  Sierra  by  way  of 
Kearsarge  Pass  and  a  shipping  point  for  farm  products. 

The  EASTERN  CALIFORNIA  MUSEUM  (open  g-6  weekdays},  in  the 
basement  of  the  INYO  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  houses  a  collection  of 
antiquated  firearms  used  in  the  Indian  wars,  old  sidesaddles,  candle  and 
bullet  molds,  files  of  newspapers  and  historical  documents,  Indian  relics 
of  California  and  Nevada,  flora  and  minerals  of  the  region,  and  a  col- 
lection of  photographs  of  Indian  pictographs. 

On  the  crest  of  the  INYO  MOUNTAINS  (L)  is  an  inaccessible 
monolith  of  weather-worn  and  storm-beaten  granite  known  as  the 
PAIUTE  MONUMENT.  Although  80  feet  high,  of  a  roughly  conical 
shape,  it  appears  from  Independence  as  a  slender,  heaven-pointing  finger. 

By  MANZANAR  (Sp.,  apple  orchard),  51.9  m.  (3,872  alt.,  153 
pop.),  is  the  JOHN  SHEPHERD  RANCH  HOUSE  (R),  built  in  1873  of 
materials  brought  by  wagon  from  San  Pedro,  250  miles  away. 

The  ALABAMA  HILLS  (R),  56  m.,  riven  by  glacial  pressure  in 
the  Triassic  period  and  rent  by  earth  movements  in  subsequent  ages, 
rise  beside  the  highway.  At  the  foot  of  the  hills  and  paralleling 
the  highway  runs  an  EARTHQUAKE  FAULT,  along  which  the  land 
dropped  from  4  to  12  feet  in  the  temblor  of  1872,  which  took  26 
lives. 

LONE  PINE,  61.6  m.  (3,728  alt.,  360  pop.),  dating  from  the 
early  1850*8,  caters  to  tourists  and  outfits  for  trips  to  Mount  Whitney. 
Within  packing  distance  are  more  than  1,000  mountain  lakes  stocked 
with  trout. 

Right  from  Lone  Pine  on  State  190,  through  HUNTERS  FLAT  (hunting 
in  season),  10  m.,  abounding  with  deer,  bear,  sage  hen,  grouse,  and  quail, 
to  WHITNEY  PORTAL,  14  m.,  a  pack  station,  marking  the  end  of  the  motor 
road. 

Straight  ahead  on  a  pack  trail  to  OUTPOST  CAMP,  18  m.  (10,300  alt.), 
which  lies  just  below  the  timber  line  in  a  setting  of  towering  cliffs  and 
green  meadows.  Lone  Pine  Creek  tumbles  over  a  series  of  falls  (L)  as 
the  trail  ascends  past  MIRROR  LAKE,  19  m.  Above  stand  the  last  stunted 
trees,  outposts  of  the  timber  line.  The  trail  now  enters  an  area  of  mighty 
granite  walls  and  boulder-strewn  basins  where,  strangely,  some  of  the 
loveliest  of  Alpine  wild  flowers  grow.  Upward  the  trail  winds  through 
fields  of  perpetual  snow  to  the  summit  of  MOUNT  WHITNEY  (14,495 
alt.),  24  m.  The  mighty  peak  was  named  by  the  noted  geologist,  Clarence 
King  (1842-1901),  in  honor  of  Prof.  J.  D.  Whitney,  leader  of  the  California 
Geologic  Survey  party  which  in  1864  ascertained  that  this  mountain  was 
the  loftiest  peak  in  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska.  The  first  at- 
tempt to  scale  Mount  Whitney  was  made  by  King  in  1871,  but,  confused 
by  storm  clouds,  he  climbed  Mount  Langley  by  mistake.  Unaware  of  his 
error,  he  published  an  account  claiming  first  ascent  of  Mount  Whitney.  In 
1873  W.  A.  Goodyear  climbed  Mount  Langley,  discovered  King's  marker, 
and  published  news  of  the  mistake.  King  hurried  west  from  New  York 
and  on  September  19,  1873,  climbed  the  true  Mount  Whitney.  But  others 
had  deprived  him  by  one  month  of  the  honor  of  making  the  first  ascent. 
On  August  18,  1873,  A.  H.  Johnson,  C.  D.  Begole,  and  John  Lucas  had 
reached  the  summit  and  given  the  mountajn  the  name  Fisherman's  Peak, 
which  for  a  time  threatened  to  supersede  the  earlier  name.  The  summit  is 
;a  nearly  level  area  of  3  to  4  acres,  sloping  slightly  westward. 


52O        CALIFORNIA 

At  63.6  m.  is  the  southern  junction  with  State  190. 

Left  on  State  190  to  a  MARBLE  QUARRY,  8  m.  (L),  whose  product  is  noted 
for  its  coloring  and  quality.  KEELER,  13  m.  (3,610  alt.,  300  pop.),  a  desert 
settlement,  has  been  for  many  years  the  headquarters  of  a  plant  engaged 
in  extracting  soda-ash  from  Owens  Lake. 

Left  from  Keeler  on  a  dirt  road  6  m.  to  CERRO  GORDO  (9,217  alt.), 
producing  silver,  lead,  and  zinc. 

At  30.4  m.  on  State  190  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  6.2  m. 
to  DARWIN  (4,479  alt.,  80  pop.),  an  old  mining  town  whose  population 
at  one  time  numbered  1,500.  The  town  bears  the  name  of  Dr.  Darwin 
French,  who  in  1860,  while  searching  for  the  fabulous  lost  Gunsight  Mine, 
discovered  silver  and  lead  ledges  in  the  Coso  RANGE,  12  miles  south. 

State  190  crosses  Panamint  Valley  and  ascends  the  Panamint  Range  to 
the  western  boundary  of  DEATH  VALLEY  NATIONAL  MONUMENT,  63  m.  (see 
DEATH  VALLEY  TOUR  /). 

BARTLETT,  70.6  m.  (3,690  alt.,  70  pop.),  center  of  operations 
of  one  of  the  largest  borax  mining  companies  in  the  United  States,  is 
by  OWENS  LAKE,  17  miles  long  and  10  miles  wide  which  was  named 
for  Richard  Owen,  a  member  of  John  C.  Fremont's  1845  expedition. 
Into  it  from  the  north  flows  Owens  River.  The  level  of  the  lake  was 
once  much  higher ;  well-defined  shore  lines  mark  the  continued  recession 
of  the  waters.  Originally  it  was  an  inland  sea,  created  in  the  Ice  Age 
by  slow-moving  glaciers;  as  the  ice  cap  slowly  receded  melting  torrents 
roared  into  the  lower  areas  and  formed  inland  seas,  filled  with  salts, 
sodas,  and  other  chemicals  leached  from  the  rocks.  Through  the  cen- 
turies the  waters,  no  longer  replenished  by  melting  ice  streams,  evapo- 
rated and  left  great  afid  beds — the  dry  lakes  of  today's  desert. 

CARTAGO,  82.7  m.  (3,680  alt.,  30  pop.),  is  a  railroad  village  at 
the  southern  end  of  Owens  Lake.  An  employees'  town  (L),  once  con- 
sidered a  model  housing  project,  has  been  virtually  abandoned  since  the 
lime,  soda,  and  borax  plant  closed  several  years  ago. 

OLANCHA,  85.6  m.  (3,649  alt.,  75  pop.),  is  named  for  the 
Olancha  tribe  which  formerly  inhabited  the  region.  In  the  background 
(R)  is  OLANCHA  PEAK  (12,135  alt.). 

UPPER  HAIWEE  RESERVOIR,  91.4  m.}  connects  one  mile 
south  with  LOWER  HAIWEE  RESERVOIR,  the  two  forming  one 
of  the  largest  collecting  basins  in  the  Los  Angeles  aqueduct  system. 

US  395  crosses  lava  masses  past  foothill  slopes  (R)  scarred  by  great 
misshapen  boulders  of  volcanic  substance. 

LITTLE  LAKE,  111.5  m.  (3,172 'alt.,  23  pop.),  is  a  tourist  settle- 
ment named  for  a  lO-acre,  privately  owned  lake  that  gleams  beside  the 
road. 

At  123.8  m.  US  6  (see  TOUR  7b}  swings  R. ;  the  route  turns 
sharply  L.  on  US  395. 

BROWN,  124.7  m.  (2,400  alt.,  51  pop.),  is  a  railroad  town  on  the 
Southern  Pacific-Randsburg  Line. 


TOUR     6        521 

Section  d.    BROWN  to  JUNCTION  US  66;  107.5  m.  US  395 

This  section  of  US  395  continues  through  desert  country  tapped  by 
gold  and  silver  mines. 

South  of  BROWN,  0  m.,  is  INYOKERN,  9.6  m.  (2,442  alt.,  25 
pop.),  which  in  summer  swelters  in  the  heat  of  flat  Indian  Wells  Valley. 
On  the  lone  hotel,  a  weather-beaten  frame  structure,  is  a  sign  reading: 
"This  is  the  hotel,  believe  it  or  not."  At  Inyokern  is  the  junction  with 
the  Trona  Road  (see  DEATH  VALLEY  NATIONAL  MONU- 
MENT). 

The  Rand  Mountains,  dark,  rounded  elevations,  loom  up  straight 
ahead;  the  highway  begins  its  ascent  of  the  long  grade  up  the  range. 

At  34.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  asphalt  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  RANDSBURG,  1  m.  (3,523  alt.,  443  pop.),  a  mining 
camp  in  the  Rand  Quadrangle,  long  a  very  productive  mining  district, 
named  for  the  Rand  gold-mining  district  in  the  Transvaal,  South  Africa. 
The  town's  unpainted  weather-worn  cabins  sprawl  over  the  rocky  slopes  on 
the  northern  flank  of  Rand  Mountain,  like  those  of  a  typical  movie-set 
mining  town.  The  single  street  divides  a  collection  of  ancient  frame  houses 
scattered  about  at  random.  On  the  slopes  are  the  tin  and  galvanized  iron 
structures  of  the  mines,  each  complemented  by  a  pile  of  tailings.  Gold  was 
first  discovered  in  Goler  Wash,  nine  miles  northwest  of  Randsburg,  in  1893, 
and  dry-washing  camps  soon  sprang  up  in  Last  Chance  and  Red  Rock 
Canyons  and  at  Summit  Diggings.  The  richest  mine  was  the  Yellow  Aster, 
on  the  side  of  Rand  Mountain,  which  by  1925  had  yielded  about  $10,000,- 
ooo  in  gold.  The  ore  in  the  Yellow  Aster  Mine,  which  is  now  a  "glory 
hole,"  1,200  feet  deep,  contains  enough  tungsten  to  pay  all  operating  ex- 
penses, leaving  the  gold  as  clear  profit.  (A  glory  hole  is  an  open  excava- 
tion without  shafts  or  tunnels,  enabling  its  operators  to  recover  a  large 
quantity  of  ore  at  minimum  expense.)  The  ore  taken  from  this  pit  is 
crushed  in  the  stamp  mill  and  its  minute  particles  of  gold  are  recovered  by 
a  complex  chemical  process  known  as  cyaniding. 

From  JOHANNESBURG,  35.2  m.  (3,536  alt.,  106  pop.),  named 
for  the  chief  city  in  the  Transvaal,  most  of  the  glory  of  mining  days 
has  vanished,  though  a  few  miners  still  hopefully  work  old  proper- 
ties. 

At  RED  MOUNTAIN,  37  m.  (3,53O  alt.,  200  pop.),  prospector 
Hamp  Williams  is  said  to  have  stumbled  on  California's  richest  silver 
mine  by  accident.  Overtaken  by  a  snowstorm  one  day  in  the  winter  of 
1919,  he  sought  shelter  in  a  pit  dug  years  before  by  another  gold  seeker. 
While  crouching  there  he  picked  up  a  fragment  of  rock  that  appeared 
to  contain  metal;  an  assay  subsequently  showed  it  to  be  "horn  silver," 
rich  in  value.  Williams  staked  out  a  claim,  later  developed  into  the  Big 
Kelly  Mine  and  now  known  as  the  Rand  Silver  Mine.  Today  Red 
Mountain  is  cutting  in  on  the  social  life  of  Johannesburg  and  Rands- 
burg  with  its  honky-tonks,  dance  halls,  and  drinking  places,  where 
miners  of  the  Rand  and  men  from  Trona  come  to  spend  their  leisure 
hours.  As  in  a  movie  set  of  a  rough-and-tumble  border  town,  its  build- 
ings perch  above  the  road  level,  the  raucous  jangle  of  mechanical  pianos 
coming  through  the  swinging  doors  of  the  saloons. 


522        CALIFORNIA 

ATOLIA,  40.4  m.  (3,600  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  a  far  cry  from  the 
booming  town  that  supplied  the  Allies  in  the  World  War  with  tungsten 
from  the  Atolia  Tungsten  Mine  ever  since  new  discoveries  in  China 
pushed  the  price  of  tungsten  too  low  to  justify  operation  at  a  profit. 

US  395  sweeps  across  the  vast  Mojave  Desert.  No  settlement,  not 
even  a  gasoline  station,  marks  the  route  until  it  approaches  KRAMER 
JUNCTION,  64.2  m.  (2,482  alt.),  a  filling  station  and  auto  camp. 
The  road  winds  upgrade  through  the  low  Kramer  Hills  and  levels  out 
again  across  the  Mojave.  It  passes  through  a  region  of  great  silence, 
of  sagebrush  and  creosote  bush  stretching  interminably.  Near  the  south- 
ern end  of  the  straightaway,  occasional  green,  irrigated  tracts  break  the 
tawny  monotone  of  sand. 

ADELANTO,  95.7  m.  (2,900  alt.,  300  pop.),  is  the  center  of  an 
alfalfa-growing  and  poultry-raising  district,  reclaimed  by  the  Mojave 
River. 

The  highway  mounts  steadily  to  the  level  sandy  plateau  of  Baldy 
Mesa  and  sweeps  across  it  toward  the  bulwark  of  the  San  Bernardino 
Mountains. 

At  107.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12b),  which 
unites  with  US  395  to  San  Bernardino  (see  TOUR  12b). 


Section  e.  SAN  BERNARDINO  to  SAN  DIEGO;  134.8  m.  US  395. 

Between  a  high  inland  plateau  at  the  mouth  of  Cajon  Pass  and  the 
coast,  US  395  runs  due  southward  through  the  oldest  citrus  producing 
area  in  southern  California  and  across  low,  barren  ranges  to  the  coast. 

SAN  BERNARDINO,  0  m.  (1,077  alt.,  37,481  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
12b),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12b). 

At  3  m.  US  99  (see  TOUR  3d)  unites  westward  with  US  395  to 
COLTON  (978  alt.,  8,014  pop.)  (see  TOUR  3d),  where  US  395 
branches  L. 

HIGHGROVE,  5  m.  (500  pop.),  is  a  trading  post  for  the  sur- 
rounding citrus  ranches. 

In  RIVERSIDE,  10.2  m.  (851  alt.,  29,696  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
13b),  is  a  junction  with  US  60  (see  TOUR  13b),  which  unites  with 
US  395  southeastward  to  a  junction  at  14.7  m.,  where  US  60  turns  R. 

BOX  SPRINGS,  13.5  m.,  is  a  filling  station  and  garage. 

At  17.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  MARCH  FIELD,  2  m.,  an  Army  flying  field  (open  day- 
light hours],  with  a  3,550-foot  runway  outlined  with  green  lights,  a  paved 
landing  mat  of  450,000  square  feet,  200  permanent  buildings  on  the  field, 
and  eight  miles  of  paved  roads.  The  field  was  established  in  1917  as  a 
training  school,  named  for  Peyton  C.  March,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Chief  of  Staff 
and  a  victim  of  the  World  War.  Since  transfer  of  training  activities  to 
Texas  in  1931,  March  Field  has  been  occupied  by  tactical  units  of  the 
Army  Air  Corps.  It  is  now  headquarters  for  the  First  Wing,  Seventeenth 
Attack  Group,  and  Nineteenth  Bombardment  Group  of  the  U.  S.  Army. 
In  addition  to  three  attack  squadrons  and  two  bombing  squadrons,  there 
are  two  service  squadrons,  a  station  complement,  a  photo  section,  and 


TOUR     6        523 

ordnance,  quartermaster,  medical,  finance,  and  wing  headquarters  detach- 
ments. 

FERRIS,  26.1  m.  (1,456  alt.,  763  pop.),  platted  in  i885-i886-and 
incorporated  in  1911,  succeeded  an  older  settlement,  Pinecate  (Sp.,  stink 
bug),  1.5  miles  south  on  the  Sante  Fe  Railway.  The  12  rich  gold 
mines  in  the  vicinity  have  been  worked  out,  but  since  the  rise  in  the  price 
of  gold  in  1933,  the  tailings  have  been  reworked  and  some  claims 
developed  on  a  small  scale. 

Left  from  Ferris  on  State  74  through  acres  of  peach  and  apricot 
orchards,  to  HEMET,  16.2  m.  (1,600  alt.,  2,235  P°P-)>  in  the  center  of  the 
Indian  country  where  artists  of  ancient  races  have  left  rock  paintings  and 
carvings  on  boulders  in  the  canyons. 

1.  Right  from  Hemet  on  State  Street  2  m.  to  the  RAMONA  BOWL,  a  natural 
amphitheater  where  the  Ramona  Pageant,   an   adaptation   of   Helen  Hunt 
Jackson's  novel  Ramona  is  presented  yearly  in  April  and  May.     Scores  of 
metates,  or  corn-grinding  holes,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  bowl,  remain  to  mark 
the  SITE  OF  THE  PAHSITNAH  VILLAGE,  once  the  largest  in  the  area.    The  road 
southward  continues  over  St.  John  grade  to  a  junction  with  State  79    (see 
TOUR  6C)  at  24  m. 

2.  Left  from  Hemet  2.5  m.  on  San  Jacinto  Ave.  to  SAN  JACINTO  (1,550 
alt.,    1,346   pop.),   at  the   base   of  the   Lakeview   Mountains   and   MOUNT 
RUDOLPH   (2,629  alt.).     San  Jacinto,  which  occupies  the  site  of  Jusispah, 
Village,  one  of  the  seven  Indian  rancherias  of  the  San  Jacinto  Valley,  was 
founded  by  Procco  Akimo,  a  Russian  exiled  from  his  native  land  during 
the  Tsarist  terrors  of  the   i87o's.     The  second  non-stop  transpolar  flight 
from  Russia  to  the  United  States  terminated  safely  in  a  cow  pasture  3  miles 
west  of   San  Jacinto  on  July  8,   1937,   when  the   fliers  missed   their   goal, 
March  Field. 

OILMAN  HOT  SPRINGS,  7  m.  (1,600  alt.),  in  the  San  Jacinto  Moun- 
tains, is  a  resort  with  Indian  lodges,  bungalows,  bath  house,  swimming 
pool,  and  recreation  pavilion. 

East  of  Hemet  on  State  74  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road,  21.8  m. 

Left  on  this  road  0.4  m.  to  a  junction  with  another  dirt  road;  L.  here  to 
SOBOBA  HOT  SPRINGS  and  the  SOBOBA  INDIAN  RESERVATION, 
4.9  m.  (1,725  alt.),  where  about  125  Indians  live  in  neat  homes  around  a 
large  hospital.  One  of  the  oldest  Indian  legends  of  this  region  relates  that 
Tuchaipai,  the  Great  Spirit,  gave  the  people  their  choice  of  living  forever, 
of  dying  temporarily,  or  of  dying  forever.  They  argued  and  deliberated 
for  days  while  the  smoke  of  their  council  fires  rose  high  from  the  hills. 
Then  they  called  in  the  Fly,  who  was  growing  very  tired  of  hearing  them 
talk.  So  he  said  to  them:  "Oh,  you  men,  what  are  you  talking  so  much 
about?  Just  tell  the  Great  Spirit  that  you  want  to  die  forever  and  never 
come  back  again."  And  this  is  what  the  simple  Indians  told  Tuchaipai,  so 
that  now  when  they  die  they  can  never  come  back  again.  But  the  Fly  was 
sorry  he  had  told  them  such  a  foolish  thing,  and  ever  since  he  has  rubbed 
his  hands  together  in  apology. 

At  34.9  m.  on  State  74  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  4  m.  to  IDYLLWILD  (5,300  alt.,  376  pop.),  (rates 
reasonable),  a  mountain  resort  with  a  large  rustic  lodge  and  cabins  (guides 
available}.  The  mountain  slopes  heavily  covered  with  pines  and  big-cone 
spruce,  rise  northward  to  SAN  JACINTO  PEAK  (10,300  alt.).  The 
Indians  say  that  a  powerful  demon,  called  Tahquitz,  lives  atop  San  Jacinto. 
Sometimes  when  he  grows  restless  and  angry  with  people,  he  stalks  through 
the  canyons  wailing  and  howling  through  the  night  for  victims — and  this 
is  what  makes  bad  weather. 


524        CALIFORNIA 

At  32  m.  the  Idyllwild  Rd.  meets  US  60-70-99  (see  TOUR  13b).  State  74 
continues  to  KEEN  CAMP  POST  OFFICE,  35.9  m.  (4,936  alt.),  in  a  region 
of  Jeffrey  pines,  with  occasional  sugar  pines,  firs,  and  yellow  pines. 

At  69.9  m.  State  74  meets  State  in   (see  TOUR  13b). 

GOOD  HOPE  MINE  (R),  31  m.,  the  most  productive  gold  mine  in 
the  district,  has  an  electrically  operated  mill  with  daily  capacity  of 
100  tons. 

ELSINORE,  38  m.  (1,286  alt.,  1,350  pop.),  is  a  resort  on  the 
northern  shores  of  LAKE  ELSINORE,  a  land-locked  basin  with  no 
outlet  whose  waters,  fed  by  subterranean  springs,  have  been  receding 
in  recent  years ;  in  dry  seasons  it  becomes  little  more  than  a  smelly  pond. 

According  to  one  of  the  two  stories  of  the  town's  naming,  it  was 
named  for  Elsinore  in  Shakespeare's  Hamlet.  According  to  the  other, 
corroborated  by  local  tradition,  two  thirsty  travelers,  a  Yankee  and  a 
Spaniard,  came  upon  the  lake  after  a  dusty  trek.  The  impetuous 
Spaniard  rushed  eagerly  into  the  water  up  to  his  armpits  and  drank 
greedily.  The  cautious  Yankee  inquired,  "How  does  it  taste,  senor?" 
The  Spaniard,  having  by  this  time  become  aware  of  the  strong  mineral 
content  of  the  water,  replied  in  disgust,  "Like  'ell,  senor!"  In  the 
Elsinore  Valley,  rich  in  ores,  an  n -pound  nugget,  largest  ever  found 
in  southern  California,  was  picked  up.  Airplanes  land  at  Elsinore's 
landing  field;  amphibians  and  seaplanes,  in  the  lake.  Water  sports, 
boating,  and  speedboat  regattas  are  popular  the  year  round  and  duck 
hunting  in  season. 

Right  from  Elsinore  on  State  71  to  a  junction  with  State  74,  2.4  m.;  L.  on 
State  74  to  the  OLYMPIC  FIELDS  NUDIST  COLONY,  7  m.  (inquire  at  gate  for 
conditions  of  adm.),  the  West's  pioneer  nudist  colony,  founded  "on  the 
proposition  that  the  desire  for  release  from  clothing  is  inherent  and  normal, 
and  that  a  periodic  release  from  the  too-insistent  and  destructive  pressure 
of  our  high-speed  social  order  is  beneficial  mentally,  emotionally,  and 
physically." 

South  of  Elsinore,  the  route  skirts  Lake  Elsinore  and  passes  into  the 
fertile  Temecula  Valley,  once  the  wheatfield  of  Mission  San  Luis  Rev. 
It  now  produces  beef  cattle  and  dairy  products;  hay,  grain,  and  alfalfa; 
olives  and  walnuts. 

At  51  m.  is  a  junction  with  Hawthorne  St.,  a  paved  road. 

Left  here  to  MURRIETA  HOT  SPRINGS,  3  m.  (1,309  alt.,  153  pop.),  a 
resort  (all  accommodations;  rates  reasonable). 

TEMECULA  (Ind.,  the  rising  sun),  56.3  m.  (1,003  alt.,  255 
pop.),  a  trading  post  for  the  residents  of  Temecula  Valley,  is  a  dwin- 
dling handful  of  wind-worn,  dusty  buildings — fewer  today  than  in 
1882  when  the  town  was  founded  on  the  railroad  connecting  San 
Bernardino  with  San  Diego.  The  tracks  were  washed  out  by  torrential 
rains  in  1892  and  never  replaced. 

The  inhabitants  claim  for  Temecula  the  dubious  distinction  that  the 
wind  blows  every  afternoon.  Some  old  timers  insist  that  the  natives 


TOUR     6        525 

are  so  accustomed  to  this  strong  wind  that  they  will  not  come  out  of 
doors  on  the  rare  windless  days. 

Joe  Winkel  of  Temecula,  frequently  mentioned  in  Herriman's  car- 
toon, "Krazy  Kat,"  is  a  real  person,  who  settled  here  in  1902  and 
opened  a  bar  that  attracted  newspaper  men  from  coast  cities.  The 
saloon,  still  standing  opposite  the  bank,  was  in  old  days  the  mecca  for 
booted  and  spurred  cowhands  who  brought  great  droves  of  beef  stock 
to  the  railroad.  Since  the  advent  of  truck  and  trailer  transportation, 
the  cowpuncher  has  abandoned  his  chaps  for  mechanic's  overalls — but 
not  his  visits  to  Winkel's  bar. 

At  58.1  772.  is  a  junction  with  State  79  (see  TOUR  6C). 

At  58.4  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  here,  through  PECHANGA  CANYON,  to  PALA  (Ind.,  water),  9 
m.  (411  alt.,  260  pop.),  trading  center  for  the  PALA  INDIAN  RESERVA- 
TION. Pala  grew  up  around  LA  ASISTENCIA  DE  SAN  ANTONIO  DE  PALA, 
established  by  Fr.  Antonio  Peyri  for  the  Mission  San  Luis  Rey.  The 
restored  chapel  (small  adm.  fee]  is  (L)  near  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
reservation.  Of  particular  interest  are  the  detached  bell  tower,  some  vivid 
Indian  murals,  and  a  statue  of  St.  Anthony  carved  in  wood  more  than  a 
century  ago  by  a  Mexican.  Erected  in  1816,  Pala  was  deserted  by  its 
padres  in  1829;  its  buildings,  already  in  ruins  before  1836,  were  almost 
demolished  by  flood  in  1916.  The  Pala  Reservation  has  a  small  village  of 
portable  wooden  shelters.  At  the  annual  celebrations  are  included  the 
Corpus  Christi  Fiesta,  the  San  Antonio  Fiesta,  and  a  fiesta  held  on  August 
25th,  which  features  a  rodeo.  American  music  and  gambling  have  largely 
replaced  tribal  customs. 

Left  from  Pala,  1  m.,  to  a  KUNZITE  MINE.  This  rare  stone  has  been 
found  only  here  and  on  the  island  of  Madagascar. 

RINCON,  17.8  m.,  on  the  main  side  road,  is  an  Indian  trading  post;  the 
route  continues  L.  here.  Right  1.8  m.  from  Rincon,  across  SAN  LUIS  REY 
RIVER,  is  the  RINCON  INDIAN  RESERVATION  (800  alt.,  170  pop.). 
A  3-day  fiesta  is  held  annually  on  August  24. 

At  23.1  m.  is  a  junction  of  the  main  side  road  with  the  paved  Highway 
to  the  Stars;  L.  on  this  road  6.9  m.  to  CRESTLINE  (55  pop.),  a  camp- 
ground. Left  from  Crestline  3.2  m.  on  a  dirt  road  to  PALOMAR  STATE 
PARK  (campgrounds}. 

North  of  Crestline  the  Highway  to  the  Stars  begins  the  steep  ascent  to 
PALOMAR  OBSERVATORY,  34.7  m.,  which  occupies  a  720-acre  plateau  on 
PALOMAR  MOUNTAIN  (6,126  alt.).  It  was  erected  for  the  Carnegie 
Institution  and  the  California  Institute  of  Technology  by  the  Rockefeller 
Foundation,  and  is  best  known  as  the  home  of  the  2oo-inch  telescope  with 
a  i6-ton  mirror.  The  observatory  is  128  feet  high;  its  dome  is  135  feet  in 
diameter.  The  i8-inch  Schmidt  telescope  occupies  its  own  observatory. 
Other  buildings  include  cottages  for  the  astronomers  and  scientists,  and  a 
dormitory  for  the  statf  workers. 

On  the  Rincon  Rd.  at  38.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  79  (see  Tour  6C). 

RAINBOW,  63  m.  (1,051  alt.,  56  pop.),  on  US  395  is  in  a  tiny 
upland  valley.  From  this  point  the  route  climbs  the  winding,  chaparral 
lined  Red  Mountain  Grade  through  rugged  country. 

At  66  772.  is  a  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  LIVE  OAK  PARK,  3  m.,  a  natural  wooded  area  set 
aside  for  public  recreation  (picnic  ground;  open-air  dance  hall;  play- 
ground). 


526        CALIFORNIA 

FALLBROOK,  70.5  m.  (700  alt.,  887  pop.),  was  settled  in  the 
l88o's.  Because  of  the  soil  and  climatic  advantages,  this  is  an  ideal 
citrus-growing  region.  In  late  years  avocado  orchards  have  been  planted 
and  poultry  farms  established. 

Right  from  Fallbrook  is  DE  LUZ,  9.9  m.  (146  alt.,  180  pop.),  a  mountain 
community  in  an  area  noted  for  deer  hunting;  quail,  doves,  and  rabbits  are 
also  plentiful. 

BONSALL,  78  m.  (172  alt.,  213  pop.),  is  a  small  trading  center 
in  a  dairying  and  farming  area. 

At  OCEANSIDE  JUNCTION,  80.5  m.,  is  a  junction  with  Mis- 
sion Road  (see  TOUR  2d). 

US  395  traverses  rolling  hills,  for  the  most  part  planted  with 
avocado,  citrus,  and  other  fruit  trees  on  small  ranches. 

A  post  office  and  store  were  established  at  VISTA,  85.1  m.  (330 
alt.,  544  pop.),  in  1890  when  the  Oceanside-Escondido  branch  of  the 
Santa  Fe  Railway  was  completed.  Development  of  the  town  began  in 
1926,  when  water  was  brought  to  the  district  from  Lake  Henshaw. 
Vista  has  one  of  the  oldest  wineries  in  southern  California. 

At  85.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  78. 

Right  on  State  78  to  a  junction  with  an  oiled  highway,  0.1  m.;  R.  here  to 
the  old  COUTS  ADOBE  HOUSE  of  the  RANCHO  GUAJOME  (Ind.,  home  of  the 
frog),  built  by  Lt.  Cave  J.  Gouts  in  1853.  Four  wings  surround  a  large 
central  patio;  the  roofs  are  still  covered  with  the  original  dull  red  tiles. 
Cave  J.  Couts,  Jr.,  who  inherited  the  property,  maintains  it  in  the  style  of  a 
Mexican  hacienda,  employing  Indian  servants.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  de- 
scribed this  rancho  in  Ramona. 

SAN  MARCOS,  91.5  m.  (570  alt.,  105  pop.),  at  the  confluence  of 
three  valleys,  is  on  the  former  Rancho  Los  Vallecitos  de  San  Marcos. 

At  the  MULBERRY  GROVE  AND  SILK  FACTORY  (L),  85.1  m.,  estab- 
lished in  the  late  1920*8,  an  attempt  is  being  made  to  establish  silkworm 
culture  in  southern  California.  To  date  the  attempts  have  been  un- 
successful. 

ESCONPIDO  (hidden  valley},  97.9  m.  (650  alt.,  3,421  pop.), 
lies  in  the  midst  of  the  former  Wolfskill  Ranch,  comprising  about 
13,000  acres  of  the  Rancho  Rincon  del  Diablo.  Purchased  in  1885 
by  a  syndicate,  the  ranch  was  subdivided  and  the  town  laid  out.  Though 
the  surrounding  lands  raise  a  diversity  of  farm,  orchard,  and  dairy 
produce,  the  staple  product  is  grapes,  of  which  more  than  4,000  acres 
are  under  cultivation. 

The  outstanding  social  event  of  the  year  in  Escondido  is  the  Grape 
Day  celebration  (September}.  During  the  carnival,  several  tons  of 
grapes  are  distributed  to  visitors,  politicians  orate  in  the  public  park, 
bands  play,  and  at  night,  church  meetings  and  dances  end  the  festival. 
This  holiday  originated  in  1905,  to  celebrate  the  final  liquidation  of 
irrigation  district  bonds  which  had  been  oppressive  to  the  farmers  for 
20  years.  When  the  bondholders  agreed,  in  1904,  to  accept  50  per  cent 
of  the  face  value  of  the  securities,  the  indebtedness  was  paid.  On  Sep- 


TOUR     6        527 

tember  9,  1905,  a  gala  mass  meeting  was  held  and  the  redeemed  bonds 
were  ceremoniously  burned  before  a  crowd  of  2,ooo  cheering  farmers. 

Left  from  Escondido  on  State  78  through  the  farming  and  poultry  regions 
of  Santa  Maria  Valley. 

A  monument  marks  the  SAN  PASQUAL  BATTLEFIELD,  7.3  m.,  where, 
in  December  1846,  Brig.  Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kearny  attacked  the  Californian 
army  under  General  Andres  Pico.  The  Californians  escaped  from  the 
conflict  with  only  a  few  slightly  wounded,  but  19  of  Kearny's  men  were 
killed  and  17  wounded.  It  is  said  that  Kearny  lost  the  battle  through  care- 
lessness, and  that  there  was  little  excuse  for  his  unprepared  attack. 

State  78  passes  through  San  Pasqual  Valley  and  ascends  San  Pasqual 
Grade. 

RAMONA,  18.5  m.  (1,440  alt.,  400  pop.),  founded  in  1886,  is  in  a  region 
of  poultry  farms;  turkeys  are  the  specialty. 

WITCH  CREEK,  30.9  m.,  is  a  trading  post  for  a  small  farming  district. 

East  of  Witch  Creek,  State  78  traverses  Santa  Maria  Valley. 

At  SANTA  ISABEL,  34.1  m.,  State  78  unites  eastward  with  State  79  for 
7.9  m.  to  JULIAN  (see  TOUR  6C). 

BANNER,  49.1  m.,  once  a  boom  town,  is  now  a  camp  and  picnic  ground 
(adm.  25$  and  50$}  at  the  foot  of  Banner  Grade.  The  region  was  filled 
with  gold-mad  miners  soon  after  gold  was  discovered  in  Julian  in  1870. 
The  most  important  mines  at  Banner  were  the  Redman  and  the  Golden 
Chariot. 

SCISSORS  CROSSING,  54.1  m.,  in  the  San  Felipe  Valley,  was  so  named 
because  of  a  pattern  made  by  converging  roads.  Pedro  Fages,  who  camped 
in  this  valley  and  gave  it  its  present  name,  visited  Indian  villages  here  in 
1782.  Scissors  Crossing  is  at  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road  (see  TOUR  14b). 

BOREGO  (Sp.,  borrego,  yearling  lamb)  STATE  PARK,  54.5  m.  (452 
alt.,  12  pop.),  covers  some  200,000  acres  of  desert  and  mountain  country. 
Within  its  borders  are  palm  canyon,  rugged  mountains,  and  mesas  covered 
with  ocotillo  and  other  desert  growth.  The  park  is  part  of  the  proposed 
Anza  State  Park,  which  will  include  three  distinct  desert  areas  and  extend 
from  the  northern  boundary  of  San  Diego  County  to  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  Mexican  border. 

SENTENAC  CANYON  BRIDGE  and  GRAPEVINE  MOUNTAIN  are  at  58.7 
m.  At  60.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  Borego  Valley  Rd. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  BOREGO  POST  OFFICE,  8.1  m.,  a  filling  station 
and  trading  post  in  the  Borego  Valley,  a  bowl-shaped  desert  basin.  Farms 
and  ranches  of  this  productive  valley  are  irrigated  by  water  from  wells. 

In  PALM  CANYON  PLAYGROUND,  15.7  m.,  are  many  specimens  of  the  Wash- 
ingtonia  palm  tree,  California's  only  native  palm  tree.  Botanists  say  that 
this  tree  is  "a  residual  remnant  of  the  days  of  the  saber-toothed  tiger, 
ancestral  horse,  camel  and  ground  sloth,  whose  fossils  have  been  found 
here."  Perhaps  500,000  years  ago,  this  canyon  was  a  palm-lined  shore  of 
the  Gulf  of  California.  The  first  grove  of  palms  is  an  hour's  hike  (L) 
up  Palm  Canyon  from  the  campground. 

On  State  78  at  78.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  3.7  m.  to  a  GYPSUM  MINE  in  the  FISH  CREEK  MOUN- 
TAINS. At  the  mine  a  trail  leads  several  hundred  yards  through  an 
unnamed  canyon  to  an  area  covered  with  FOSSIL  FOOTPRINTS,  by  a  pre- 
historic watering  hole  where  mastodons  came  to  drink. 

At  91.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3e). 

LAKE  HODGES,  103  m.,  is  crossed  on  a  concrete  bridge.     (Boats 
rented,  35$  an  hour;  bass,  trout,  crappie,  perch.) 


528        CALIFORNIA 

BIG  STONE  PARK,  111.9  m.  (picnic  grounds;  adm.  25$  per 
car),  is  in  a  region  of  giant  boulders.  It  was  a  favorite  Indian  camp 
ground,  and  for  50  miles  around,  rock  paintings  are  found. 

The  road  winds  to  the  CREST  OF  POWAY  GRADE,  at  113.9  m.  (525 
alt.),  along  chaparral  covered  slopes.  (Caution:  limited  visibility  on 
curves.  ) 

At  126  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  MISION  SAN  DIEGO  DE  ALCALA  (adm.  25$),  0.5  m., 
which  stands  on  a  small  knoll  overlooking  Mission  Valley.  Junipero  Serra, 
on  July  16,  1769,  erected  a  crude  hut  on  Presidio  Hill  in  San  Diego,  which 
was  the  first  of  the  21  missions  built  by  the  Franciscans  in  California.  In 
1774,  the  mission  was  transferred  to  this  place,  where,  on  the  night  of 
November  5,  1775,  an  Indian  attack  destroyed  the  structure  and  caused  the 
death  of  Fr.  Luis  Jaume.  The  garrison,  stationed  at  Presidio  Hill,  slept 
through  the  engagement.  Jaume  is  buried  under  the  altar  of  the  church. 

The  mission  was  rebuilt  and  dedicated  in  1780.  Prosperous  years  fol- 
lowed. Barracks  were  erected  for  soldiers,  and  grain  houses,  corrals,  and 
dormitories  for  the  Indian  converts.  A  dam,  built  5  miles  up  the  river, 
was  220  feet  long,  with  a  gateway  12  feet  high  in  the  center. 

An  earthquake  in  1803  destroyed  the  church,  but  by  1813  the  buildings 
had  been  restored  and  enlarged.  Though  Mission  San  Diego  was  not  one 
of  the  wealthiest,  it  owned,  in  1830,  more  than  8,000  head  of  cattle,  1,000 
horses  and  mules,  16,000  sheep,  and  controlled  1,506  Indians.  With  the 
passage  of  the  Bill  of  Secularization  in  1834,  which  returned  mission  prop- 
erty to  public  use,  the  mission  declined.  Richard  Henry  Dana  visited  the 
mission  in  1835  and  described  it  in  his  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast. 

The  U.  S.  Land  Commission  returned  22  acres  of  the  mission  grounds  to 
the  Church,  that  area  on  which  the  church  stands;  but  neglect  and  weather- 
ing soon  reduced  the  structure  to  ruin.  The  present  building,  a  restoration, 
was  erected  in  1931.  A  parochial  school  is  conducted  in  the  modern  build- 
ings beside  the  mission.  In  the  museum  are  many  relics,  among  them  old 
baptismal,  marriage,  and  death  records,  the  first  pages  in  the  handwriting 
of  Junipero  Serra. 

The  SAN  DIEGO  RIVER,  126.3  m.,  like  many  southern  Cali- 
fornia streams,  is  dry  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Occasionally,  how- 
ever, heavy  rains  cause  it  to  flood  the  floor  of  Mission  Valley. 

At  128.6  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  80,  El  Cajon  Blvd.  (see  TOUR 


SAN   DIEGO,   134.8   m.    (0500  alt.,    147,995   pop.)    (see  SAN 
DIEGO],  is  at  the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  8d). 


&SZ^^^ 


Tour  6 A 


Junction    with    US    395 — Susanville — Chester — Mineral — Red    Bluff; 
112.3  m.     State  36. 

Roadbed  paved.     Daily  bus  service  between  Reno,  Nev.,  and  Redding. 
Accommodations  only  in  larger  towns. 


TOUR     6  A        529 

This  route  climbs  the  rugged  gorge  of  the  Susan  River,  deep  among 
pines,  to  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada  through  Fredonyer  Pass.  It  leads 
through  the  forested  uplands  around  Lake  Almanor,  where  power 
houses  and  lumber  mills  tap  the  water  and  timber  resources  of  the 
mountains.  From  Mineral,  southern  gateway  to  Lassen  Volcanic  Na- 
tional Park,  it  descends  through  corridors  of  luxuriant  fir  and  pine  to 
the  Central  Valley's  hot,  grassy  stretches. 

State  36  branches  west  from  its  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR 
6a),  0  m.,  at  the  northern  edge  of  Johnstonville  and  crosses  level 
stretches,  where  willow-fringed  creeks  meander  over  lush,  haystack- 
dotted  fields.  Along  this  route,  paralleling  the  sluggish,  tule-bordered 
Susan  River  (L),  ran  one  of  the  most  traveled  trails  into  California, 
the  Noble  Emigrant  Route,  surveyed  through  Noble's  Pass  across  the 
Sierra  in  1852.  By  1855  most  of  the  northern  California  immigration 
was  following  it.  From  the  Humboldt  River  route  through  Nevada, 
it  entered  California  around  Honey  Lake  (see  TOUR  6a),  followed 
the  north  bank  of  the  Susan  River,  and  then  diverged  to  continue  around 
the  north  side  of  Lassen  Peak  (see  TOUR  5a)  through  Noble's  Pass 
to  Shasta  (see  TOUR  8b),  whose  merchants  had  put  up  $2,000  for  a 
wagon  road.  At  Isaac  Roop's  trading  post  in  Susanville  a  register  was 
kept;  in  the  period  from  August  2  to  October  4,  1857,  it  recorded  99 
trains  passing  through  the  valley,  with  306  wagons  and  carriages,  665 
horses  and  mules,  16,937  cattle,  835  men,  254  women,  and  390  children. 

SUSANVILLE,  4.7  m.  (4,195  alt.,  1,358  pop.),  from  a  bench 
above  the  Susan  River  commands  a  view  of  far-stretching  Honey  Lake 
Valley  (see  TOUR  6a).  The  valley  lies  in  the  shadow  of  low,  tim- 
bered hills  (R)  and  the  lofty,  pine-forested  ridges  of  the  Sierra  (L). 
Main  Street,  a  broad  boulevard  sweeping  up  a  slight  rise  into  the  heart 
of  town,  has  a  brisk,  traffic-thronged  air  of  modernity  despite  the  booted 
men  in  wide-brimmed  hats  who  lounge  about  and  the  pastures  that  reach 
to  the  very  edge  of  the  business  district.  Susanville's  busy  air  is  accen- 
tuated by  the  smokestacks  and  water  towers  of  the  great  box  factory  and 
lumber  mills  at  its  edge.  Lumber,  cattle,  and  hay  are  the  town's  stock 
in  trade.  Above  the  downtown  section  and  the  straggling  houses  in  the 
hollows  around  the  mills  rise  the  locust-  and  cottonwood-bordered  streets 
of  Susanville's  west  end,  which  takes  to  the  heights. 

To  the  site  of  Susanville  in  the  spring  of  1853,  alone  and  penniless, 
came  Isaac  N.  Roop  on  horseback  from  Shasta.  He  staked  out  a  claim 
and  built  a  cabin.  In  June  of  the  year  following,  came  Peter  Lassen 
and  a  handful  of  prospectors;  they  dug  a  ditch  and  struck  gold.  By 
the  end  of  1857,  besides  log  cabins  with  shake  roofs  and  fireplaces,  the 
settlement  had  one  house  of  boards  and  at  least  one  cook  stove.  There 
was  little  law,  less  Gospel ;  horse  thieves  made  their  rendezvous  here  and 
shooting  scrapes  became  frequent.  For  amusement  there  was  gambling 
everywhere,  much  whisky  drinking,  and  once  in  a  while  a  dance. 

Susanville's  past  lives  in  the  names  of  its  streets,  which  honor  its 
pioneers.  Its  oldest  building,  FORT  DEFIANCE,  stands  on  Weatherlow 
St.,  facing  over  the  valley.  This  was  the  cabin  that  Roop  built  in  July 


53O        CALIFORNIA 

1854.  Here  he  stored  his  merchandise  and  supplies,  and  to  it  he  brought 
water  from  Piute  Creek  in  a  half-mile  ditch.  In  its  day  the  cabin  even 
had  the  honor  of  serving  as  capitol  of  a  territory,  which  its  founders 
called  Nataqua  (Ind.,  woman).  Nataqua's  boundaries  hemmed  in 
50,000  square  miles,  from  the  northeast  corner  of  California  to  25 
miles  south  of  Lake  Tahoe.  So  far  away  were  California  on  one 
hand  and  the  Utah  Mormon  settlements  on  the  other  that  the  valley's 
settlers  determined  to  set  up  their  own  government.  On  April  26, 
1856,  they  created  Nataqua — and  while  they  were  at  it,  the  town  of 
Susanville — meeting  at  Roop  House  and  electing  Isaac  Rcop  recorder 
and  Peter  Lassen  surveyor.  But  Nataqua  was  short-lived.  A  year  later 
the  Honey  Lake  men  were  joining  with  settlers  to  the  east  in  a  demand 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Territory  of  Nevada.  In  the  same  month, 
August  1857,  California  asserted  jurisdiction  when  Plumas  County 
created  Honey  Lake  Township.  Grumbling,  some  of  the  settlers  paid 
their  taxes,  but  not  the  40  or  50  pioneers  who  had  endured  the  early 
hardships  and  the  Indian  fights.  In  rebellion  they  set  up  a  local  govern- 
ment in  1858,  and  the  year  after  helped  elect  Isaac  Roop  Provisional 
Governor  of  what  became,  in  1861,  Nevada  Territory,  with  Honey 
Lake  Valley  included  as  Roop  County. 

When  California  stuck  to  its  claims,  the  stage  was  set  for  the  Sage- 
brush War;  and  Roop  House  acquired  its  new  name  of  Fort  Defiance. 
When  Probate  Judge  John  S.  Ward  and  Sheriff  William  Hill  Naileigh, 
of  Roop  County,  refused  to  refrain  from  exercising  authority,  as  the 
Plumas  County  Court  ordered,  Sheriff  E.  H.  Pierce,  of  Plumas  County, 
arrested  Naileigh.  He  sent  Deputy  Byers  to  arrest  Ward  too,  but  Isaac 
Roop  and  seven  mounted  men  blocked  the  way  with  shotguns.  Forced  to 
give  up  Naileigh,  because  snow  in  the  mountains  prevented  taking  him 
back  to  Plumas  County,  Sheriff  Pierce  crossed  the  mountains  alone. 
With  a  posse  of  90  men  he  returned  February  13,  1863,  to  find  an 
armed  force  of  from  75  to  100  fortified  in  Roop's  cabin.  Negotiations 
proved  fruitless.  On  February  15  Pierce  and  his  men  occupied  and 
fortified  a  barn  200  yards  away.  When  one  of  them,  who  went  out  to 
bring  in  timber,  was  fired  on  and  wounded,  the  battle  began;  and  for 
five  hours  both  parties  blazed  away  at  each  other.  An  armistice  fol- 
lowed. Assured  by  the  men  in  the  fort  that  they  would  burn  down 
the  town  around  him  unless  he  surrendered,  Sheriff  Pierce  agreed  to 
stop  on  condition  that  each  party  disband  and  all  officers  cease  func- 
tioning. News  of  the  compromise  reached  a  party  of  reinforcements 
from  Quincy,  seat  of  Plumas  County,  who  were  dragging  a  small 
cannon  over  the  mountains  through  the  snow.  They  turned  about  and 
dragged  it  back.  The  boundary  dispute  was  settled  when  the  Cali- 
fornia-Nevada Line  was  run  northward  from  Lake  Tahoe,  east  of 
Honey  Lake  Valley;  but  hard  feelings  persisted  until  the  California 
Legislature,  on  April  I,  1864,  created  Lassen  County  with  its  seat  at 
Susanville. 

Left  from  Susanville  on  Weatherlow  St.  to  a  fork  at  3.1  m.;  L.  here  to 
another  fork  at  4.2  m.;  R.  here  through  bristling  pines  and  across  peaceful 


TOU  R     6  A        531 

Elysian  Valley  where  Peter  Lassen  arrived  in  June  1855,  with  a  party  of 
prospectors,  and  found  gold.  Going  back  in  October  1855,  he  brought  tools, 
plows  and  farm  implements,  cows,  oxen,  and  horses.  With  his  friend, 
Isadore  Meyerwitz,  he  settled  on  a  i-mile  tract  and  built  a  long  low  cabin 
on  the  south  side  of  Lassen  Creek. 

At  5.9  m.  is  a  turnstile  (L),  the  entrance  to  the  grove  of  pines  that 
shade  LASSEN'S  GRAVE.  Two  monuments  overlook  the  pleasant  pastures. 
The  old  one,  erected  by  the  Masons,  June  24,  1862,  a  column  of  gray  stone, 
fissured  and  crumbled,  topped  with  an  urn,  bears  the  inscription:  "In 
Memory  of  Peter  Lassen,  the  Pioneer,  who  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  April 
26,  1859.  Aged  66  years."  On  the  modern  granite  obelisk  beside  it  is  the 
same  inscription,  and  the  words:  "Erected  in  Honor  of  Peter  Lassen  by  the 
people  of  the  Northern  Counties  of  the  State  of  California." 

State  36  winds  up  the  jagged,  pine-fringed  gorge  of  the  Susan  River. 
At  12.7  m.  it  climbs  away  from  the  river,  scaling  the  Sierra  to  the  sum- 
mit of  FREDONYER  PASS  (5,75O  alt.),  18.6  m.,  and  descends  the 
long  western  slope. 

At  27.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  WESTWOOD,  12  m.  (5,082  alt.,  3,500  pop.),  a 
company  town  huddled  around  the  giant  mills  of  the  Red  River  Lumber 
Company.  In  July  1938  Westwood  was  the  scene  of  a  bitter  labor  dispute. 
When  600  members  of  the  C.I.O.  union,  the  International  Woodworkers 
of  America,  called  a  strike  in  protest  against  a  17^  percent  wage  reduc- 
tion, the  lumber  company  closed  its  mills,  throwing  out  of  work  an  equal 
number  of  "company  union"  men — members  of  the  Industrial  Employees 
Union.  The  strike  led  to  a  struggle  between  the  two  groups  of  employees, 
with  the  C.I.O.  men  picketing  the  plant.  On  July  14  the  I.E.U.  members, 
aided  by  Westwood  residents,  came  to  blows  with  the  C.I.O.  workers. 
While  some  2,000  men  fought  with  fists,  picks,  axes,  and  rifles,  deputy 
sheriffs  turned  high-pressure  fire  hose  on  the  pickets.  The  C.I.O.  men 
were  defeated,  and  a  "kangaroo"  court  drove  them  and  their  families  out 
of  town.  The  plant  opened  the  next  day.  About  a  week  later  300  C.I.O. 
men  voted  to  return  to  work  when  the  Red  River  Company  promised  to 
restore  their  seniority  rights. 

CHESTER,  40.9  m.  (4,280  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  a  lumber  town  on 
the  northwestern  shore  of  Lake  Almanor  (see  TOUR  5b),  where  power 
company  employees  make  their  homes. 

Right  from  Chester  on  a  dirt  road  0.5  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

1.  Right  on  this  road  11  m.  to  JUNIPER  LAKE  CAMPGROUND  (undeveloped], 
on  the  western  shore  of  Juniper  Lake,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Lassen 
Volcanic    National    Park    (see    TOUR   50).     JUNIPER    LAKE    RESORT 
(tents  and  cabins,  saddle  and  pack  horses,  rowboats  and  motorboats;  25$ 
charge  per  car  for  parking  and  $i  per  car  for  passing  over  privately  owned 
land  to  Horseshoe  Lake),  12  m.,  is  the  starting  point  for  trips  into  the  lake- 
dotted  lava  wastes  of  eastern  Lassen  Volcanic  National   Park.     Through 
this   region  extends  the  Chain-of -Lakes;   Juniper  Lake   at  the  base  of  the 
ancient   volcano,    Mount    Harkness;    Horseshoe    Lake,    whose    waters    flow 
partly  into  the  Feather  and  partly  into  the  Pit  River;   sandy-edged   Snag 
Lake,  whose  clear  depths  reveal  the  remains  of  trees  growing  at  the  south 
end  before  it  was  dammed  by  lava;  and  Butte  Lake,  edged  by  rugged  lava 
shores,  near  the  eastern  base  of  Prospect  Peak.     Among  others  are  Twin, 
Echo,  Swan,  Rainbow,  and  Chester  Lakes. 

2.  Left   from   the   junction    on    a    dirt   road   into   Warner   Valley.     LEE 
CAMP   (hotel,  store,  gasoline;  saddle  and  pack  horses;  guide  service),  is 


532        CALIFORNIA 

at  12  m.  and  KELLY  CAMP  (hotel,  store,  gasoline;  saddle  and  pack 
horses;  guide  service}  at  14  m.  The  road  crosses  the  southern  boundary 
of  Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park  (see  TOUR  5a)  at  14.4  m.  A  RANGER 
STATION*  (information  and  maps)  is  at  15.6  m. 

DRAKESBAD  RESORT  (tents  and  cabins;  saddle  horses  and  mounted 
guide  service;  25$  charge  for  non-patrons  to  visit  any  of  Drakesbad  prop- 
erty), 18.1  m.,  on  Hot  Springs  Creek  below  Flatiron  Ridge,  is  a  center  for 
exploration  of  the  remote  southeastern  sector  of  Lassen  Volcanic  National 
Park.  Just  southward  is  BOILING  SPRINGS  LAKE,  a  bubbling  cauldron 
of  volcanic  origin  encircled  by  steaming  mud  pots.  To  the  west,  the 
solfataras  of  the  DEVIL'S  KITCHEN  hiss  in  the  lava-walled  "Canyon  of 
a  Thousand  Smokes,"  through  which  flows  a  tiny  stream  called  the  Little 
Styx.  The  lava-scarred  region  northeast  is  studded  with  volcanic  peaks, 
accessible  by  trail. 

At  43.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5a),  which 
unites  with  State  36  between  this  point  and  Morgan  Springs. 

The  road  climbs  through  fine  stands  of  fir  and  pine  to  DEER 
CREEK  PASS  (5,000  alt.),  46.8  m.,  and  descends  to  MORGAN 
SPRINGS  (campground),  63.5  m.  (4,786  alt.). 

Morgan  Springs  is  at  the  junction  with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5a). 

In  MINERAL  (cabins,  lodge,  golf  course,  garage),  72.5  m.  (4,800 
alt.,  50  pop.),  a  small  vacation  town  on  the  edge  of  a  wide  mountain 
meadow  fringed  with  dense  stands  of  pine  and  fir,  are  the  ADMINIS- 
TRATIVE HEADQUARTERS  of  Lassen  Volcanic  National  Park  (see 
TOUR  5a). 

LASSEN  CAMP  (cabins,  saddle  and  pack  horses,  guide  service)  is 
at  79.5  m. 

The  road  winds  through  wooded  gorges,  where  here  and  there  a 
mountain  stream  flashes  silver,  skirting  the  base  of  an  occasional  cliff. 
Called  in  this  section  Ponderosa  Way,  it  plunges  through  the  deep  shade 
of  ponderosa  pines.  The  sky  is  a  narrow  slit  of  blue  above  the  treetops. 
Between  the  tree  trunks,  thickly  covered  with  green  moss  on  the  north 
side,  the  sun  falls  in  bright  shafts.  Moss-covered  logs,  felled  when  the 
road  was  cut  through,  lie  along  the  way. 

On  either  side  at  97  m.  rise  great  cliffs.  As  the  road  descends  into 
the  lower  foothills,  fields  are  strewn  with  masses  of  broken  dark  gray 
volcanic  rock.  Huge  purplish-hued  buttes  rise  in  the  distance.  The  flat- 
topped  craters  of  several  extinct  volcanoes  appear. 

The  road  winds  down  from  the  foothills  and  strikes  southward 
along  the  course  of  the  Sacramento  River  to  its  junction  with  US  ggE 
(see  TOUR  SB)  109.5  m.;  R.  here.  From  this  point  State  36  and 
US  99E  are  united  to  RED  BLUFF  (see  TOUR  3a)\  112.3  m.,  at 
the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a). 


TOUR    6s      533 
3K8!X&^ 


Tour  6B 

Junction  with  US  395 — Portola — Blairsden — Quincy — Rich  Bar — Oro- 
ville — Marysville — Knights  Landing — Woodland;  203.1  m.     State  24. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout;  open  at  all  seasons. 

Route  paralleled  by  Western  Pacific  R.R.  between  Portola  and  Marysville. 
Accommodations  plentiful  in  large  towns,  mountain  resorts  open  about  May  i 
to  October  i. 

State  24  climbs  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  through  Beckwourth  Pass, 
lowest  crossing  in  central  and  northern  California,  into  the  mountain- 
walled  farmlands  of  Sierra  Valley,  largest  in  the  Sierra.  It  winds  be- 
tween thick-forested  slopes  along  the  spectacular  canyon  of  the  Feather 
River,  dashing  over  its  turbulent  course  down  the  range's  long  western 
decline  through  the  heart  of  one  of  the  State's  oldest  placer  mining  re- 
gions. From  the  orange  grove  belt  below  the  foothills,  it  levels  out 
across  the  Sacramento  Valley,  paralleling  the  Feather  River  southward 
through  far-reaching  peach  orchards  and  beet  fields. 

State  24  branches  west  from  its  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR 
6a),  0  m.j  ii  miles  north  of  the  Nevada  Line,  into  the  barren  brown 
foothills  of  the  Sierra's  eastern  slope. 

The  road  climbs  easily  to  BECKWOURTH  PASS,  2.2  m.  (5,220 
alt.),  the  lowest  entrance  to  the  State  north  of  the  desert  gateways  in 
southern  California.  Its  discovery  in  the  spring  of  1850  was  the  out- 
standing achievement  of  the  remarkable  adventurer  and  trapper,  James 
P.  Beckwourth,  son  of  a  Revolutionary  War  officer  and  a  slave  mother. 
Born  in  Charlottesville,  Virginia,  in  1798,  Beckwourth  tired  early  of 
an  apprenticeship  to  a  Missouri  blacksmith  and  went  westward.  His 
rovings  had  already  carried  him  into  the  Rockies  with  Gen.  W.  H.  Ash- 
ley's fur  trading  expedition  of  1824  and  had  kept  him  some  years  among 
the  Crows.  Later  in  Florida  he  served  in  the  U.  S.  Army  and  in  New 
Mexico  traded  in  furs,  before  he  came  to  California  to  share  in  the 
revolution  of  1846.  After  further  exploits  in  New  Mexico,  he  returned 
to  California  and  discovered  this  pass. 

"This,  I  saw  at  once" — he  told  his  admiring  biographer,  T.  D. 
Bonner, — *  'would  afford  the  best  wagon-road  into  the  American  Valley 
approaching  from  the  eastward,  and  I  imparted  my  news  to  three  of 
my  companions.  .  .  .  They  thought  highly  of  the  discovery,  and  even 
proposed  to  associate  with  me  in  opening  the  road  ...  I  made  known 
my  discovery  to  a  Mr.  Turner,  proprietor  of  the  American  Ranch,  who 
entered  enthusiastically  into  my  views:  it  was  a  thing,  he  said,  he  had 
never  dreamed  of  before.  If  I  could  but  carry  out  my  plans,  and  divert 
travel  into  that  road  he  thought  I  should  be  a  made  man  for  life. 


534        CALIFORNIA 

Therefore  he  drew  up  a  subscription  list,  setting  forth  the  merits  of  the 
project  and  showing  how  the  road  could  be  made  practicable  to  Bid- 
well's  Bar,  and  thence  to  Marysville.  .  .  ." 

Over  the  wagon  road,  opened  in  1851,  Beckwourth  guided  wagon 
trains  through  the  pass.  A  dark-skinned  man,  dressed  in  leather  coat 
and  moccasins,  who  wore  his  hair  in  two  long  braids  twisted  with 
colored  cloth,  riding  without  a  saddle,  he  made  a  vivid  impression  on  a 
traveler  in  one  train,  II -year-old  Ina  Coolbrith  (later  California's  first 
poet  laureate),  in  whose  honor  massive,  evergreen-girdled  MOUNT 
INA  COOLBRITH  (8,311  alt.),  south  of  the  pass,  is  named. 

"In  the  spring  of  1852,"  he  told  Bonner,  "I  established  myself  in 
Beckwourth  Valley.  .  .  .  My  house  is  considered  the  emigrant's  land- 
ing place,  as  it  is  the  first  ranch  he  arrives  at  in  the  golden  state."  Here 
he  dedicated  to  Bonner  the  autobiography  on  which  his  reputation  as  a 
liar  is  based,  meanwhile  consuming  great  quantities  of  rum.  The  more 
the  two  cronies  drank,  the  more  Indians  Jim  would  remember  having 
killed  single-handed.  When  he  was  thoroughly  "likkered  up" — so  the 
story  goes — he  would  shout,  "Paint  her  up,  Bonner!  Paint  her  up!" 
But  fame  was  short  for  Beckwourth.  His  very  name  was  distorted  to 
Beckwith  on  early  maps.  Only  recently  has  the  correct  spelling  been 
restored. 

State  24  descends  from  Beckwourth  Pass  to  CHILCOTT,  6  m. 
(4,995  alt.,  85  pop.),  a  shipping  point  for  Sierra  Valley,  where  farming 
and  stock  raising  are  carried  on  almost  a  mile  above  sea  level. 

At  7.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  49  (see  TOUR  4a).  BECK- 
WOURTH 17  m.  (4,874  alt.,  105  pop.),  was  once  trade  center  of  a 
lumbering  area.  State  24  now  follows  closely  the  Middle  Fork  of  the 
FEATHER  RIVER,  past  BECKWOURTH  PEAK  (7,248  alt.). 

PORTOLA,  23  m.  (4,834  alt.,  1,400  pop.),  a  lumber  and  railroad 
center,  the  largest  community  in  this  Plumas  Mountain  region,  is  a  new 
and  somewhat  raw  looking  town,  named  for  the  Portola  Fiesta  in  San 
Francisco  in  1909,  commemorating  Caspar  de  Portola,  California's  first 
Spanish  governor. 

East  of  Portola  State  24  follows  Castle  Canyon,  hemmed  in  closely 
by  rugged  buttes.  Those  on  the  south,  BECKWITH  BUTTES, 
bear  Jim  Beckwourth's  name  incorrectly  spelled. 

BLAIRSDEN,  34  m.  (4,500  alt.,  262  pop.),  is  a  center  for  winter 
sports  in  the  upper  Feather  River  recreation  area.  Here  is  a  junction 
with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5b) ,  which  unites  northwest  with  State  24 
for  33  miles. 

Left  from  Blairsden  on  a  dirt  road  to  MOHAWK,  1.4  m.,  where  there 
are  sulphur  springs  (hotel  open  all  year). 

State  24-89  continues  northwest  from  Blairsden,  following  the  Mid- 
dle Fork  of  the  Feather  River,  here  a  dashing  stream  which  swells  to 
river-like  proportions  only  in  winter  spate.  El  Rio  de  las  Plumas 
(the  river  of  the  feathers)  was  the  name  that  Capt.  Luis  Arguello  and 
his  band  of  Spanish  explorers  gave  it  when  they  came  upon  its  lower 


TOUR    6  B      535 

regions  in  1820  and  found  them  strewn  with  wildfowl  feathers  or — 
according  to  another  surmise — feathery  willow  pollen. 

At  35  m.  the  FEATHER  RIVER  INN  (American  plan;  open  June  I 
to  Oct.  i)  nestles  among  the  pines.  At  SLOAT,  42.5  m.  (4,115  alt.), 
a  ranch  house  is  open  all  year.  SPRING  GARDEN,  46  m.  (3,965 
alt.,  125  pop.),  is  a  summer  resort. 

At  55  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  up  steep  grades  to  ONION  VALLEY  PASS  (trout 
fishing),  17.2  m.  (6,500  alt.).  In  its  descent  the  road  follows  ridges  between 
the  Feather  and  Yuba  drainage  systems.  At  30.1  m.  is  LA  PORTE  (5,000 
alt.),  an  old  mining  town  (meals  and  lodging}.  Between  here  and  Straw- 
berry Valley  there  is  fine  hunting  for  deer  and  quail  and  good  trout  fishing 
— particularly  for  those  prepared  to  pack  into  the  backcountry  off  this  road. 
At  43.1  m.  (3,650  alt.)  is  STRAWBERRY  VALLEY  (meals  and  lodging], 
once  a  rich  mining  area.  West  of  RACKERBY,  57.3  m.  (250  pop.),  an- 
other old  mining  camp,  near  the  upper  waters  of  South  Honcut  Creek,  the 
roadbed  is  paved;  it  rejoins  State  24  at  78.3  m. 

QUINCY,  59  m.  (3,407  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  seat  of  Plumas  County, 
is  pleasantly  situated  in  the  American  Valley;  its  white  houses,  seen 
against  green  meadows  and  pine  clad  slopes,  give  it  the  look  of  a  Ver- 
mont village.  The  town  was  established  in  1854  by  H.  J.  Bradley, 
who,  wanting  to  make  it  the  county  seat,  erected  a  frame  building  in 
the  rear  of  his  hotel  and  offered  it  free  for  county  use.  There  are  both 
mining  and  farming  in  the  vicinity  and  winter  sports  in  season. 

Left  from  Quincy  a  paved  road  leads  up  Spanish  Creek  8  m.  to 
MEADOW  VALLEY  (cabins  and  meals  May  I  to  Nov.  l)  at  the  base  of 
SPANISH  PEAK,  and  17  m.  to  BUCKS  (same  accommodations)  on  BUCKS 
LAKE  (5,071  alt.). 

At  65  m.  on  State  24  is  KEDDIE  (3,223  alt.,  150  pop.),  a  junction 
on  the  Indian  Valley  Railroad  and  a  shipping  point  for  the  surrounding 
fertile  mountain  valley. 

At  67  m.  is  the  northern  junction  with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5b)  ; 
L.  here,  through  the  deep  canyon  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  Feather, 
down  the  long  reaches  of  the  Sierra's  western  slope.  Arrow-straight 
pines  and  firs  mantle  the  canyon  walls. 

PAXTON,  69  m.  (3,080  alt.,  30  pop.),  formerly  called  Soda  Bar 
because  of  its  mineral  springs,  was  an  early  placer  mining  town. 

At  TWAIN,  73  m.  (2,909  alt.,  145  pop.),  is  a  mountain  tavern 
on  the  far  side  of  the  river  (L). 

The  highway  serpentines  down  the  narrow  canyon  to  RICH  BAR, 
82  m.  (2,502  alt.,  52  pop.).  Rich  Bar — the  Barra  Rica  of  early  Mexi- 
can placer  miners — quite  lived  up  to  its  name.  Single  pans  of  "dirt" 
produced  from  $100  to  $1500,  and  altogether  more  than  $3,000,000  in 
gold  dust  were  sifted  from  its  gravel. 

At  BELDEN,  87  m.  (2,306  alt.,  no  pop.),  is  a  junction  with  a 
dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  steep  and  winding  road  14.4  m.  to  LONGVILLE  (meals  and 
lodging),  on  YELLOW  CREEK  (4,609  alt.).  This  and  several  other 


536        CALIFORNIA 

tributary  streams  that  meet  the  Feather  River  below  Belden  afford  fine  fish- 
ing; there  is  also  good  grouse,  deer,  and  bear  hunting  here. 

Southwest  of  Belden  the  road,  the  railroad,  and  the  river  weave 
in  and  out  down  the  canyon's  twisting  course.  The  canyon,  green  with 
somber  pines,  widens  in  places  to  a  yawning  gulf,  narrows  in  others  to 
a  narrow  cleft.  The  railroad  climbs  up  the  steep  walls  to  the  heights 
above  and  dips  again  to  the  river  bed.  Over  its  jagged,  boulder-piled 
channel  the  river  spills  in  snowy,  foaming  rapids. 

East  (L)  of  WORKMAN'S  BAR  (2,128  alt.),  a  number  of  peaks 
rise  about  7,000  feet.  At  TOBIN,  94.5  m.  (2,006  alt.,  16  pop.),  the 
highway  makes  one  of  its  many  crossings  of  the  river  over  a  concrete 
bridge.  Opposite  MERLIN,  99  m.  (1,756  alt.),  State  24  winds  along 
the  granite  sides  of  GRIZZLY  PEAK.  In  two  places  the  road  passes 
through  tunnels  bored  through  the  solid  rock  of  the  bluff. 

At  PULGA  (Sp.,  flea),  108  m.  (1,380  alt.,  20  pop.),  the  highway 
crosses  the  river  on  a  graceful  arch  span  350  feet  long,  high  above  the 
railroad  bridge,  and  170  feet  above  the  churning  water.  Pulga,  at  the 
mouth  of  Flea  Valley,  was  formerly  a  populous  gold  mining  camp 
called  Big  Bar  before  the  railroad  humbled  it  with  a  new  name. 

South  of  Pulga  State  24  leaves  the  river  canyon  for  the  forested 
hills  of  Jarboe  Pass  and  meets  the  river  again  at  LAS  PLUM  AS, 
120  m.  (562  alt.,  80  pop.).  The  water  for  the  power  plant  at  Las 
Plumas  comes  through  a  tunnel  from  Intake,  a  station  5  miles  north, 
thus  avoiding  the  big  bend  in  the  river.  The  highway  once  again 
crosses  the  Feather  River  at  130.8  m.,  then  leaves  it  to  traverse  rolling 
hills  covered  with  oaks  and  digger  pines. 

OROVILLE,  136  m.  (205  alt.,  3,698  pop.),  a  quiet,  tree-shaded 
town  at  the  base  of  the  Sierra  foothills,  sprang  up  in  the  winter  of 
1849-50  as  Ophir  City,  a  tent  town,  when  gold  was  discovered  here. 
Discoveries  elsewhere  depopulated  the  place  in  1852,  but  it  boomed 
again  when  a  canal  brought  water  in  1856  to  dry  diggings  nearby. 
Oroville  in  that  year  became  the  seat  of  Butte  County,  a  city  of  4,000, 
fifth  largest  in  California,  boasting  horse  races,  two  theaters,  65  saloons, 
and  brothels  and  gambling  houses  at  every  other  door.  There  was  great 
excitement  on  February  26,  1857,  when  the  steamer  Gazelle  arrived  at 
the  levee;  but  Oroville's  river  traffic  was  short  lived;  within  three 
months,  boats  ceased  to  operate  above  rival  Marysville.  In  the  1870*5 
gold  lured  thousands  of  Chinese  and  Oroville's  Chinatown  was  Cali- 
fornia's largest  in  1872.  Special  trains  brought  them  until  there  were 
7,000  in  the  mines  and  3,000  hangers-on.  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
Chinese  were  heavily  taxed,  robbed — even  murdered — and  not  more 
than  50  remain. 

California  dredging  began  on  the  Feather  River  here  in  1898,  with 
the  floating  of  the  first  successful  bucket  elevator  dredge,  built  by  W.  P. 
Hammon  and  Thomas  Couch.  The  dredges,  as  many  as  44  operating 
at  one  time,  extracted  nearly  $30,000,000  in  gold  within  20  years.  One 
company  offered  to  move  and  rebuild  Oroville  if  permitted  to  wash  out 
the  gold-bearing  gravel  below  it. 


TOUR    6  B      537 

When  mining  died  down,  it  was  discovered  that  Oroville  stood  in  a 
thermal  belt  suitable  for  growing  semitropical  fruits.  Surrounded  by 
olive  groves  and  citrus  and  deciduous  fruit  orchards,  it  has  fruit-packing 
houses  and  an  olive-oil  refinery.  Mrs.  Ehman  of  Oroville  developed  a 
commercial  process  for  pickling  ripe  olives,  and  as  a  result  of  her  efforts 
the  city  now  has  one  of  the  largest  ripe  olive  canning  plants  in  the 
world. 

The  BUTTE  COUNTY  PIONEER  MEMORIAL  MUSEUM  (open  Tues. 
2-5),  in  a  little  edifice  of  rough  stone,  houses  relics  of  the  gold  days  and 
early  settlers. 

1.  Left  from  Oroville  on  Berry  Creek  Road  5.9  m.  to  the  junction  with 
a  paved  road;  R.  here  15.7  m.  is  FORBESTOWN    (2,800  alt.,  12  pop.),  a 
lively  mining  center  for  four  decades  after  B.  F.  Forbes  founded  it  in  1850, 
now  deserted   in  its  mountain   cove,   a   ghost  town   of   heaped   debris,   old 
foundations  and  crumbling  structures  with  fallen  roofs. 

At  9.4  m.  on  Berry  Creek  Rd.,  a  stone  monument  (L),  near  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Feather  River,  marks  BIDWELL'S  BAR,  where  a  camp  sprang  up 
soon  after  John  Bidwell  found  gold  there  July  4,  1848.  By  1853  it  had 
2,000  inhabitants.  Digging  went  on  everywhere — in  the  streets  and  under 
houses.  Here  the  river,  lifted  from  its  bed  and  carried  in  a  flume  for 
miles,  yielded  rich  gold-bearing  gravel.  Fluming  operations  reached  their 
height  in  1856-57.  Meanwhile  the  diggings  were  being  exhausted,  and  the 
whole  population  stampeded  to  Oroville,  where  a  new  boom  was  on. 
Across  the  river  gorge  hangs  the  first  suspension  bridge  erected  in  Cali- 
fornia, its  4O7-foot  cables  fastened  to  anchors  embedded  in  rock.  The 
cables  were  brought  around  the  Horn  and  the  bridge  was  opened  in  1856. 
Opposite  the  old  red-brick  toll  house  at  its  southern  end  is  the  OLD  MOTHER 
ORANGE  TREE,  planted  by  Judge  Joseph  Lewis  in  1856.  Its  seeds,  which 
brought  $i  an  ounce,  were  planted  in  northern  California's  first  citrus  belt. 
Along  the  southern  sandy  shore  (L)  is  BIDWELL'S  BAR  PARK  (swim- 
ming; picnic  tables). 

2.  Right  from  Oroville  on  a  paved  road  crossing  the  Feather  River  1  m. 
to  a  junction  with  a  paved  road;  L.  here  1  m.  to  THERMALITO  (194  alt., 
32  pop.),   where   northern   California's   first  important  orange   grove   was 
planted  in   1886.     In  the  surrounding  "thermal  belt,"  oranges  ripen   even 
earlier  than  in  southern  California. 

The  main  side  route  turns  R.  over  wooded  slopes  to  TABLE  MOUN- 
TAIN, 6.6  m.,  a  mesalike  eminence  edged  with  deeply  furrowed  palisades. 
In  the  i85o's  its  sides  were  pierced  with  35  tunnels  by  gold  miners.  Across 
the  top,  bright  with  wild  flowers  in  spring,  the  road  winds  over  wastelands 
scarred  with  patches  of  blackish  rubble. 

CHEROKEE,  11  m.  (1,400  alt.,  243  pop.),  is  a  ramshackle  hamlet  sprawl- 
ing beyond  stone  walls  and  picket  fences,  in  a  crag-strewn,  pine-wooded 
hollow.  Its  name  comes  from  the  Cherokee  Indians  who  settled  here  in 
1853.  They  were  driven  from  their  lands  in  Georgia  when  white  land 
grabbers  discovered  gold  there;  later  they  left  their  second  home  in  Arkan- 
sas to  follow  the  trappers'  route  that  came  to  be  known  as  the  Cherokee 
Trail  west  to  California.  A  mining  center  in  the  i86o's,  Cherokee  gained 
brief  fame  with  the  discovery  of  a  few  diamonds  in  the  placer  diggings. 
To  the  south  rises  a  spur  of  Table  Mountain  with  deeply  scarred  sides,  site 
of  the  abandoned  hydraulic  SPRING  VALLEY  GOLD  MINE;  100  miles  of  ditches 
and  pipe  lines  built  about  1870  carried  Feather  River  water  here.  The 
mine's  operations,  spreading  layers  of  sand  over  valley  farm  lands  below, 
stirred  bitter  opposition  among  the  farmers. 

State  24  traverses  a  flat  fertile  valley,  paralleling  the  Feather 
River  (R). 


53$        CALIFORNIA 

At  147.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road  (see  TOUR  SB). 

MARYSVILLE  (see  TOUR  SB),  165  m.,  is  at  the  junction  with 
US  99E  (see  TOUR  SB)  with  which  State  24  is  united  to  YUBA 
CITY,  166  m.  (see  TOUR  SB)  ;  L.  at  Yuba  City. 

State  24  runs  southward  through  acres  of  peach  orchards. 
At  168  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  here,  through  low-lying  fertile  orchards,  to  NICOLAUS,  19.7  m.  (33 
alt.,  89  pop.),  an  old  river  town. 

On  State  24  is  TUDOR,  174  m.  (44  alt.,  38  pop.),  in  the  heart  of 
one  of  the  State's  largest  clingstone  peach  areas;  the  Phillip  cling  peach 
was  originated  here. 

Left  from  Tudor  on  a  paved  road  1.2  m.  to  the  junction  with  the  Garden 
Highway;  R.  here  1.6  m.  to  the  SITE  OF  HOCK  FARM.  By  the  roadside  (L) 
stands  the  front  wall,  of  rusty  iron  plates  riveted  together,  of  the  old  fort, 
which  in  1842  stood  with  the  farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Feather  River. 
Named  for  an  Indian  village  on  the  Feather,  Hock  Farm  was  John  Augustus 
Sutter's  chief  stock  ranch  and  the  first  white  settlement  in  Sutter  County. 
After  the  loss  of  Sutter's  Fort  (see  SACRAMENTO]  and  most  of  his 
fortune,  he  retired  here.  From  1850  to  1868,  he  kept  open  house  in  a  hand- 
some mansion  among  gardens,  orchard,  and  vineyard. 

At  178  m.  State  24  crosses  the  SUTTER  BY-PASS,  part  of  a 
drainage  system  built  to  control  the  Sacramento  River  in  flood  season. 
ROBBINS,  186.3  m.  (49  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  a  fruit  shipping  town. 
At  194  m.  the  highway  crosses  the  SACRAMENTO  RIVER. 

Right  from  the  northern  end  of  the  bridge  on  an  improved  road  to 
KIRKVILLE,  9.4  m.  (13  alt.,  20  pop.)  and  COLES  LANDING,  14.3  m.  (17 
alt.),  busy  shipping  towns  in  early  steamboat  days. 

At  the  southern  end  of  the  bridge  is  KNIGHTS  LANDING, 
195.3  m.  (48  alt.,  600  pop.),  an  early  shipping  point  that  still  retains 
some  of  the  river  town  atmosphere  of  the  i86o's.  Moldering  false- 
front  frame  stores,  a  little  askew,  with  wooden  awnings  over  the  board- 
walks, stretch  for  two  blocks  along  the  river.  Dr.  William  Knight  was 
granted  land  here  through  marriage  with  a  Mexican  wife.  In  1843, 
two  years  after  he  immigrated  from  New  Mexico  with  the  Workman- 
Rowland  party,  he  built  a  dwelling  on  Indian  "Yoday"  Mound:  a  rude 
hut  of  willow  poles  bound  with  rawhide,  covered  with  walls  of  river 
tules  plastered  with  mud.  In  the  dense  woods  roundabout  roamed 
grizzly  bears.  Laid  out  in  1849  as  Baltimore,  the  place  came  to  be 
known  by  Knight's  name  because  of  the  ferry  he  had  established. 

State  24  cuts  through  extensive  sugar-beet  fields  to  a  junction  at 
200.5  m.  with  an  improved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  0.8  m.  to  the  SPRECKELS  SUGAR  FACTORY  (open  to  visitors 
Q-Q  workdays}.  In  the  whirring,  light-flooded  interior  of  the  factory, 
pervaded  with  a  syrupy  sweet  smell  of  sugar,  sugar  beets  are  fed  by 
conveyor  belt  to  a  complex  apparatus  of  washers,  scales,  slicers,  diffusion 
tanks,  purifiers,  filter  presses,  evaporators,  vacuum  pans,  centrifugal  ma- 
chines, and  driers;  built  at  a  cost  of  $2,500,000,  the  plant  was  opened  in 


TOUR    6c      539 

August  1937.  The  founder  of  the  company,  German  immigrant  Claus 
Spreckels,  who  came  to  California  in  the  iSso's,  started  the  State's  sugar 
beet  industry  when  he  built  a  plant  in  1888  at  Watsonville. 

WOODLAND  (see  TOUR  Sa),  203.1  m.  (63  alt.,  5,542  pop.), 
is  at  the  junction  with  US  99 W  (see  TOUR  3a). 


e^&mmas^^ 


Tour  6C 


Junction  with  US  395  —  Warner  Hot  Springs  —  Santa  Ysabel  —  Julian  — 
Junction  with  US  80;  81.7  m.    State  79. 

Limited  accommodations. 

Roadbed  oiled  or  paved  throughout. 

From  Temecula  Valley  this  route  climbs  southeast  through  a  moun- 
tain pass  to  a  broad  mountain  basin  in  the  highland  area,  and  swings 
south  through  a  fertile  mountain  valley  to  a  famous  gold  mining  dis- 
trict of  pioneer  days. 

State  79  branches  west  from  US  395,  0  m.,  through  lands  formerly 
belonging  to  Mission  San  Luis  Rey  (see  TOUR  2c).  On  the  south 
bank  of  the  Temecula  River,  which  parallels  the  road,  is  PECHANGA 
CEMETERY,  an  old  Indian  burial  ground  in  which  the  prototype  of 
Alessandro,  Indian  hero  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  Ramona,  is  buried. 
This  Indian,  Juan  Diego,  was  shot  by  an  American  in  1877  because 
of  a  supposed  horse  theft. 

The  old  WOLFE  TRADING  POST  (R),  1.9  m.  (apply  at  office  of 
Pauba  ranch  superintendent  for  adm.),  once  a  trading  post  and  tavern 
kept  by  Louis  Wolfe,  is  now  a  storeroom  and  sleeping  quarters  for  the 
ranch  laborers.  Mrs.  Wolfe  furnished  many  stories  of  the  Temecula 
Indian  evictions  (see  below)  to  Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 

At  15.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  RUINS  OF  THE  AGUANGA  STAGE  STATION,  0.3  m.,  a 
wooden  building  that  served  the  Butterfield  Overland  Stage  route.  The 
first  stage  reached  Aguanga  in  October  1858,  and  stopped  twice  a  week 
thereafter  until  1861  (see  TOUR 


In  the  small  cemetery  (L),  15.5  m.  Jacob  Bergman  and  members 
of  his  family  are  buried.  Bergman  drove  the  first  Butterfield  Stage 
through  the  valley.  His  grandson,  who  lives  near  the  Aguanga  post 
office,  has  a  collection  of  relics  and  mementos  of  the  stage  line. 

AGUANGA,  17.3  m.,  a  post  office,  store,  and  service  station,  was  a 
junction  of  the  old  trails,  one  of  which,  the  San  Bernardino-Sonora 
Road,  went  northeast  to  the  San  Gorgonio  Pass  and  through  the  San 


54°        CALIFORNIA 

Bernardino  Valley ;  the  other,  known  as  the  Colorado  Road,  went  north- 
west through  Temecula. 

At  17.4  m.  is  a  junction  with  the  Hemet  Rd.  (see  TOUR  6e). 

The  OAK  GROVE  STAGE  STATION,  23.4  m.,  a  well-preserved  adobe 
building,  is  now  a  tavern.  Oak  Grove  Valley  has  some  of  the  finest 
oaks  in  southern  California.  OAK  GROVE  PUBLIC  CAMP  GROUND, 
23.8  m.  (tables  and  ovens),  is  in  CLEVELAND  NATIONAL  FOR- 
EST. Opposite  the  camp  is  a  ranger  station. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  44,ooo-acre  WARNER'S  RANCH,  29.4  m., 
is  a  hollow  (L),  known  as  DEADMAN'S  HOLE,  named  by  a  Butterfield 
stage  driver  who  found  a  dead  man  beside  the  spring.  Old  timers  in 
the  San  Diego  back  country  have  many  tales  of  murders  at  this  spot. 

The  ranch  land  was  a  pivotal  center  for  three  Indian  peoples,  the 
Luiseno  and  Cahuilla,  of  the  Shoshonean  linguistic  stock,  and  the 
Diegueno  of  Yuman  origin.  The  particular  group  that  inhabited  this 
area  were  the  Cupeno,  a  Yuman  tribe.  (Their  name  is  a  Spanish 
corruption  of  the  name  of  their  village,  Kupa.)  To  the  west  were  the 
Luiseno,  and  to  the  north  and  east,  extending  far  into  the  Colorado 
Desert,  were  the  Cahuilla.  When  the  Spanish  padres  made  their  first 
trip  into  the  valley,  on  an  expedition  from  Mission  San  Diego,  they 
named  it  Valle  de  San  Jose.  They  found  10  villages  scattered  about 
the  valley,  the  largest  of  which  was  Kupa,  at  the  hot  springs,  later  called 
Agua  Caliente  (hot  water).  The  valley  was  used  jointly  by  the  Mis- 
sion San  Luis  Rey  and  the  Mission  San  Diego.  In  1836,  after  secu- 
larization, Silvestre  de  la  Pbrtilla  received  the  valley  as  a  grant,  but 
abandoned  his  interests,  and  in  1844,  Juan  J°se  Warner,  a  Connecticut 
Yankee  born  Jonathan  Trumbull,  was  granted  the  entire  Valle  de  San 
Jose.  He  had  come  to  California  in  1831  with  the  Jackson  party  and 
had  taken  Mexican  citizenship  papers.  After  the  secularization  of  the 
missions  the  Indians  drifted  back  to  their  ancestral  lands  and  shifted  for 
themselves.  The  Cupeno  continued  to  live  by  the  hot  springs,  where 
they  often  lay  in  the  waters  and  muds  throughout  cold  nights.  During 
Warner's  ownership,  they  were  allowed  to  remain  at  their  long-estab- 
lished rancheria  because  he  needed  their  labor,  though  he  often  com- 
plained of  their  raids  upon  his  stock.  Paid  three  dollars  a  month,  the 
usual  wage  at  that  time  for  Indians,  they  were  occasionally  stimulated 
with  applications  of  the  lash,  an  established  custom. 

Warner's  Ranch  was  the  first  civilized  stop  west  of  the  perilous 
Colorado  Desert.  Kearny  and  his  army  rested  here  on  their  way  from 
Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  to  join  Commodore  Stockton  at  San  Diego, 
in  1846.  Warner  moved  to  Los  Angeles  after  an  Indian  uprising  in 
1851,  and  by  1861  he  had  lost  his  interest  in  the  ranch.  In  1880,  John 
G.  Downey,  a  former  governor  of  California,  owned  the  property.  The 
Indians'  rights  to  occupy  the  land  became  a  matter  of  controversy.  A 
suit  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  which  decided 
against  the  Indians.  In  the  meantime,  the  Sequoya  League,  aided  by  the 
reports  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  succeeded  in  having  the  Government 
investigate  their  plight.  A  commision  bought  3,438  acres  in  the  Pala 


TOUR     6  C        541 

Valley,  near  the  Pala  Mission  Chapel,  for  a  reservation,  and  in  1903 
the  Indians  were  forcibly  removed  to  it.  They  have  lived  peacefully  in 
this  new  territory,  though  they  are  placed  among  Indians  of  a  different 
linguistic  stock.  Warner's  Valley  is  now  the  property  of  the  San 
Diego  Water  Company  and  the  western  section  of  the  old  rancho  has 
been  covered  by  Lake  Henshaw  (see  below).  Much  of  the  area  is 
leased  to  private  cattle  raisers. 

WARNER  HOT  SPRINGS,  38.3  m.,  is  a  mineral  springs  resort 
(cabins,  campgrounds,  hotel).  Its  Spanish-type  buildings  are  among 
elms  and  locust  trees. 

At  41.9  m.  on  State  79  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  here  to  the  HEADQUARTERS  OF  WARNER'S  RANCH,  1  m.,  and  to  a  well- 
preserved  BUTTERFIELD  STAGE  STATION,  2  m. 

MORETTIS,  46.3  m.,  is  a  service  station. 

Right  from  Morettis  to  LAKE  HENSHAW,  4  m.,  a  reservoir  of  the  San 
Diego  water  system,  built  in  1922. 

At  50.5  m.  in  Santa  Ysabel  Valley,  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  VOLCAN  INDIAN  SCHOOL,  0.5  m.,  on  the  SANTA 
YSABEL  INDIAN  RESERVATION. 

At  51.8  m.  on  State  79  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  ror.d. 

Right  here  to  the  MESA  GRANDE  INDIAN  RESERVATION,  7  m. 

SANTA  YSABEL  CHAPEL  (L),  52.2  m.,  a  concrete  building,  was 
built  in  1924  on  the  site  of  an  adobe  asistencia  (chapel)  erected  in  1822 
by  the  padres  of  Mission  San  Diego.  This  branch  of  the  mission  never 
equaled  the  importance  of  Pala  Chapel,  but  a  mission  report  of  1822 
mentioned  a  granary,  several  houses,  a  cemetery,  and  540  baptized  In- 
dians. After  secularization,  Santa  Ysabel  fell  into  ruin,  though  some 
Indians  still  continued  to  attend  services.  Even  after  the  chapel  was 
completely  obliterated,  the  bells  continued  to  be  rung  from  a  frame- 
work of  logs  on  which  they  had  been  mounted;  later  they  mysteriously 
disappeared.  No  Indians  live  here  because  the  acquisitive  whites  have 
pushed  them  farther  into  the  rough  back  country. 

The  SANTA  YSABEL  CAMPO  SANTO  (cemetery),  52.3  m.,  has  been 
used  since  the  i82o's.  Nearby  are  the  enramadas  (arbors)  made  of 
green  boughs  brought  from  the  surrounding  hills,  where  the  Indians 
gather  twice  a  year  for  traditional  festivals. 

SANTA  YSABEL,  53.8  m.  (2,983  alt.),  is  a  small  trading  center 
(all  accommodations)  at  a  junction  with  State  78  (see  TOUR  6e), 
with  which  State  79  unites  briefly. 

WYNOLA,  56.8  m.}  is  a  filling  station  and  an  elementary  school. 

At  60.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  PINE  HILLS  RESORT,  2.5  m.  (lodge  and  cabin 
accommodations}.  Nearby  is  CAMP  MARSTON,  a  Y.M.C.A.  camp  for  boys, 
named  in  honor  of  the  donor  of  the  tract,  George  W.  Marston. 


542        CALIFORNIA 

JULIAN,  61.4  m.  (4,129  alt.),  a  boom  town  during  the  1 870*5, 
is  now  a  farmers'  trade  center,  surrounded  by  pine-wooded  resort  areas. 
The  town  was  established  by  the  Bailey  brothers  and  their  cousins, 
the  Julian  brothers,  who  moved  into  the  region  in  1869,  shortly  after 
placer  gold  was  discovered  near  the  site  of  the  present  town. 

In  1870  13-year-old  Billy  Gorman,  who  had  arrived  in  Julian  with 
his  family  from  Texas,  found  a  piece  of  white  rock  flecked  with  yellow. 
He  took  the  quartz  to  his  father,  who  opened  a  mine  that  was  to  become 
the  George  Washington,  commemorating  the  date  of  the  discovery — 
Washington's  Birthday.  As  news  of  the  strike  spread,  gold-seekers, 
gamblers,  and  their  women  flocked  in,  and  for  a  decade  the  place  was 
enlivened  by  quarrels,  pistol  shootings,  and  stabbings.  Twenty-mule 
teams  and  wagons  were  used  to  haul  ore  to  San  Diego.  About  1880, 
when  gold  had  already  become  scarce  in  Julian,  the  big  strike  at  Tomb- 
stone, Ariz.,  was  made,  and  most  Julian  residents  deserted  the  town. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  more  than  $15,000,000  in  gold  were  taken 
from  the  district. 

At  61.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  78  (see  TOUR  6e). 

At  66.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  county  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  840- acre  INAJA  (Ind.,  my  springs)  INDIAN 
RESERVATION,  7m.  (33  pop.),  and  the  So-acre  COSMIT  RESERVA- 
TION, 7.7  m.  (unpopulated).  This  land,  remarkable  for  its  unspoiled 
beauty,  is  used  mainly  for  grazing. 

CUYAMACA  (Ind.,  rain  above)  STATE  PARK,  69.7  m.,  is  a 
resort  area  around  CUYAMACA  LAKE,  part  of  San  Diego's  water 
supply  system.  In  pioneer  days  it  was  known  at  La  Laguna  Que  Se 
Seca  (the  lake  that  dries  up). 

At  81.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  80  (see  TOUR  14b),  at  a  point 
3  miles  east  of  Descanso. 


«<<<«<<««^^ 


Tour 


( Tonopah,  Nev. )  — Bishop — B rown — Moj ave — Los  Angeles — Wilming- 
ton— Long  Beach ;  US  6. 
Nevada  Line  to  Long  Beach,  355.2  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout. 

Southern  Pacific  Line  parallels  route  between  Nevada  Line  and  Bishop. 

Accommodations  limited  between  Nevada  Line  and  Bishop. 

In  1937  US  6  was  extended  westward  to  form  a  single  numbered 
route  between  Cape  Cod  and  southern  California.  The  sections  in 
Nevada  and  Utah  are  being  improved  (1939). 


TOUR    7      543 

Section  a.    NEVADA  LINE  to  BISHOP;  41.5  m.     US  6. 

South  of  the  Nevada  Line  US  6  sweeps  through  Benton  Valley,  a 
basin  lying  between  three  sections  of  Inyo  National  Forest,  in  the 
shadow  of  the  I3,ooo-foot  White  Mountain  Range.  Crossing  the 
range,  the  route  emerges  into  Chalfant  Valley,  once  the  stronghold  of 
the  Paiute,  and  still  one  of  the  most  primitive  regions  in  California. 
At  many  points  the  faces  of  cliffs  and  granite  mountain  walls  still  bear 
the  marks  of  aborigines  in  the  form  of  petroglyphs  (stone  carvings)  and 
pictographs  (picture  writings).  The  area  is  sparsely  settled. 

US  6  crosses  the  Nevada  Line,  0  ra.,  71  miles  west  of  Tonopah, 
Nev.,  cuts  southeastward  across  the  valley,  and  aims  directly  for  a 
towenng  granite  spur  which  seemingly  bars  the  way  straight  ahead. 
The  highway  rounds  this  cliff  and  swings  due  south  through  an  opening 
between  the  mountains. 

BENTON  STATION,  7.5  m.  (5,393  alt.,  15  pop.),  is  a  railroad 
shipping  center  and  an  outfitting  point  for  fishing  and  pack  trips  into 
INYO  NATIONAL  FOREST,  just  south  of  the  town.  The  jagged 
crest  of  MOUNT  DUBOIS  (13,545  alt.)  rears  conspicuously  (L) 
above  the  mass  of  the  White  Mountains,  a  range  nearly  as  high 'and 
fully  as  precipitous  as  the  main  mass  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  bulks 
straight  ahead.  The  White  Mountain  district  of  Inyo  National  Forest 
contains  rugged  areas  equaling  those  in  certain  sections  of  the  high 
Sierra  and  regions  white  men  have  not  penetrated. 

The  bordering  ranges  move  in  toward  highway  and  railroad  in  a 
wide  pass  at  10  m. 

At  17  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.3  m.  to  the  INDIAN  TRACK  CARVINGS,  accessible 
by  a  short  climb  up  the  steep  bluff  (L).  The  carvings  consist  of  hundreds 
of  tracks,  the  origin  of  which  living  Indians  are  unable  to  explain.  They 
extend  for  100  yards  along  the  crest  of  a  broken  ridge.  Prominent  among 
them  are  the  tracks  of  an  infant's  feet  and  the  heavy  marks  of  bears,  dogs, 
coyotes,  and  cats.  About  1888  the  Paiute  went  on  a  rampage  and  destroyed 
many  of  the  markings,  which  were  made,  they  said,  by  "evil  little  men  who 
crept  from  the  rocks  at  night." 

At  25  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  through  Chidalgo  Canyon  to  the  INDIAN  PICTURE 
CARVING  LABYRINTH,  1  m.,  a  maze  of  rock  carvings  made  in  the 
remote  past.  Some  of  them  are  geometrical  designs  and  some  are  of  human 
figures,  but  most  are  crude  renderings  of  animals:  deer,  bear,  bighorn 
sheep,  lizards,  snakes,  and  a  dragonfly. 

As  the  mountain  ranges  again  draw  apart,  the  highway  enters 
Chalfant  Valley.  The  CHALFANT  GROUP  OF  INDIAN 
WRITINGS  (R),  27  m.,  visible  from  the  road,  extend  high  on  an 
almost  unscalable  wall  for  a  half  mile.  The  group  consists  of  both 
petroglyphs  and  pictographs,  some  representing  individual  figures  and 
others,  large  connected  groups. 

At  34.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 


544        CALIFORNIA 

Right  on  this  steep  road,  which  winds  to  the  top  of  a  volcanic  tableland, 
to  the  PAIUTE  INDIAN  RESERVATION,  5  m.,  where  dwellthe  remnants 
of  the  Indian  tribes  that  once  ranged  over  the  region.  At  5.5  m.  are  large 
INDIAN  PETROGLYPHS.  The  most  conspicuous  unit  is  about  5.5  feet  in 
diameter;  others,  linked  with  the  largest  unit  by  almost  indistinguishable 
lines,  constitute  a  series  some  20  feet  long.  There  is  also  an  "inscriptive 
wall" — a  projecting  rock  carved  with  designs  described  variously  as  a  sun 
dial,  a  flood  gage,  and  a  calendar.  The  projection,  extending  8  feet  beyond 
the  rock  wall,  is  accessible  only  by  ladder. 

LAWS,  37  m.  (4,200  alt.,  84  pop.),  is  a  railroad  water  stop;  its 
inhabitants  are  chiefly  railroad  workers. 

The  highway  crosses  the  OWENS  RIVER,  37.4  m.,  whose  swift 
current  flows  through  a  deep  gorge  in  the  volcanic  tableland. 

At  BISHOP,  41.5  m.  (4,147  alt.,  1,159  pop.)  (see  TOUR  6b)y 
is  the  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6c).  South  of  Bishop  US  6 
and  US  395  are  united  for  123.5  miles  (see  TOUR  6b). 

Section  b.     BROWN  to  LONG  BEACH;  190.2  m.     US  6. 

This  section  of  US  6  sweeps  southward  across  the  flat  basin  of  the 
Mojave  Desert  toward  the  distant  San  Gabriel  Mountains  in  an  almost 
level  course.  The  arid  desert  is  relieved  at  intervals  by  the  green, 
irrigated  farming  districts  of  lower  Antelope  Valley.  It  crosses  the 
San  Gabriel,  winds  through  Mint  Canyon,  and  descends  into  San 
Fernando  Valley.  Through  straggling  metropolitan  outskirts,  it  con- 
tinues into  Los  Angeles  and  southward  across  the  almost  flat  coastal 
plain. 

South  of  its  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6b) ,  0  m.f  on  the 
western  outskirts  of  Brown,  US  6  skims  along  the  western  edge  of 
broad,  arid  Indian  Wells  Valley  through  typical  Mojave  Desert  coun- 
try sparsely  grown  with  creosote  and  wolf  bush.  Distantly  (L)  the 
ARGUS  MOUNTAINS  rise  from  the  sandy  plain— dun  gray  in  the 
shadows,  brilliant  lavender  where  the  sun's  rays  strike.  To  the  west 
(R)  rise  the  majestic  ridges  of  the  High  Sierra.  OWENS  PEAK, 
(8,475  alt.),  1  m.,  highest  of  the  east  slope  Sierra  pinnacles  in  this 
region,  is  conspicuous  among  sister  peaks. 

Unbroken  desert  landscape  unrolls  as  US  6  moves  across  the  heat- 
blistered  valley.  Paradoxically,  a  hundred  yards  from  the  road  (R), 
winds  the  water-filled  open  concrete  channel  of  the  LOS  ANGELES 
AQUEDUCT,  which  redeemed  San  Fernando  Valley  from  a  desert  as 
arid  as  this. 

At  20.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  Hartz  Rd. 

Left  on  this  road  through  LAST  CHANCE  CANYON  to  ROARING 
RIDGE  PETRIFIED  FOREST,  7  m.  (adm.  50$,  children  free],  where  tree 
sections  of  a  petrified  forest  are  scattered  over  hills  that  once  teemed  with 
animal  life,  as  fossil  discoveries — including  tusks  of  a  rhinoceros  and  an 
elephant — have  proved.  A  series  of  dugouts  in  the  canyon  wall  at  11  m.  is 
a  reminder  of  the  gold-mining  activity  that  once  flourished  in  this  gorge. 
In  the  dugouts,  now  fitted  with  doors  and  windows,  dwell  a  strange  com- 
munity of  miners  who  search  for  nuggets  and  "dust"  in  the  surrounding 
hills. 


TOUR    7      545 

RICARDO,  30.2  m.  (2,443  alt.),  with  gas  station,  garage,  and  refresh- 
ment stand,  is  hemmed  in  by  the  EL  PASO  MOUNTAINS  (L)  and  the 
foothills  (R)  of  the  PAIUTE  MOUNTAINS. 

From  the  desert  US  6  now  winds  through  a  deep  lateral  gorge  of 
RED  ROCK  CANYON,  whose  towering  cliffs  are  of  reddish-brown 
sandstone,  carved  by  wind  and  weather  into  fantastic  shapes,  and  into 
the  desert  again. 

At  37.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  graveled  Jawbone  Canyon  Rd. 

Right  on  this  road  through  Jawbone  Canyon  to  the  HILL  OF  BLUE-GREEN 
STONE,  5  m.,  a  rock  mass  of  bright  and  bizarre  colors. 

At  5.5  m.  on  the  main  side  road  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here 
2.6  m.  to  a  mountain  of  stone,  white  as  snow.  Known  as  "vitrox,"  this 
formation  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  dishes,  vitrified  tile,  and  enamel  for 
bathroom  fixtures. 

CINCO  (gas  station},  40  m.  (2,612  alt.),  a  construction  camp 
when  the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct  (see  TOUR  6c),  was  being  built,  lies 
at  the  base  of  brilliantly  colored  RED  HILL. 

The  highway  at  53  m.  is  bordered  by  an  elfin  forest  of  greasewood, 
where  lO-foot  yucca  trees  lift  distorted  trunks.  The  leaves  of  the 
greasewood  bush  give  off  a  strong,  acrid,  yet  rather  pleasant  odor  when 
crushed.  In  the  spring  the  bush  is  covered  with  yellow  blossoms. 

At  57  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  466-91   (see  TOUR  lib). 

In  MOJAVE,  58.3  m.  (2,751  alt.,  638  pop.),  J.  W.  S.  Perry  built 
IO  huge  wagons  in  1883  to  naul  borax  out  of  Death  Valley,  and  for  five 
following  years  these  conveyances,  drawn  by  2O-mule  teams,  plied  be- 
tween Death  Valley  and  Mojave  (see  DEATH  V ALLEY  NA- 
TIONAL MONUMENT}.  Today  Mojave,  a  supply  center  for 
desert  gold  prospectors,  is  the  heart  of  a  rapidly  widening  agricultural 
district. 

South  of  Mojave,  the  peaks  of  the  High  Sierra,  which  have  towered 
close  to  the  highway  throughout,  recede  to  merge  with  the  lower 
TEHACHAPI  MOUNTAINS.  The  intervening  area— partly  flat, 
sandy  desert,  partly  rolling  foothills  and  occasional  low  peaks — con- 
stitutes the  Mojave  mining  district,  where  greatest  activity  centers 
about  SOLEDAD  MOUNTAIN,  62  m.  (4,183  alt.),  a  dark  gray 
rounded  mass. 

At  62.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  a  lone,  one-story  frame  building  housing  a  filling 
station  and  lunchroom  and  grandiosely  styling  itself  GOLDTOWN,  1  m. 
(2,600  alt.,  4  pop.). 

GOLDEN  QUEEN  MINE,  2  m.,  with  its  extensive  galvanized  iron  sheds, 
spidery  loading  shoots  and  great  ore  dumps,  disfigures  the  slope  of  Soledad 
Mountain.  This  mine  startlingly  revived  dwindling  activity  in  the  once 
fabulously  rich  district  when  discovered  in  1935  by  George  Holmes,  a 
prospector.  He  sold  his  find  for  $3,500,000. 

ROSAMOND,  71.9  m.  (2,310  alt.,  204  pop.),  is  a  supply  center 
for  ranching  and  mining  interests.  The  hotel,  built  of  quartz,  has  a 
fireplace  studded  with  gold  ore.  White,  desolate  ROSAMOND  DRY 
LAKE  glitters  (L)  in  the  sun  across  5  miles  of  desert. 


546        CALIFORNIA 

^  US  6  crosses  ANTELOPE  VALLEY,  75  miles  long.  About  a 
third  of  the  narrow  valley  is  under  cultivation,  producing  alfalfa,  pears, 
barley,  wheat,  and  oats  under  dry  farming  methods.  An  experimental 
crop  oi  800  acres  of  sugar  beets  in  the  Lancaster-Palmdale  region  (see 
below)  in  1936  led  to  a  4,ooo-acre  crop  in  1937. 

In  LANCASTER,  84.6  m.  (2,356  alt.,  1,550  pop.),  branches  of 
Los  Angeles  County  administrative  departments  are  maintained. 

PALMDALE,  92.6  m.  (2,669  alt.,  1,224  pop.)>  is  the  business  cen- 
ter of  southern  Antelope  Valley,  a  fruit  and  alfalfa  growing  district, 
where  4,000  tons  of  Bartlett  pears  are  shipped  annually. 

PALMDALE  RESERVOIR  (R),  95.4  m.,  is  one  of  several  stor- 
age basins  supplied  from  deep  wells. 

US  6  ascends  the  grade  leading  to  MINT  CANYON  over  foot- 
hills sparsely  covered  with  chaparral  and  mountain  juniper. 

At  104.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  Crown  Valley  Rd. 

Right  on  this  unpaved  road  to  GOVERNOR  MINE,  1  m.,  formerly  the  Old 
New  York  Mine.  The  mine  was  opened  about  1889  and  was  worked 
sporadically  until  the  early  1920'$.  An  increase  in  the  price  of  gold  resulted 
in  its  reopening  in  1932.  The  main  tunnel  penetrates  600  feet. 

Mounting  steadily  between  forested  slopes,  US  6  achieves  the  sum- 
mit of  MINT  CANYON  GRADE,  (3,429  alt.),  107.5  m.,  then 
descends  into  SIERRA  PELONA  VALLEY. 

At  124.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  Soledad  Canyon  Rd. 

Left  on  this  paved  road  to  SOLEDAD  GORGE,  6.3  m.,  a  deep,  rocky 
gash  between  cliffs  500  to  800  feet  high. 

At  8.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  Agua  Dulce  Canyon  Rd. ;  L.  here  2.5  m. 
through  a  geological  wonderland  of  tilted  rock  formations,  to  a  junction 
with  a  private  dirt  road;  R.  here  to  VASQUEZ  CAVES,  3.5  m.  (adm.  25$), 
reputed  hideout  of  the  bandit,  Tiburcio  Vasquez,  who  in  the  i86o's  terror- 
ized coastal  California.  The  caves  are  a  series  of  small  caverns  gouged 
by  wind  and  rain  in  the  sandstone  cliffs  of  ESCONDIDO  CANYON.  The 
VASQUEZ  ROCKS,  5.3  m.  (adm.  50$),  are  a  grotesque  jumble.  They,  too, 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  bandit  chief,  for  tradition  asserts  Vasquez 
and  his  highwaymen  led  pursuing  posses  many  a  merry  chase  through  this 
maze,  invariably  losing  them  before  they  had  penetrated  to  his  hideout  in 
the  caves. 

The  SANTA  CLARA  RIVER,  125.6  m.,  usually  a  tiny  trickle  of 
water  down  a  graveled  bed,  is  a  roaring,  destructive  torrent  during  the 
rainy  season. 

HILL  RANCH  (L),  129  m.,  formerly  the  property  of  cowboy  actor 
Hoot  Gibson,  is  the  scene  of  annual  rodeos  (time  and  adm.  vary). 

SAUGUS,  130.6  m.  (1,171  alt.,  151  pop.),  is  a  Southern  Pacific 
R.R.  division  point. 

At  132.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  Placentas  (Sp.,  little  gold  dig- 
gings) Canyon  Rd. 

Left  on  this  road  to  MONOGRAM  VILLAGE  (L),  0.5  m.,  an  outdoor 
location  set  of  Monogram  Pictures,  Inc.,  of  Hollywood,  and  to  the  OAK  OF 
GOLDEN  LEGEND  (L),  3.6  m.  Under  this  spreading  oak  the  first  gold  dis- 


T  o  u  R    7      547 

covery  in  California  was  made  in  1842  by  Don  Francisco  Lopez.  Noting 
bright  particles  clinging  to  the  roots  of  wild  onions  he  had  dug  for  his 
lunch,  he  had  a  test  made,  which  revealed  particles  of  gold.  The  discovery 
caused  widespread  excitement  and  brought  prospectors  from  as  far  away  as 
Mexico.  In  November  1842,  the  first  California  gold  was  shipped  from  the 
Placeritas  mines  to  the  U.  S.  Mint  in  Philadelphia. 

At  133.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  junction  with  a  private  dirt  road,  02  m.;  L. 
here  to  the  NEWHALL  REFINERY,  0.4  m.,  California's  first,  built  in  1876.  The 
old  stills,  retorts,  and  petroleum  vats  have  been  carefully  restored. 

NEWHALL,  133.6  m.  (1,273  alt.,  1,104  pop.),  now  a  trade  cen- 
ter for  ranchers,  farmers,  and  oil  producers,  was  the  point  from  which 
oil  exploitation  in  southern  California  began.  Since  discovery  of  oil  in 
the  district  in  1861,  the  fields  have  produced  steadily.  Overlooking 
the  town  from  a  hill  (R)  is  the  ESTATE  OF  WILLIAM  S.  HART,  former 
star  of  the  Western  motion  pictures. 

US  6  moves  up  the  NEWHALL  GRADE  and  through  NEWHALL 
PASS,  where  paths  of  the  eighteenth-  and  nineteenth-century  trail  blaz.- 
ers  converged.  NEWHALL  TUNNELL  (use  lights;  drive  slowly},  136.1 
m.f  is  a  narrow  bore  through  the  ridge. 

BOULDER  MONUMENT  (L),  136.4  m.,  marks  the  entrance  to  a 
narrow  canyon  known  as  OLD  FREMONT  PASS,  because  this  way  in  Janu- 
uary,  1847,  came  Capt.  John  Charles  Fremont  on  his  way  from  Santa 
Barbara  to  Los  Angeles.  Later  the  pass  was  operated  as  a  toll  road, 
the  owner  exacting  a  stiff  fee  from  hapless  travelers.  So  steep  was  the 
grade  (29%)  that  the  tollmaster  kept  horses  ready  to  pull  wagons 
over  the  crest.  At  the  top  the  wagons — and  even  early  automobiles 
—had  their  wheels  chained  fast  for  the  downward  slide. 

At  137.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3c),  which 
unites  with  US  6  between  this  point  and  Los  Angeles. 

LOS  ANGELES,  164.9  m.  (286  alt.,  1,238,048  pop.),  (see  LOS 
ANGELES). 

Los  Angeles  is  at  the  junction  with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12c),  US 
99  (see  TOUR  3c),  and  US  60-70  (see  TOUR  13b). 

US  6  follows  Figueroa  St.  south  through  city  outskirts  into  non- 
descript rural  sections  with  many  tracts  of  unused  land. 

The  narrow  SHOESTRING  STRIP,  176.8  m.,  is  a  neck  of  Los 
Angeles  City  property  that  runs  8  miles  through  county  territory  to 
link  the  city  with  its  harbor  (see  TOUR  2B)  ;  it  was  incorporated  as 
Los  Angeles  territory  in  the  city's  movement  to  annex  the  harbor  dis- 
trict and  the  seaport  towns  of  Wilmington  and  San  Pedro.  The 
maneuver  met  frantic  opposition  from  subdivision  developers  and  civic 
independence  supporters  in  the  little  municipalities  whose  territory  lay 
in  the  way.  Once  the  strategic  strip  was  joined  to  Los  Angeles,  the  city 
was  ready  to  annex  the  towns  of  Wilmington  and  San  Pedro  and  their 
harbors,  which  it  did  in  1909. 

The  tall  steel  and  wood  derricks  of  the  ATHENS  AND  ROSE- 
CRANS  OIL  FIELDS,  177.2  m.,  opened  in  1923,  rise  from  low  hills 


54^        CALIFORNIA 

on  either  side  of  the  highway.     The  northern  wells   are   "stripping" 
wells — which    draw   the   last    remaining   oil    from   the    field — and    the 
southern  ones  are  "flowing"  wells — which  produce  oil  without  pumping. 
At  179.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  One  Hundred  Sixty-First  St. 

Right  on  this  asphalt-paved  road  is  GARDENA,  1  m.  (45  alt.,  4,560  pop.). 
In  and  about  its  community  center  are  substantial  brick  and  concrete  busi- 
ness and  civic  buildings  of  the  Spanish-California  type.  The  town  is 
gradually  rilling  with  small  manufacturing  plants  and  businesses  and  with 
the  stucco  homes  of  those  who  like  rural  living  near  a  large  metropolitan 
center,  although  poultry  raising  and  truck  farming  are  still  among  its 
important  assets. 

At  180.8  m.,  the  highway  forks;  US  6  turns  L.  on  Main  Street 
past  occasional  marshy,  reed-grown  ponds  where  coots  and  killdeer 
come  to  feed.  As  roadside  stands,  small  farms,  and  dwellings  increase 
in  number,  big  aluminum-painted  oil-storage  tanks,  pumping  plants  and 
oil  derricks  appear  among  fields  and  pastures. 

WILMINGTON,  184.6  m.  (0-38  alt.,  14,907  pop.),  (see  TOUR 
2B)  is  at  the  junction  with  US  101  Alt.  (see  TOUR  2B),  which 
unites  with  US  6  to  Long  Beach. 

The  forests  of  oil  derricks  thicken  as  the  highway  passes  great  re- 
fineries and  tank  farms.  Multiple-armed  steel  towers  carrying  high- 
tension  power  lines  cross  the  road. 

LONG  BEACH,  190.2  m.  (0-47  alt.,  142,032  pop.),  (see  LONG 
BEACH). 


tKKGSKS^^^ 


Tour  8 


Alturas — Burney — Redding — Weaverville — Jet.    US    101 ;    290.3    m., 
US  299. 

Paved   roadbed  throughout,   open    all   season;    during  periods   of   heavy   snow, 
obtain  road  information  at  Alturas  and  Redding. 

West  of  Alturas,  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  California,  US  299 
cuts  diagonally  across  harsh  lava  country  and  the  Cascade  Range,  par- 
alleling the  Pit  River.  West  of  Redding,  in  the  northern  end  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley,  it  follows  the  Trinity  River  across  the  Coast  Range 
through  hydraulically  scarred  mountainsides  and  deserted  mining  camps. 

Section  a.     ALTURAS  to  REDDING;  143.5  m.     US  299. 

ALTURAS,  0  m.  (4,446  alt.,  2,338  pop.),  seat  of  Modoc  County, 
at  a  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6a),  is  the  center  of  a  region 


TOUR    8      549 

whose  history  is  one  of  violent  and  bloody  Indian  warfare  (see  TOUR 
8 A).  Alturas  is  principally  a  commercial  center  for  ranchers  who 
raise  stock,  potatoes,  and  alfalfa  hay.  The  short  residential  streets  are 
really  wide,  unpaved  country  lanes,  their  poplar-shaded  lengths  branch- 
ing from  the  main  thoroughfare.  The  town  until  1874  was  called 
Dorris  Bridge,  for  its  first  permanent  white  settler,  James  Dorris, 
who  in  1869  built  a  crude  wooden  bridge  across  the  narrow  creek 
at  the  east  end  of  town  and  erected  a  house  that  became  a  shelter  for 
travelers. 

The  creation  of  Modoc  County  was  in  the  nature  of  a  secession 
from  the  mother  county,  Siskiyou.  The  citizens  of  Dorris  Bridge,  an- 
gered by  the  refusal  of  county  supervisors  to  build  a  road  over  the  moun- 
tains between  that  settlement  and  Cedarville  (see  TOUR  6a) ,  not  only 
constructed  the  desired  road  themselves,  but  elected  a  representative  to 
the  legislature  pledged  to  the  creation  of  a  new  and  separate  county. 
Enemies  of  the  bill  succeeded  in  changing  the  name  of  the  proposed 
county  from  Canby  to  Modoc,  and  rather  than  lose  it  entirely,  they  ac- 
cepted the  hated  name  of  the  local  Indians,  called  Moa  Docks  (near 
southerners)  by  the  Klamaths  to  the  north. 

At  MODOC  NATIONAL  FOREST  HEADQUARTERS,  on  Main  St.,  in- 
formation on  camping,  hunting,  and  fishing  in  the  forest  is  available. 
The  forest,  extending  northward  is  the  home  of  mule-tail  deer  which 
weigh  up  to  350  pounds,  dressed.  Ducks,  quail,  geese,  and  sage  hens 
are  abundant.  The  i,5OO,OOO-acre  Modoc  Forest  is  a  range  for  about 
94,000  head  of  sheep  and  more  than  30,000  head  of  cattle  and  horses. 

The  huge  barn  (L)  on  Main  St.,  which  for  many  years  has  housed 
the  ALTURAS  TRADING  POST,  looks  today  much  as  it  did  in  the  early 
1870*5  when  it  was  the  Alturas  Livery  Stable.  The  town's  most  im- 
posing structure,  the  stately  gray  stone  building  at  the  edge  of  town 
(L),  constructed  at  a  cost  of  $60,000  as  headquarters  of  a  narrow-gage 
railway  line,  has  been  deserted  for  years. 

The  long,  low-roofed  buildings  occupying  an  extensive  tract  at 
1.4  m.,  are  the  $1,000,000  PICKERING  LUMBER  MILLS,  built  before 
the  business  depression  and  never  operated.  The  region  waits  hope- 
fully for  lumber  prices  to  warrant  the  opening  of  the  mill. 

Crossing  Rattlesnake  Creek  at  5  m.,  the  highway  meets  the  PIT 
RIVER,  so  called  because  the  local  Indians  formerly  dug  conical  pits 
in  which  to  trap  game  and  hostile  tribesmen.  The  small  openings  to 
the  pits  were  hidden  by  brush,  and  sharp  stakes  were  placed  in  the  bot- 
toms to  impale  the  victims. 

West  of  here  the  broad  expanse  traversed  is  broken  at  intervals  by 
small  cultivated  areas;  tall  windmills  dominate  tiny  clusters  of  tree- 
sheltered  farm  buildings. 

At  KELLEY  HOT  SPRINGS  (L),  16.2  m.,  (cabins)  the  mineral 
waters  bubble  from  the  ground  in  clouds  of  white  steam  and  flow  into  a 
stream  whose  bed  is  colored  vividly  by  the  action  of  the  minerals,  its 
bright  greens,  red,  and  yellows  softened  by  deposits  of  dusty  gray  and 
blue  at  the  water's  edge. 


55O        CALIFORNIA 

CANBY,  18.2  m.  (4,351  alt.,  75  pop.),  named  for  Gen.  Edward  S. 
Canby  of  Modoc  War  fame  (see  TOUR  8 A] ,  lies  among  fields  of 
alfalfa  and  timothy  hay. 

At  18.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  highway  (see  TOUR  8A). 

US  299  follows  Pit  River,  winding  through  a  region  of  small  farms 
and  yellow  pastureland.  A  hilly  spur  of  the  Warner  Range  looms 
larger  now,  roughly  paralleling  the  highway.  US  299  swings  abruptly 
south  across  the  west-bound  river  to  CANBY  BRIDGE  (FOREST  SERVICE) 
PUBLIC  CAMPGROUND  and  leaves  its  south  bank  to  wind  up  the  Adin 
Mountains  through  hemlocks  and  pines.  Small  lumber  camps  reveal 
their  positions  in  the  hills  by  clouds  of  blue  smoke  that  drift  above  dis- 
tant treetops. 

From  the  RONEY  FLAT  CAMPGROUND  (R)  at  ADIN  PASS  SUM- 
MIT, 28.2  77i.  (5,196  alt.),  US  299  descends  past  INDIAN 
SPRINGS  (fuel,  camping  accommodations},  33  m.,  winding  along 
sparkling  Rush  Creek  through  thinning  woods  to  the  farms  of  Big  Val- 
ley. Harvest  time  finds  these  smooth  reaches  dotted  by  great  stacks 
of  yellow  hay. 

In  ADIN,  39.9  m.  (4,271  alt.,  220  pop.),  a  small  lumbering  and 
farming  community,  is  the  BIG  VALLJEY  RANGER  STATION  (R).  Tall 
poplars  line  the  roadway  in  front  of  scattered  weather-beaten  frame 
buildings  and  a  tiny,  white-steepled  wooden  church. 

US  299  swings  over  a  plateau  covered  with  brush  to  BASSET 
HOT  SPRINGS,  50.1  m.,  in  another  of  the  small  cultivated  areas  that 
break  the  monotony  of  the  semiarid  expanse,  where  mineral  waters  are 
piped  into  pools  and  tubs. 

BIEBER,  52.2  m.  (4,169  alt.,  150  pop.),  where  the  erratic  Pit 
River  is  again  crossed  by  the  highway,  was  founded  in  1877  by  its  first 
merchant  and  journalist,  Nathan  Bieber;  it  had  been  called  Chalk 
Ford  because  of  the  numerous  chalk  deposits  in  the  vicinity.  ODD 
FELLOWS'  HALL  (1879),  a  two-story  frame  building  on  Main  St., 
with  its  old-fashioned  board  walk  and  ancient  iron  pump,  is  a  sharp 
contrast  to  its  nearest  neighbor,  a  modern  building  of  gleaming  white 
stucco. 

NUBIEBER,  55  m.  (4,169  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  a  small  railroad  and 
lumbering  community  which  helped  itself  to  its  older  neighbor's  name. 

The  highway  gradually  ascends  the  foothills  of  the  Bieber  Moun- 
tains, passing  the  debris  from  logging  activities:  large  piles  of  brush 
and  dead  wood  which  are  gathered  in  spring  and  summer,  when  fire 
hazards  are  high,  to  be  burned  in  winter.  Rounding  a  sudden  curve  at 
60.8  772.,  the  road  swings  high  above  a  scene  of  rare  grandeur.  Behind 
are  the  treetops  of  the  Bieber  Ridge ;  in  the  distance  ahead,  the  Pit  River 
winds  silver  blue  toward  snow-capped  Mount  Shasta;  and  to  the  left 
the  jagged  bulks  of  Lassen  Peak  and  Mount  Burney  rise  above  a  vast 
checkerboard  of  green  and  gold — the  neat  farmlands  of  the  Fall  River 
Canyon. 

McARTHUR,  70.2  m.  (3,342  alt.,  ico  pop.),  is  within  the 
SHASTA  NATIONAL  FOREST  (see  GENERAL  INFORMA- 
TION}. 


TOUR     8        551 

FALL  RIVER  MILLS,  74  m.  (3,307  alt.,  200  pop.),  a  small  lum- 
bering community,  is  at  the  junction  of  the  Pit  and  Fall  Rivers,  where 
the  daily  flow  of  water  exceeds  one  billion  gallons — more  than  enough 
to  supply  all  the  cities  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  area  for  a  year.  Here 
from  a  5OO-foot-long  diversion  dam  on  Fall  River,  an  intake  canal 
carries  the  water  1,000  feet  to  the  base  of  the  nearby  hills,  where  a 
two-mile  tunnel  conveys  it  through  an  intervening  hill  to  a  point  on  the 
Pit  River  Canyon  above  the  site  of  the  Pit  Power  House  No.  I  (see 
below). 

Below  this  point  the  descent  of  the  Pit  becomes  more  precipitous. 
Subterranean  waters,  common  in  volcanic  regions,  are  the  chief  sources 
of  its  tributaries. 

US  299  here  traverses  the  McCloud-Pit  River  mining  region.  The 
snow-white  substance  that  frequently  replaces  the  familiar  rock  and 
clay  on  roadside  banks  is  diatomite  or  diatomaceous  earth.  The  ex- 
tensive deposits  in  this  vicinity  occur  both  in  a  solid  form,  which  can  be 
sawed  into  blocks,  and  as  a  white  powder ;  but  thus  far  it  has  been  little 
exploited,  although  its  commercial  uses  are  many  and  varied.  It  is 
used  for  filtration,  insulation,  the  making  of  sound  records,  dental 
pastes  and  powders,  fingernail  polish,  building  and  refractory  bricks, 
and  as  an  ingredient  of  polish  for  metals,  glasses,  and  lacquered  sur- 
faces. 

At  78.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  narrow  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  1  m.  to  the  PIT  POWER  HOUSE  No.  i  of  the  Pacific  Gas 
and  Electric  Company.  A  sudden  turn  in  the  winding  road  discloses  red- 
roofed  structures,  like  doll  houses,  in  the  canyon  below;  these  are  the  homes 
of  employees.  At  the  far  end  of  the  valley  is  the  gray-walled  power  house 
from  which  double  transmission  lines,  supported  by  a  series  of  twin  towers, 
carry  power  more  than  200  miles  to  a  substation  near  Vacaville,  from 
which  it  is  delivered  to  Bay  area  consumers.  From  the  Fall  River  tunnel 
(see  above]  the  water  is  dropped  454  feet  through  vertical  steel  turbines, 
14  feet  in  diameter.  During  construction  of  the  power  project,  lack  of 
transportation  necessitated  laying  a  33.5-mile  railroad  between  McCloud 
and  Bartle.  Construction  of  the  Fall  River  tunnel  was  completed  Sept.  30, 
1922. 

At  83.4  m.  on  US  299  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  crossing  Hat  Creek,  to  CASSEL  (post  office,  stpre, 
museum),  3.7  m.  (2,850  alt.),  a  settlement  with  a  white  population  of  25  in 
a  vicinity  where  between  50  and  60  families  of  the  Hat  Creek  tribe  live. 
The  women  are  skillful  basket-makers;  their  products  are  on  sale  at  the 
store,  which  was  built  in  1876  by  H.  E.  Williams.  Ancient  muskets,  arrow- 
heads, and  arrows  are  on  display  here,  as  are  scores  of  the  Indian  photo- 
graphs for  which  Williams  was  known  nationally. 

Southwest  of  the  junction,  US  299  cuts  through  a  thick  stand  of 
grass  pine  between  banks  of  rich  red  clay  to  a  junction  with  an  oiled 
road,  State  89  (see  TOUR  5a),  89.5  m. 

Burney,  90  m.  (3,159  alt.,  50  pop.),  is  a  trading  center  for  a  lum- 
bering, farming,  and  stock-raising  district.  Wheat,  potatoes,  and  hay 
are  Burney  Valley's  principal  products.  The  town  is  named  for  Sam- 
uel Burney,  an  early  English  settler  killed  in  an  Indian  raid  in  1857. 


552        CALIFORNIA 

West  of  Burney,  US  299  begins  the  slow  ascent  of  the  Hatchet 
Mountains  to  the  HATCHET  MOUNTAIN  LOOKOUT,  96  m., 
commanding  a  splendid  view  of  a  vast  forested  area,  near  the  summit 
(4,368  alt.),  97.8  m. 

Beyond  the  rustic  APPLE  SHANTY,  106.9  m.  (mountain  apples  and 
cider  for  sale),  the  forest  climbs  the  foothills  of  the  Snow  Mountains 

(R). 

South  of  MONTGOMERY  CREEK,  109.3  m.  (2,200  alt.,  200 
pop.),  the  road  widens,  following  a  downward  grade  through  a  less 
thickly  wooded  region.  The  tall  pine  forests  give  way  to  scattered  oak, 
and  sheep  and  cattle  graze  in  wide  green  pastures  beside  the  highway. 
At  ROUND  MOUNTAIN,  113  m.  (2,200  alt.,  100  pop.),  US  299 
enters  COW  CREEK  CANYON,  roughly  paralleling  the  stream  for 
which  the  district  is  named. 

Beside  the  road  in  INGOT,  123  m.  (2,000  alt.,  100  pop.),  on  ter- 
races (L)  above  Seaman's  Gulch,  are  the  deserted  mine  and  smelter 
of  the  Afterthought  Mining  Company,  built  about  1922.  After  vain 
attempts  to  extract  copper  from  the  Copper  Hill  lode,  the  million- 
dollar  plant,  tramway  system,  and  colony  of  company  houses  on  the 
i65O-acre  holdings  were  finally  abandoned.  In  1925  the  California 
Zinc  Company  resumed  operations,  using  the  3OO-ton  selective  flotation 
plant  and  the  reverberating  smelter,  but  with  no  more  success  than  its 
predecessor,  as  the  zinc  and  copper  sulphides  could  not  be  cleaned  sepa- 
rately. In  a  final  desperate  attempt  to  make  the  mine  pay,  the  zinc 
company  transported  ore  to  their  Bully  Hill  smelter  over  an  8.5-mile 
tramway  system.  Gaunt  reminders  of  a  more  speculative  era  are  the 
corroded  tin  roofs  sagging  above  crumbling  brick  and  stone  foundations, 
the  huge  blast  furnaces,  and  the  rusted  tram  tracks  that  skirt  the  moun- 
tainside. The  vertical  workings  are  more  than  800  feet  deep.  One 
main  working  runs  east  for  600  feet,  then  continues  as  a  drift  for  500 
feet  on  the  Afterthought  lode  and  400  feet  northwest  on  the  Copper 
Hill  lode. 

West  of  Ingot,  US  299  traverses  a  level  stretch  of  countryside,  pass- 
ing occasional  small  farmhouses,  whose  comfortable  front  porches  are 
half  hidden  by  honeysuckle  vines. 

At  141.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a),  which 
unites  with  US  299  to  REDDING,  143.5  m.  (537  alt.,  4,188  pop.), 
(see  TOUR  3a).  ' 


Section  b.    REDDING  to  JUNCTION  with  US  101; 
146.8  m.,  US  299. 

West  of  REDDING,  0  m.,  US  299  climbs  into  the  foothills  of  the 
TRINITY  MOUNTAINS,  roughly  following  the  path  blazed  by 
Indians  which  trappers  and  miners  of  the  1840*5  beat  into  the  well- 
traveled  Trinity  Trail.  To  and  from  the  mining  camps  of  the  moun- 
tainous hinterland,  mail  and  bullion  were  carried  on  horseback.  In 
the  late  1850*8  horse  and  mule  pack  trains  gave  way  to  stagecoaches,  as 


TOUR    8      553 

the  Buckhorn-Grass  Valley  Creek  toll  road  was  built  from  Redding 
to  Weaverville.  The  entrance  of  the  first  coach  into  remote,  moun- 
tain-hemmed Weaverville  was  such  a  gala  occasion  that,  according  to  a 
contemporary  report:  "Trinity  County  citizens  went  out  in  buggies 
and  on  horseback,  led  by  the  German  brass  band,  to  greet  and  escort  it 
into  town." 

SHASTA,  6  ra.  (990  alt.,  150  pop.),  onetime  seat  of  Shasta 
County,  was  known  until  1850  as  Reading  Spring,  in  honor  of  Maj. 
Pierson  Reading  (see  TOUR  3a).  In  1849  Reading  Spring  was  a 
tent  city  of  several  hundred  inhabitants — a  lively  trading  post  serving 
a  mining  region.  By  November  of  that  year  one  Milton  Magee  at- 
tained local  distinction  as  the  only  owner  of  a  log  cabin;  and  by  1852 
Shasta  had  grown  so  rapidly  that  two  frame  hotels,  the  St.  Charles 
and  the  Trinity  House,  were  erected.  The  town  was  soon  called  the 
head  of  "Whoa  Navigation"  by  the  Shasta  Courier;  at  one  time  more 
than  2,000  pack  mules  carried  supplies  to  the  northern  mines,  and  as 
many  as  100  freight  teams  were  housed  at  Shasta  in  a  single  night.  At 
the  height  of  its  prosperity,  local  merchants  were  sending  out  $100,000 
in  gold  dust  each  week. 

Frequent  Indian  outbreaks  added  to  the  general  turbulence  of  the 
town's  early  days.  On  many  occasions  during  the  1850*8,  bands  of 
painted  braves  in  fighting  regalia  staged  war  dances  on  Main  Street. 
The  Courier  of  March  2,  1853,  reported  it  "unsafe  to  travel  over  any 
exposed  portion  of  the  country  unarmed.  The  .  .  .  Indians  .  .  . 
are  infesting  the  Sacramento  River  trail  in  such  numbers  and  with  such 
determined  fierceness  as  to  render  it  almost  certain  death  to  pass  over 
that  road."  But  later  the  constant  threat  of  Indian  hostilities  was  over- 
shadowed by  a  more  immediate  catastrophe,  for  on  June  14  the  entire 
business  district  was  wiped  out  by  fire  in  a  brief  half  hour.  Flimsy 
pine  buildings,  lined  with  cotton  cloth,  were  quickly  reduced  to  ashes; 
but  before  the  ashes  cooled  lumber  had  been  ordered  to  rebuild  the 
town.  In  1855  the  Courier  announced:  "There  are  28  brick  buildings 
in  Shasta  at  a  cash  value  of  $225,000." 

With  a  decline  of  mining  Shasta  lost  its  importance.  Then,  when 
the  California-Oregon  railroad  was  planned,  it  was  decided  that  Shasta 
lay  3  miles  too  far  west,  with  400  feet  too  much  altitude,  to  be  included 
in  the  route,  and  today  the  brick  buildings  of  which  the  Courier 
boasted  stand  deserted  and  crumbling.  Only  two  are  in  use;  one  is 
the  MASONIC  HALL,  the  first  in  the  State,  in  whose  vaults  repose  the 
first  charter  of  Western  Star  Lodge,  No.  2,  brought  from  Missouri  by 
Peter  Lassen  in  the  early  1850*5  by  ox  train;  the  other  is  the  LITSCH 
STORE  (L),  built  in  1853.  This  old-fashioned  general  store,  in  addi- 
tion to  serving  as  post  office,  houses  "Litsch's  Free  Museum  of  Historic 
Pioneer  Relics."  Here  are  firearms;  paper  cuffs  and  collars;  gold  dust 
pokes;  scales  that  have  weighed  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  "dust" 
since  1853;  crude  handmade  wooden  stirrups,  brought  across  the  plains 
in  1843;  and  one  of  the  State's  first  music  boxes.  There  are  also  relics 
of  an  unfortunate  pioneer  group,  the  Chinese:  a  hand-carved  opium  pipe 


554        CALIFORNIA 

said  to  be  150  years  old  and  an  iron  pitchfork  used  in  the  tong  war  at 
Weaverville  (see  below).  On  sale  at  the  store  is  a  gruesome  postcard 
of  the  Ruggles  brothers,  John  and  Charles,  captured  and  hanged  by 
a  vigilante  group  in  1892,  after  they  had  held  up  a  stage  and  killed  a 
messenger. 

Near  the  highway  (L)  stands  a  roofless  courthouse  whose  corroding 
cells  once  confined  "Shorty"  Hayes  and  "Sheet  Iron"  Jack;  a  con- 
temporary lists  the  latter  among  the  "many  noted  criminals"  housed  in 
the  old  jail.  From  the  town's  first  log  jail  Joaquin  Miller  once 
escaped;  he  was  then  living  among  Indians  who  were  notorious  horse 
thieves,  and  had  joined  them  in  their  depredations.  At  this  period  the 
young  runaway  from  Oregon  had  an  Indian  wife  and  a  half-Indian 
daughter  named  Cali-Shasta. 

At  6.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  narrow  dirt  road. 

Left  here  to  the  RUINS  OF  THE  SHURTLEFF  RESIDENCE,  0.2  m.f  on  Shurtleff 
Hill,  overlooking  the  town.  For  25  years  Dr.  Ben  Shurtleff  was  Shasta's 
physician;  in  1849  he  was  the  camp's  first  mayor.  His  home,  partly  con- 
structed of  materials  brought  around  the  Horn,  was  for  many  years  a  show- 
place. 

West  of  Shasta,  US  299  ascends  by  easy  grades  to  the  summit  of 
SHASTA  DIVIDE,  8  m.  (1,390  alt.),  which  separates  the  water- 
sheds of  the  Sacramento  and  Trinity  Rivers.  The  view  extends  over 
miles  of  treetops  to  massive  mountain  barriers. 

Descending,  US  299  enters  WHISKEY  TOWN,  10.8  m.  (1,091 
alt.,  90  pop.),  settled  by  miners  near  Whiskey  Creek  on  the  trail  to 
Oregon.  The  creek  was  christened  when  a  barrel  of  whisky  was  lost 
by  an  unruly  pack  mule.  Postal  authorities,  disdaining  the  town's  name, 
have  called  it  Blair,  Stella,  and  Schilling;  but  it  continues  to  be  known 
as  Whiskey  Town.  Three  events  are  remembered  in  the  history  of  the 
community.  In  1852  the  first  white  woman  "took  up  her  residence" 
here;  in  the  following  year  a  bartender  was  lynched  for  shooting  a  fel- 
low citizen  to  avenge  an  insult;  and  in  the  late  1850*8,  a  certain  Bon 
Mix  erected  a  "commodious  hotel." 

TOWER  HOUSE,  17  m.  (1,247  alt.,  5  pop.),  dating  from  1852, 
was  a  stage  station  on  the  toll  road  built  from  Shasta  in  the  late  1850*5 
and  a  point  of  departure  for  pack  and  bullock  trains  bound  for  the 
northern  mines  and  for  Oregon. 

Right  from  Tower  House  on  an  oiled  road  to  FRENCH  GULCH,  3  m. 
(1,346  alt.,  618  pop.),  depot  on  the  Shasta-Yreka  Turnpike,  where  the  first 
mining  is  said  to  have  been  done  here  by  a  party  of  Frenchmen  in  1849  or 
1850.  The  discovery  of  the  Washington  Quartz  Mining  Company  claim 
prompted  the  Shasta  Courier  to  report  in  March  1852  that  "such  rich 
diggings  have  been  struck  that  miners  are  tearing  down  their  houses  to 
pursue  the  leads  which  extend  under  them." 

West  of  Tower  House  US  299  follows  the  route  of  the  old  Buck- 
horn  Toll  Road,  winding  sharply  into  the  thickly  forested  Trinity 
Mountains  along  the  high  rims  of  canyons.  From  Buckhorn  Moun- 


TOUR    8      555 

tain,  25.5  m.  (3,212  alt.),  it  descends  to  BUCKHORN  (auto  camp) 
29.6  m.  (2,500  alt.,  3  pop.),  among  the  small  farms  of  lovely  Grass 
Valley. 

The  trading  center  of  DOUGLAS  CITY,  41.9  m.  (1,700  alt.,  no 
pop.),  lies  beside  the  Trinity  River  near  the  mouth  of  Reading's  Creek, 
where  Pierson  B.  Reading  made  the  first  discovery  of  gold  in  Trinity 
County  in  the  summer  of  1848.  As  Reading  later  told  the  story:  "My 
party  consisted  of  three  white  men,  one  Delaware,  one  Chinook,  and 
about  sixty  Indians  from  the  Sacramento  Valley.  ...  I  had  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  head  of  cattle  with  an  abundant  supply  of  other  pro- 
visions. After  about  six  weeks  work,  parties  came  in  from  Oregon,  who 
at  once  protested  against  my  Indian  labor."  Having  already  taken  out 
$80,000  in  gold,  Reading  abandoned  his  diggings. 

The  Trinity  River  was  so  named  by  Reading  on  an  earlier  trapping 
expedition  in  1845,  under  the  delusion  that  it  led  into  Trinidad  Bay, 
which  he  had  noted  on  old  Spanish  charts.  Actually,  the  Trinity 
swings  north  to  join  the  Klamath  River.  From  1849  until  the  out- 
break of  the  World  War,  when  machinery  and  labor  costs  became  pro- 
hibitive, Trinity  River  and  its  tributaries  were  the  scenes  of  various 
types  of  mining  operations,  from  the  simplest  forms  of  placering  to 
gigantic  hydraulic  operations.  In  1933,  when  the  price  of  gold  rose, 
miners'  shacks  and  equipment  reappeared.  The  river  banks,  paralleling 
US  299  westward  for  65  miles,  are  piled  high  at  intervals  with  mounds 
of  gravel  left  from  placer  mining  and  nearby  hillsides  are  deeply  scarred 
by  hydraulic  operations. 

Left  from  Douglas  City  on  an  oiled  road  climbing  steadily  19  m.  to  a 
junction  with  a  narrow  dirt  road;  L.  here  6.2  m.  through  green  meadows 
to  a  picnic  ground  (free),  from  which  a  footpath  leads  between  white  moss- 
covered  boulders  to  a  gray-white  limestone  NATURAL  BRIDGE,  spanning  a 
narrow  gulch,  SITE  OF  THE  BRIDGE  GULCH  MASSACRE.  In  March  1852,  fol- 
lowing the  killing  of  a  man  named  Anderson  by  Wentoon  Indians,  miners 
from  Weaverville  (see  below)  overtook  and  killed  about  100  Indians 
encamped  here,  pursued  the  handful  of  women  and  children  huddled 
beneath  the  bridge  and  knifed  them  to  death.  A  contemporary  reported 
that  a  young  miner  who  sickened  of  the  slaughter,  saved  one  Indian  girl, 
took  her  to  Weaverville  and  entrusted  her  to  a  "motherly"  woman  acquaint- 
ance— who  promptly  sold  her  to  a  teamster  from  Shasta  for  $45. 

WEAVERVILLE,  47.7  m.  (2,407  alt.,  650  pop.),  seat  of  Trinity 
County,  has  lost  nothing  of  the  charm  of  the  old,  "easy"  West,  though 
the  vine-covered  frame  cottages  along  the  locust-bordered  main  street 
now  have  lawns  protected  by  white  picket  fences.  Over  the  tree-shaded 
sidewalks  of  the  business  section  project  broad,  second-story  galleries, 
reached  by  outside  circular  stairways,  which  give  upper-story  tenants 
private  entrances.  Only  the  occasional  boisterous  activity  of  the  early 
mining  town  is  absent.  John  Martin's  livery  stable  has  become  Miller's 
Garage  with  little  outward  change;  but  today's  automobile  turns  in  the 
wide  street  without  the  shouts  that  attended  the  maneuvering  of  the 
three-wagon  freight  train,  drawn  by  ten  or  twelve  horses  controlled 
with  a  deft  jerk  rein  and  an  astonishing  profanity. 


556        CALIFORNIA 

Weaverville's  social  gatherings  are  no  longer  punctuated  with  the 
roar  of  "six-shooters,"  nor  is  its  justice  the  simple  hearty  violence  once 
encountered  by  an  unfortunate  miner  named  Seymour.  The  latter  was 
accused  of  stealing  the  money  of  a  visitor  from  Klamath  who  had  drunk 
too  freely  and  fallen  asleep  in  a  convenient  pigsty.  According  to  an 
early  writer,  Seymour  "was  taken  up  by  the  authorities,  then  rescued  by 
the  people,  then  left  to  his  own  fate,  and  then,  finally  .  .  .  the  money 
was  found  in  the  pigsty,  where  the  drunken  curse  had  sought  shelter  and 
company."  More  deserved  was  the  treatment  of  one  John  Fehly  in 
1857;  Fehly,  drunk  in  front  of  the  Diana  Saloon  and  threatening 
darkly  that  his  partner  had  "better  look  out,"  drew  his  revolver  and 
shot  into  the  crowd,  killing  Dennis  Murray.  Led  to  the  gallows, 
Fehly  struggled  violently,  but  was  forced  to  submit  by  the  "Infant," 
a  youth  of  16,  6  feet  6  inches  tall.  In  a  contemporary  account  the  In- 
fant is  described  as  "well  known  in  Weaverville  .  .  .  and  supposed  to 
be  a  descendant  of  him  whose  blindness  was  so  fearfully  avenged  at 
Gaza  upon  the  Philistines."  Overcome,  Fehly  remarked,  "Since  I've 
got  to  go,  give  me  a  coal  on  my  pipe,"  and  went  to  the  scaffold  smoking. 

Despite  several  early  fires,  many  old  buildings  remain,  among  them 
the  WEEKLY  TRINITY  JOURNAL  OFFICE  (the  Journal,  first  published 
in  1856,  is  one  of  the  four  oldest  newspapers  in  the  State).  MEMORIAL 
HALL  (L),  a  museum  (open  daily;  free),  displays  relics  of  '49 — ore 
specimens  from  well-known  mines,  a  wide  variety  of  old  firearms,  and 
an  Indian  scalp. 

Possibly  a  dozen  Chinese  remain  in  Weaverville  today  to  care  for  the 
old  CHINESE  Joss  HOUSE  (open)  ;  but  in  1852  half  of  the  town's 
population  of  3,000  was  Chinese.  In  the  dim,  candle-lit  interior  of  the 
tiny  building,  fine,  hand-painted  tapestries  hang  beside  an  altar  3,000 
years  old.  A  gully  (R),  Five-Cent  Gulch,  is  the  SITE  OF  THE  CHINA 
WAR;  here,  in  1852,  members  of  two  rival  tongs,  encouraged  by  amuse- 
ment-seeking white  miners,  met  in  a  battle.  Cheered  on  by  the  miners, 
300  Ah  Yous  were  badly  routed  by  500  Young  Wos.  Soon  only  two 
warriors  remained  on  the  field;  for  fifteen  minutes  they  stood,  calmly 
stabbing  each  other  with  their  crude  iron  forks,  until  one  fell  dead. 
The  other  man  died  after  two  weeks  of  suffering.  No  other  serious 
casualty  was  reported.  (The  use  of  firearms  was  forbidden  to  orientals 
by  the  whites.) 

Right  from  Weaverville  on  a  dirt  road  15  m.  to  TRINITY  ALPS  CAMP 
(cabins,  dining  room,  horses,  and  guide  service},  a  resort  in  the  Trinity 
Mountains.  A  few  miles  north  of  the  resort  is  the  SALMON-TRINITY 
ALPS  PRIMITIVE  REGION,  a  part  of  Trinity  National  Forest  (see 
GENERAL  INFORMATION),  accessible  only  by  foot  and  pack  trip. 
Tallest  of  the  jumble  of  mountains  within  the  area  is  THOMPSON  (SAW- 
TOOTH) PEAK  (8,936  alt.),  on  which  are  several  glaciers. 

US  299  ascends  OREGON  GULCH  MOUNTAIN,  where  the 
old  Baron  La  Grange  Mine,  opened  in  1851 — for  years  the  largest 
operating  hydraulic  mine  in  the  world — once  blasted  away  the  moun- 
tainside. 


TOUR    8      557 

JUNCTION  CITY,  57.1  m.  (1,471  alt.,  300  pop.),  on  Canyon 
Creek,  is  a  trading  center  of  ranchers  and  miners. 

At  about  61  m.  (L)  on  Trinity  River  is  the  SITE  OF  ARKANSAS 
DAM,  one  of  the  earliest  "wing"  dams,  constructed  by  some  60  miners 
in  1850  and  twice  rebuilt  after  being  washed  away  by  floods.  "Wing 
damming"  was  a  system  of  mining  utilized  at  low  water,  whereby  the 
top  rock  and  sand  of  the  river  bed  were  removed  down  to  the  pay  gravel. 

BIG  BAR,  74  m.  (1,248  alt.,  73  pop.),  was  settled,  according  to 
an  early  historian,  "by  one  Jones  in  1849,  who  got  rich,  left  the  locality, 
and  is  no  more  with  the  memory  of  his  fellows  .  .  .  Big  Bar  was  the 
first  place  in  Trinity  County  where  the  first  white  woman  ever  made 
the  first  johnny  cake  or  dumpling  and  there  lived  and  dwelt,  and  this 
woman's  name  was  Mrs.  Walton,  who,  with  her  husband,  settled  here 
in  1850  .  .  ."  Still  another  resident  of  Big  Bar,  in  1855,  was  "Com- 
modore" Ligne,  who,  "in  a  spirit  of  acquisitiveness,  used  to  sell  claims 
to  Chinamen  and  others,  and  upon  payment  being  duly  received,  would 
in  the  most  harmless  way  'practicable'  drive  them  away.  It  seems  that 
some  obstinate  occupants  were  foolish  enough  to  remonstrate  .  .  .  but 
the  Commodore  .  .  .  put  an  end  to  this  by  a  dexterous  display  of  shot- 
gun .  .  .  and  became  a  terror  to  the  locality."  After  an  unsuccessful 
attack  on  a  miner,  Ligne  "prudently  retreated  to  the  woods  and  did  not 
reappear  before  the  County  .  .  .  sent  a  deputation  .  .  .  and  invited 
him  to  headquarters."  Eventually,  the  activities  of  the  Commodore 
were  confined  to  San  Quentin. 

DEL  LOMA  (Sp.,  of  the  mountain),  78.8  m.  (tourist  cabins), 
once  an  active  mining  camp  known  as  Taylor's  Flat,  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  French,  Little  French,  and  Canadian  Creek,  supposedly  named  for 
a  band  of  French  Canadian  trappers  who  left  Oregon  at  the  news  of 
Reading's  strike  on  the  Trinity. 

US  299  continues  past  the  HAYDEN  FOREST  SERVICE  CAMPGROUND 
(improved),  79.8  m.,  to  the  settlement  of  BURNT  RANCH,  91.1  m. 
(2,000  alt.,  30  pop.),  where  farmhouses  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  an 
Indian  raid  of  1853.  From  SALYER,  100.5  m.  (553  alt.,  59  pop.), 
site  of  another  FOREST  SERVICE  CAMPGROUND,  it  descends  to  less 
rugged  country  where  trees  shade  the  road. 

At  106  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  96  (see  TOUR  3a) . 

US  299  again  enters  a  rugged  region  of  forest  and  canyon,  passing 
BOISE  CREEK  PUBLIC  CAMPGROUND,  107.7  m.  (R),  and  EAST  FORK 
PUBLIC  CAMPGROUND,  112.2  m.  (L),  both  maintained  by  the  Forest 
Service. 

The  highway  leaves  the  confines  of  a  narrow  mountain  gorge  to 
command  a  wide  vista  of  valley  grazing  lands  edged  by  rolling  yellow 
hills  to  the  south;  beyond  it  climbs  low  hills  and  descends  to  canyons 
where  ferns  grow  tall  and  green  by  small,  deep  streams. 

At  139.6  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  here  2.5  m.  to  the  OLD  ARROW  TREE.  When  this  dead  redwood  was 
young  and  strong,  peace  was  made  in  its  immediate  vicinity  between  two 
warring  tribes,  who  thereafter  considered  it  the  boundary  between  their 


558        CALIFORNIA 

domains.  When  a  member  of  the  tribes  passed  the  spot,  he  shot  an  arrow 
into  the  bark  as  a  token  of  peace.  As  the  original  meaning  fell  into 
obscurity,  it  became  an  altar  for  worship  and  a  place  of  pray.er.  Passers 
thrust  sharpened  sticks  into  the  bark  and  prayed  for  luck.  Squaws,  after 
striking  their  legs  with  redwood  sprigs,  threw  them  against  the  tree  and 
cried,  "I  leave  you  with  all  my  sickness." 

BLUE  LAKE,  139.7  m.  (40  alt.,  555  pop.),  is  the  trade  center  of 
a  farming  and  dairying  area,  distinguished  by  neat  picket  fences,  tall 
windmills  and  silos. 

At  146.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2a) ,  at  a 
point  2  miles  north  of  Arcata. 


&&&&&Z&&&&^^ 


Tour  8 A 


Canby — Lava  Beds  National  Monument — Medicine  Lake — Bartle; 
118.8  m. 

Roadbed  paved  for  first  25.7  miles.  Elsewhere  dirt  and  gravel,  deeply  rutted, 
covered  with  powdered  pumice  and  sharp  lava  fragments  in  places;  travel 
advised  from  May  to  October  only.  At  least  one  extra  tire  should  be  carried. 
Accommodations  onjy  at  Canby  and  Medicine  Lake;  Forest  Service  camps  at 
Lava  Beds  National  Monument  and  Medicine  Lake. 

The  rough  and  inhospitable  waste  of  lava  beds,  underground  caverns, 
and  cinder  cones  through  which  this  route  leads  is  a  part  of  a  250,000- 
square  mile  volcanic  region.  The  pioneers  knew  it  as  the  ''Dark  and 
Bloody  Battleground  of  the  Pacific,"  where  the  last  and  bloodiest  of 
California's  Indian  Wars  was  fought.  It  is  now  part  of  Modoc 
National  Forest. 

The  route  branches  northwest  from  its  junction  with  US  299 
(see  TOUR  8a),  0  m.,  0.5  miles  west  of  Canby,  and  runs  into  a  lonely, 
almost  unsettled  region.  The  Forest  Service  HOWARD'S  GULCH  CAMP 
GROUND,  7  m.f  lies  at  the  edge  of  pleasant  meadows.  At  25.7  m.  is  a 
junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  on  the  dirt  road,  now  the  main  route. 

The  entrance  to  MAMMOTH  CAVE  (R),  31.2  m. — 50  yards  from 
the  road — is  marked  by  massed  lava  rocks.  The  cave  stretches  for 
hundreds  of  yards  underground. 

At  32.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  unpaved  road;  L.  here;  then  R. 
at  36.2  m.}  crossing  a  boundary  of  the  LAVA  BEDS  NATIONAL 
MONUMENT,  38.6  m.,  a  rectangular  area  about  10  miles  long  and 
8  miles  wide,  set  aside  in  1925.  The  region  is  geologically  young;  its 
last  lava  flow  is  estimated  to  have  taken  place  only  5,000  years  ago. 
Seen  from  a  distance,  the  lava  beds  are  a  dark,  comparatively  level 


TOUR    8  A      559 

terrain,  broken  only  by  crater-pitted  cinder  cones.  On  closer  inspection, 
they  are  revealed  as  a  rugged  labyrinth  of  caves  and  chasms,  where  the 
molten  lava  has  congealed  in  innumerable  strange  shapes — fumaroles 
(chimneys)  of  gas-inflated  lava,  smoothly  arched  bridges,  fantastically 
sculptured  shapes,  some  of  them  resembling  animals.  The  caves,  of 
which  more  than  a  hundred  have  been  explored,  are  found  in  the  type 
of  billowing  lava  known  as  pahoehoe;  they  were  formed  when  the 
surface  of  the  lava  hardened  and  the  still  molten  core  drained  away. 
In  many  of  these  underground  galleries,  delicate  lace-like  tracings  and 
Indian  pictographs  in  red,  green,  or  yellow  ochre  decorate  ceilings  and 
walls;  in  some  of  the  deeper  ones,  frost  crystals,  frozen  waterfalls,  or 
rivers  of  ice  appear. 

When  white  immigrants  were  settling  northern  California,  the  lava 
beds  were  the  stronghold  of  the  warlike  Modoc.  The  Nation's  costliest 
Indian  conflict,  the  Modoc  War  of  1872-73,  was  required  to  subdue 
them.  For  5  months  a  band  of  Modoc  warriors,  never  numbering 
more  than  60,  held  off  some  1,200  soldiers.  The  cost  of  subduing 
them  was  more  than  half  a  million  dollars  and  the  lives  of  83  whites. 

The  trouble  began  in  1869,  when  the  Modocs  were  moved  to  the 
reservation  in  Oregon  of  their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Klamaths. 
When  they  got  no  satisfaction  from  the  Indian  Agent  after  their  com- 
plaints against  the  persecution  by  Klamath,  a  small  band  led  by  young 
Kientpoos — usually  called  Captain  Jack — and  his  sister,  "Queen 
Mary,"  left  the  reservation  and  returned  to  their  old  hunting  ground, 
the  Lost  River  country,  just  across  the  line  in  California.  Over  the 
protests  of  Brig.  Gen.  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  Department  Commander, 
cavalry  from  Fort  Klamath  was  sent  by  demand  of  the  Indian  Agent 
to  bring  the  Modoc  back  to  the  reservation — "peaceably  if  you  can, 
forcibly,  if  you  must." 

After  a  fight  in  which  several  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both 
sides,  the  Indians  entrenched  themselves  in  an  almost  impregnable 
position  among  caves  and  crevices  here,  while  the  soldiers  settled  down 
nearby  to  wait  for  reinforcements.  On  January  17,  1873,  when  the 
military  force  had  grown  to  about  400  men,  Colonel  Wheaton,  the 
commander,  launched  an  attack  against  the  Indians'  main  position, 
Captain  Jack's  stronghold.  At  the  end  of  the  day,  the  soldiers  had 
worn  themselves  out  chasing  the  elusive  Modoc  without  ever  having 
seen  an  Indian,  and  39  whites  had  been  killed. 

Backed  by  more  reinforcements,  General  Canby  attempted  to  ar- 
range a  settlement  of  the  dispute.  On  April  u,  1873,  he  met  Captain 
Jack  and  several  of  his  chiefs  under  a  flag  of  truce.  Suddenly,  in  the 
midst  of  the  parley,  he  was  shot  down  and  killed  by  Captain  Jack; 
another  peace  commissioner,  Dr.  Eleazer  Thomas,  was  slain  by  "Boston 
Charley."  The  other  three  members  of  the  commission  escaped.  The 
Indians  had  lost  two  of  their  staunchest  champions. 

The  troops  rallied  for  a  methodical  advance,  occupying  successive 
positions  until  they  had  surrounded  the  Modocs  and  cut  off  their 
water  supply.  On  April  17  they  assaulted  the  Indian  stronghold  and 


560        CALIFORNIA 

drove  the  defenders  out.  Four  days  later  the  Indians,  now  completely 
surrounded,  separated  into  two  groups  for  an  attempt  to  escape.  As 
soon  as  they  tried  to  fight  in  the  open,  they  found  the  odds  against 
them;  nonetheless,  they  cut  Capt.  Evan  Thomas'  detachment  to  pieces 
before  they  were  finally  rounded  up.  Captain  Jack  himself  eluded 
capture  until  June  I.  On  October  4,  he  was  hanged  at  Fort  Klamath, 
with  three  of  his  aides,  for  the  murder  of  the  commissioners.  The  rest 
of  the  band  was  moved  to  a  reservation  in  Kansas. 

INDIAN  WELL,  42.1  m.  (information  available  from  ranger 
during  summer),  campground  and  administrative  headquarters  for  the 
monument,  is  a  center  for  exploration.  (Gasoline  lanterns  for  use  in 
caves  available;  in  larger  caves,  guide  line  of  strong  twine  should  be: 
fastened  at  entrance  and  unwound  as  exploration  progresses.  Stout 
hiking  boots  essential;  ordinary  clothing  suffices.) 

Right  from  Indian  Well  on  a  dirt  road  0.4  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt 
road;  R.  here  0.3  m.  to  the  junction  with  another  dirt  road;  L.  on  this  road 
0.6  m.  to  POST  OFFICE  CAVE  and  DRAGON'S  HEAD  CAVE. 

Opposite  the  ranger  station,  at  the  entrance  to  the  LABYRINTH 
(L),  a  2-mile  maze  of  tunnels,  is  the  DEVIL'S  MUSH  POT,  a  huge 
kettle  of  rock  from  which  molten  lava  once  flowed.  Inside  the  laby- 
rinth are  JUPITER'S  THUNDERBOLT,  a  smooth  formation  extending 
from  wall  to  wall,  and  the  MENAGERIE,  a  collection  of  animal  like- 
nesses formed  by  lava. 

Left  from  the  labyrinth  on  a  narrow  graveled  road,  past  Frog,  Sunshine, 
Jupiter,  and  Sentinel  Caves,  to  CATACOMB  CAVERN  (R),  0.6  m,,  whose 
smooth-floored  lava  passages  wind  for  nearly  1.5  miles,  adorned  with  wall 
niches  resembling  the  burial  places  of  early  Christians  in  Rome.  In  some 
sections  are  traceries  like  delicate  lace  on  walls  and  ceiling. 

Opposite  the  entrance  to  the  Catacombs  is  CRYSTAL  CAVE.  From  the  red 
lava  walls  of  its  "jewel  chambers"  frost  crystals  flash,  diamond-like. 

At  43.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  unpaved  road;  R.  here  on  a 
narrow,  winding  route,  now  the  main  route,  pitted  with  sharp  lava 
fragments,  which  loops  around  the  monument  (travel  advised  only  for 
experienced  drivers,  with  tires  in  good  condition).  At  45  m.  is  the 
junction  with  a  narrow  unpaved  road. 

Left  here  0.6  m.  to  BIG  PAINTED  CAVE  (L)  and  LITTLE  PAINTED  CAVE  (L), 
on  whose  walls  are  many  Indian  pictographs. 

SKULL  CAVE  (L),  45.2  m.t  was  so  named  because  numerous  skulls 
of  pronghorn  antelope  and  bighorn  sheep  were  found  in  it;  both 
animals  are  now  extinct  in  this  region.  The  domed  roof  of  Skull 
Cave's  main  level  is  75  feet  high.  In  the  third,  and  lowest,  cavern,  in 
a  river  of  ice,  are  the  bones  of  many  animals.  A  short  distance  west 
of  Skull  Cave  are  (R)  SHIP  CAVERN  and  WHITE  LACE  CAVE.  On 
the  walls  of  the  latter  are  natural,  white,  lace-like  patterns. 

The  ice  in  FROZEN  RIVER  CAVE,  46.3  m.f  rarely  melts;  the  depth 
of  its  frozen  river  is  unknown. 


TOUR     8  A        561 

A  high  LAVA  BRIDGE  is  crossed  near  the  entrance  to  CAPTAIN 
JACK'S  ICE  CAVE  (R),  46.7  m.,  one  of  the  Indian  leader's  retreats 
during  the  Modoc  War. 

The  road  continues  northward  through  lava  wastes  to  FERN  CAVE 
(R),  52.7  m.  (4,114  alt.),  which  derives  its  name  from  the  luxuriant 
masses  of  ferns  that  grow  just  within  its  entrance,  kept  green  the  year 
round  in  a  natural  hot  bed  formed  in-  the  rich  soil  by  many  steam 
vents.  On  cold  winter  days  clouds  of  steam  obscure  the  entrance  to 
the  cave.  The  walls  here  also  bear  Indian  pictographs. 

Behind  the  natural  fortification  of  HOSPITAL  ROCK  (R),  54.6  m. 
(4,051  alt.),  wounded  soldiers  were  sheltered.  The  cavalry  camped 
nearby  in  1873. 

The  road  crosses  the  northern  monument  boundary  at  Hospital 
Rock,  then  parallels  its  irregular  line  for  about  8  miles.  Around 
CAPTAIN  JACK'S  STRONGHOLD  (L),  57.1  m.,  centered  much  of  the 
Modoc  War  activities.  The  caves,  the  lava  trenches,  and  the  natural 
rock  fortifications  look  today  as  they  did  in  1873. 

CANBY  CROSS  (L),  60.6  m.,  erected  by  his  soldiers,  marks  the  spot 
where  General  Canby  was  murdered  (see  above). 

At  62  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here,  again  crossing  the 
northern  boundary,  62.3  m.  Nearby  is  the  site  of  the  Army  head- 
quarters during  the  Modoc  War.  In  GILLEM'S  GRAVEYARD  (R),  62.6 
m.j  about  100  white  soldiers  were  buried. 

The  route  follows  the  base  (R)  of  GILLEM  BLUFF  (4,500-4,700 
alt.)  for  nearly  4  miles.  Two  large  groups  of  fumaroles  (L)  are 
passed  at  about  67.6  m.  These  "chimneys"  of  gas-inflated  lava  are 
similar  to  the  fire  fountains  of  the  Hawaiian  volcano,  Kilauea.  About 
0.5  miles  east  of  the  chimneys  (no  trail)  is  the  place  where  the  force 
led  by  Captain  Thomas  was  badly  defeated ;  two-thirds  of  the  command 
and  four  (of  five)  officers  were  killed  or  wounded. 

SCHONCHIN  BUTTE  (L),  70.1  m.  (5,293  alt.),  is  the  largest 
of  the  1 1  cones  of  scoriaceous  cinder  in  the  southern  part  of  the  monu- 
ment; it  was  named  for  a  Modoc  chief. 

At  71.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  1.5  m.  to  BEARPAW  CAVE  (R),  whose  frozen  waterfall 
and  river  of  ice  never  melt. 

At  the  junction  (L)  at  71.2  m.  the  loop  road  completes  its  rough 
circle;  straight  ahead  (south)  here,  to  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road  at 
71.6  m.;  R.  here  passing  HIPPO  BUTTE  (R),  72.1  m.  (5,488  alt.), 
and  crossing  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Monument,  74.3  m.,  at  the 
base  of  4OO-foot  deep  MAMMOTH  CRATER  (R).  At  74.8  m.  is  the 
junction  with  a  dirt  road;  the  route  turns  R.  here,  and  L.  at  77.8  m. 

The  deep  blue  waters  of  MEDICINE  LAKE  (private  lodge  and 
public  camp),  85.8  m.,  fill  a  crater  that  was  once  the  center  of  local 
volcanic  activity.  The  lake  is  well  stocked  with  game  fish.  Its  sandy 
beaches  are  fringed  with  tall  lodgepole  pines. 

Five  miles  northeast  is  GLASS  MOUNTAIN  (7,649  alt.),  whose 


562        CALIFORNIA 

bulk  of  jet  black  obsidian  gleams  when  struck  by  the  sun.  Steam 
issuing  from  a  3O-foot  vent  west  of  the  top-most  peak  bears  evidence 
of  the  underground  fires  still  smouldering  within.  The  pumice  surface 
nearby  is  too  hot  to  be  touched.  So  light  in  weight  are  the  volcanic 
rock  fragments  strewing  the  slopes  of  Glass  Mountain  that  a  man  can 
toss  a  piece  the  size  of  a  horse. 

At  Medicine  Lake  is  the  junction  with  an  unpaved  road;  here  the 
main  route  turns  R.,  then  L.  at  91.8  m. 

BARTLE  (see  TOUR  5a),  118.8  m.  is  at  the  junction  with  State 
89  (see  TOUR  5a). 


'^&^<&^^ 


Tour  9 


( Reno,  Nev. )  — Truckee — Auburn — Roseville — Sacramento — Vallej o — 

San  Francisco;  US  40. 

Nevada  Line  to  San  Francisco,  219.9  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout,  with  easy  grades  in  mountains;  usually  free  from 

snow. 

Route  paralleled  by  Southern  Pacific  R.R.  between  Nevada  Line  and  Sacramento 

and  at  intervals  between  Sacramento  and  Carquinez  Bridge.     Accommodations 

plentiful;  many  resorts  and  camps  in  mountains. 

US  40,  most  traveled  artery  between  the  East  and  central  Cali- 
fornia, hurdles  the  sheer,  rocky  wall  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  into  the 
valley  that  stretches  to  the  Golden  Gate.  From  the  Great  American 
Basin  it  climbs  to  the  granite  heights  of  Donner  Pass,  traverses  the 
boulder-piled  Yuba  River  bottoms,  coasts  toboggan-like  through  forests 
and  along  river  gorges  offering  hazy  vistas  of  mountain  ranges.  It 
passes  the  half-ruined  mining  camps  of  the  gold  country  and  the  titanic 
upheavals  of  the  hydraulic  workings.  In  the  foothills  where  orchards 
appear  in  forest  clearings,  it  wriggles  between  rolling  evergreen  knolls, 
then  strikes  across  the  great  Sacramento  Valley,  and  crosses  the  low 
Coast  Range  to  San  Francisco. 

Section  a.    NEVADA  LINE  to  SACRAMENTO,  124.9  m.  US  40. 

The  mountain  heights  were  a  forbidding  barrier  to  the  pioneers. 
With  prodigious  labor  they  forced  their  lumbering  ox-drawn  schooners 
over  tortuous  trails  and  through  brush-choked  canyons,  over  knifelike 
ridges,  between  gaping  chasms.  Often,  when  a  sheer  cliff  blocked 
the  way,  oxen  had  to  be  unyoked  so  the  ponderous  wagons  could  be 
lifted  or  lowered  with  ropes.  The  devious  California  Trail  through 


Architecture 


•&&&^^^^ 


k 


• 


1 


1 


, 


Bertram  Goodhur,  Ardutect 


PUBLIC  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


PALACE  OF  FINE  ARTS,  SAN  FRANCISCO 


CARSON  HOUSE,  EUREKA 


•*«#* 


Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  Architect 


COURT  HOLLYHOCK,  BARNSDALL  PARK,  LOS  ANGELES 


HEALTH  HOUSE,  LOS  ANGELES 


Richard  J.  Neutra,  Architect 


•win 


INTERIOR,  MISSION  SAN  MIGUEL  ARCANGEL 


MISSION  SAN  CARLOS  BORROMEO,  NEAR  CARMEL 


Jr 


MISSION  SANTA  BARBARA 


LOS  ANGELES  COUNTY  HOSPITAL 


TOWER  OF  CALIFORNIA  BUILDING,  BALBOA  PARK,  SAN  DIEGO 


450  SUTTER  STREET,  SAN  FRANCISCO 


Timothy  Phluegcr,  Architt 


TOUR     9        563 

Truckee  Pass  ran  a  few  miles  distant  from  what  is  now  US  40,  crossed 
it  near  Donner  Lake,  and  recrossed  it  at  Emigrant  Gap.  Over  this 
trail  in  the  autumn  of  1844,  8 1 -year-old  Caleb  Greenwood,  mountaineer 
and  trapper,  led  the  12  wagons  of  the  Stevens-Murphy  Party,  first 
caravan  on  wheels  to  cross  the  Sierra.  Others  followed  with  terrible 
hardship  in  the  autumn  of  the  next  year — the  Swazey-Todd  Party  of 
horsemen;  trappers  on  foot;  the  Grigsby-Ide  Party  of  more  than  100 
men,  women,  and  children  led  by  Greenwood;  and  John  C.  Fremont 
on  his  third  exploring  expedition.  In  October  1846  the  Donner  Party, 
acting  on  vague  advice,  made  the  Salt  Desert  crossing  and,  arriving 
too  late  to  scale  the  terrible  pass  that  now  bears  their  name,  were 
caught  by  the  snows. 

A  saga  of  transportation  fully  as  exciting  followed  in  1864-66 
when  gangs  of  Chinese  coolies  swarmed  the  mountain,  laying  the  rails 
of  the  Central  Pacific  eastward  in  a  race  with  the  Union  Pacific, 
pushing  westward  from  Omaha,  that  culminated  in  the  completion  of 
the  first  transcontinental  railroad  in  Utah  (1869).  In  June  1864  the 
"Big  Four,"  Stanford,  Hopkins,  Huntington,  and  Crocker,  had  opened 
the  Dutch  Flat  and  Donner  Lake  Wagon  Road.  A  road  had  reached 
Coif  ax,  head  of  "wagon  navigation,"  as  early  as  1849  and  Dutch  Flat 
a  few  years  later;  now  the  way  lay  open  to  1  the  Comstock  Lode  mines 
in  Nevada.  For  a  brief  interval  stagecoaches  raced  over  it,  bearing 
passengers  and  freight ;  but  as  the  Central  Pacific  was  pushed  forward 
—reaching  Clipper  Gap  in  June  1865  and  Colfax  in  September — it 
killed  all  competition. 

US  40  crosses  the  State  Line,  0  m.,  15  miles  southwest  of  Reno, 
Nev.,  following  the  Truckee  River,  which  is  bordered  by  steep,  craggy 
slopes.  Fremont,  camping  at  its  mouth  in  January  1844  with  his 
second  expedition  to  the  Far  West,  named  it  the  Salmon  Trout  River 
because  of  the  fine  fish  the  Indians  brought  him.  Later  in  the  same 
year,  the  Stevens-Murphy  Party  gave  it  the  name  it  now  bears — that 
of  the  Paiute  chief  who  guided  them  out  of  the  burning  alkali  desert 
to  the  river's  banks  and  pointed  out  the  pass  into  California.  His 
answer  to  all  questions  was  "truckee,"  his  equivalent  for  "okeh." 

The  boundary  of  TAHOE  NATIONAL  FOREST  is  crossed  at 
0.5  m. ;  the  road  runs  for  more  than  50  miles  through  the  forest.  A 
reserve  of  more  than  1,000,000  acres,  it  embraces  an  ever  changing 
panorama  of  Sierra  grandeur. 

At  6.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  FLORISTON,  0.5  m.  (5,200  alt.,  384  pop.),  where 
rise  the  jumbled  brick  walls  and  smokestacks  of  a  paper  pulp  mill — once 
the  greatest  producer  in  California.  Red-roofed  white  frame  cottages  cling 
to  the  precipitous  slopes. 

From  the  winding  canyon,  US  40  climbs  to  a  high,  wide  tableland, 
rimmed  by  mountains. 

At  11.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  crossing  the  river,  to  BOCA  (mouth),  0.5  m.  (5,535 
alt.,  25  pop.),  once  a  lumbering  town,  now  merely  a  handful  of  ramshackle 


564        CALIFORNIA 

shanties  around  a  bleak  railroad  station  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Truckee 
River. 

TRUCKEE,  19.8  m.  (5,820  alt.,  1,525  pop.)  at  the  junction  (R) 
with  State  89  (see  TOUR  5b),  straggles  along  the  banks  of  the  river. 
Roundabout,  pine  forests  cover  the  slopes  with  deep  green,  but  Truckee 
itself,  once  a  lumbering  camp,  now  a  railroad  and  stock-raising  supply 
center,  lacks  even  a  sprig  of  green.  Its  ramshackle  frame  houses  and 
weather-stained  brick  buildings  sprawl  over  rocky  slopes.  On  Saturday 
nights  the  cheap  saloons  and  gambling  halls  overflow  with  lumberjacks, 
cow-punchers,  and  shepherds.  In  winter,  when  great  glistening  drifts 
fill  the  streets,  the  nearby  snow-clad  slopes  resound  with  the  shouts  of 
skiers.  The  first  California  ski  club  was  organized  here  in  1913. 
There  are  a  variety  of  slides,  a  i,ooo-foot  toboggan  slide  with  a  power 
pull-back,  and  an  ice  rink  illuminated  for  night  skating.  During  the 
season  are  the  weekly  ski-jumping  programs  and  the  annual  Sierra  dog 
derbies.  Often  during  the  winter  film  companies  work  here. 

At  20.8  m.  is  the  western  junction  with  State  89  (see  TOUR  lOa). 

South  of  Truckee,  US  40  plunges  into  a  shadowy  corridor  of  nut 
pines.  A  stone  monument  (L),  21.5  m.,  faces  north  toward  the  low 
pass  through  which  came  the  California  Trail.  About  90  yards  south 
is  the  SITE  OF  THE  GRAVES  CABIN,  erected  by  part  of  the  Donner 
Party  in  1846.  At  22  m.  another  stone  monument  indicates  the  point 
where  the  emigrant  trail  turned  south  again,  up  Cold  Creek  Canyon, 
on  its  way  to  the  summit.  Here  the  Donner  Party  lost  the  trail. 

The  DONNER  STATE  MONUMENT  (L),  22.3  m.,  is  an 
1 1 -acre  tract  set  apart  as  a  memorial  to  the  Donner  Party.  At  the 
end  of  October  1846,  the  vanguard  of  the  train  arrived  at  this  point. 
Storm  clouds  were  already  gathering  as  they  struggled  up  the  rocky 
canyon  of  the  Truckee;  they  made  haste,  but  men  and  animals  were 
footsore  and  exhausted;  George  Donner,  the  leader,  had  injured  a  leg. 
On  October  28,  a  month  earlier  than  usual,  snow  began  to  fall,  burying 
the  faint  trail.  They  tried  to  go  on,  but  could  not,  and  turning  back, 
pitched  camp.  Winter  broke ;  November  ended  in  four  days  and  nights 
of  continuous  snow ;  December  began  with  furious  wind,  sleet,  and  rain. 

Led  by  well-to-do  George  and  Jacob  Donner  and  James  F.  Reed, 
the  party  had  set  out  from  Illinois  in  April.  At  Fort  Bridger,  on  the 
strength  of  an  open  letter  sent  to  travelers  by  the  dare-devil  mountaineer 
Lansford  W.  Hastings,  who  did  not  meet  them  as  his  letter  had 
promised,  they  had  taken  the  fatal  step  of  breaking  off  from  their 
companions  of  the  trail  to  follow  the  unknown  route  later  called  the 
Hastings  Cut-off.  Even  when  they  were  compelled  to  break  their  way 
a  few  feet  at  a  time  through  the  thicket-choked  canyons  of  the  Wasatch 
Mountains  in  Utah,  they  had  stubbornly  refused  to  admit  their  mistake 
and  turn  back.  By  the  time  they  had  struggled  for  days  and  nights 
without  water  across  the  deserts  beyond  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  it  was 
too  late  to  correct  the  error.  Utterly  exhausted,  their  animals  dying, 
they  had  rested  for  several  days  in  the  green  meadows  along  the  Truckee 
on  the  site  of  Reno ;  this  final  delay  was  their  undoing. 


TOUR     9        565 

In  the  camps  at  Alder  Creek  and  Donner  Lake,  the  snow  became 
2O  feet  deep.  Starvation  faced  them,  for  their  cattle  had  wandered 
off,  and  were  buried  in  the  drifts.  By  December  10,  Jacob  Donner 
and  three  others  in  the  Donner  huts  on  Alder  Creek  were  dead.  Soon 
the  immigrants  were  living  on  the  few  mice  they  could  catch,  and  on 
bark  and  twigs.  In  a  desperate  effort  to  escape,  10  men  and  5  women, 
known  as  the  "Forlorn  Hope,"  started  west  on  foot  with  provisions 
enough  for  6  days,  scaled  the  summit,  and  followed  the  ridge  north  of 
the  North  Fork  of  the  Yuba  River.  Within  a  week  one  man  had  died ; 
by  Christmas  Day,  after  4  days  without  food,  they  could  go  no  farther. 
A  terrific  storm  had  burst  upon  them,  and  for  a  whole  week  they  were 
snowbound,  huddling  in  terrible  misery  about  their  campfire.  When 
the  storm  lifted,  four  more  men  had  died;  the  starving  survivors 
devoured  their  bodies.  Another  man  died;  he,  too,  was  eaten — and 
so  were  the  two  Indian  guides,  killed  when  they  began  to  falter. 
Struggling  on,  these  survivors  ate  their  moccasins,  the  strings  of  their 
snowshoes,  a  pair  of  old  boots.  Thirty-two  days  after  they  had  set 
out,  the  5  women  and  2  remaining  men  reached  an  Indian  village  and 
were  dragged  on  to  the  Johnson  Ranch  at  Wheatland,  leaving  a  trail 
of  bloody  footprints. 

Relief  parties  set  out  from  the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  first,  seven 
men  on  foot,  reached  the  camp  at  Donner  Lake  February  19,  to  find 
it  buried  under  snowdrifts;  the  survivors,  with  nothing  left  to  eat  but 
hides,  were  in  a  torpor.  With  21,  mostly  children,  three  of  whom 
died  on  the  way  out,  the  rescuers  started  back,  meeting  on  the  way 
the  second  relief  expedition,  which  reached  the  camp  March  I.  Seven- 
teen more  started  back  with  it,  only  to  be  trapped  by  another  blizzard, 
which  held  them  in  the  snow  for  a  week.  Their  feet  and  hands  froze; 
three  more  died,  and  their  bodies  were  eaten  by  the  survivors.  The 
third  relief  party  found  nine  still  alive  at  the  camp,  three  of  them  too 
near  death  to  travel;  they,  too,  had  been  driven  to  eat  the  bodies  of 
the  dead.  With  five  of  these  survivors,  the  relief  party  started  back,  but 
Tamsen  Donner,  renouncing  her  last  chance  to  escape,  said  goodbye 
to  her  two  little  daughters  and  struggled  back  over  the  five  miles  of 
drifts  to  the  camp  at  Alder  Lake  to  nurse  her  dying  husband.  She 
had  died,  and  her  body  had  vanished,  when  the  fourth  relief  party, 
seeking  whatever  of  value  remained  at  the  camp  for  plunder,  arrived 
to  find  one  man  still  living  in  hideous  squalor  among  the  bones  of  his 
fellow  travelers.  Of  the  81  who  had  pitched  camp  here  in  November 
1846,  only  45  crossed  the  mountains. 

Left  from  the  entrance  to  the  PIONEER  MONUMENT,  0.1  m.,  a  great  stone 
block  bearing  the  heroic  bronze  figures  of  a  man,  woman,  and  child.  Here 
is  the  SITE  OF  THE  SCHALLENBERGER  CABIN,  built  by  members  of  the  Stevens- 
Murphy  Party  in  November  1844,  where  young  Moses  Schallenberger,  ill 
and  unable  to  scale  the  pass,  spent  the  winter  alone,  guarding  the  goods 
until  he  was  rescued  in  March  of  the  next  year.  When  the  vanguard  of 
the  Donner  Party  camped  here  November  i,  1846,  the  Breen  family — only 
one  to  escape  without  losing  at  least  one  member — moved  in. 

Right  from  the  end  of  the  road  on  a  foot  trail,  through  a  grove  of  nut 
pines,  0.3  m.  to  the  huge  granite  boulder  marking  the  SITE  OF  THE  MURPHY 


566        CALIFORNIA 

CABIN,  in  which  lived  Grandmother  Murphy,  her  family,  and  others.  The 
crude  lean-to  was  built  against  the  great  smooth-faced  rock,  which  served 
as  the  fireplace  wall.  Under  the  Murphy  cabin  in  June  1847  Gen.  Stephen 
W.  Kearny's  band  buried  the  bones  found  in  the  vicinity. 

US  40  curves  around  the  edge  of  gleaming  blue  DONNER  LAKE, 
22.7  m.  On  August  25,  1846,  Edwin  Bryant,  with  eight  companions, 
found  the  going  so  boggy  here  in  many  places  that  the  mules  sank  to 
their  bellies  in  the  mire.  The  arresting  outlines  of  CASTLE  PEAK 
(9>!39  alt.),  rise  (R)  at  the  head  of  a  long  draw.  Bryant,  in  the 
journal  of  his  California  trip,  marveled  at  its  "cyclopean  magnitude, 
the  ...  apparently  regular  and  perfect  .  .  .  construction  of  its  walls, 
turrets,  and  bastions." 

In  long  curves  US  40  begins  to  scale  the  all  but  perpendicular  wall 
of  granite  that  lifts  ahead  beneath  the  rock-ribbed  crowns  of  DONNER 
PEAK  (8,315  alt.)  and  LINCOLN  PEAK  (8,403  alt.).  Blasted 
through  solid  rocks,  the  road  twists  in  and  out  between  overhanging 
ledges.  Up  the  sheer  precipice  wriggles  the  long  black  caterpillar  of 
the  railroad  snowsheds,  worming  at  intervals  through  granite  tunnels. 

To  young  adventurers  like  Edwin  Bryant  and  his  companions,  these 
heights  offered  a  challenge;  but  they  dismayed  those  who  faced  the 
passage  with  cumbersome,  ox-drawn  wagons  loaded  with  belongings 
and  women  and  children.  Old  Caleb  Greenwood,  however,  guiding 
the  Stevens-Murphy  Party  over  the  mountains  in  November  1844, 
exercised  rare  judgment  and  skill.  They  struggled  upward  until  a 
rise  of  10  or  12  feet  blocked  the  way.  Greenwood  discovered  a  narrow 
crevice;  through  it  the  oxen  were  half  pushed,  half  dragged,  with  men 
below  and  ropes  above;  the  household  goods  were  carried  up  piece  by 
piece.  Then,  with  the  use  of  levers,  log  chains,  and  six  or  eight  ox 
teams,  the  wagons  were  lifted  over  the  face  of  the  cliff.  With  incon- 
ceivable labor,  several  other  barriers  scarcely  less  difficult  were  con- 
quered in  the  same  way. 

The  highway  climbs  to  the  summit  of  DONNER  PASS  (7,135 
alt.),  28.9  m.  Here  on  an  exposed  point,  where  the  wind  seldom  stops 
blowing,  a  UNITED  STATES  WEATHER  BUREAU  OBSERVATORY  makes 
records  of  wind  direction  and  velocity  for  the  aid  of  air  navigators. 

In  Summit  Valley  is  LAKE  VAN  NORDEN  (L),  an  artificial 
reservoir  dotted  with  decaying  stumps,  and  the  winter  resort  of 
NORDEN  (hotel),  30.2  m.  (6,880  alt.),  an  ideal  locale  for  winter 
sports  because  of  its  heavy  snowfall,  long  season,  and  open  slopes. 
SODA  SPRINGS,  31.7  m.  (6,784  alt.),  is  a  handful  of  rustic  resort 
cabins  around  -a  hotel. 

Left  from  Soda  Springs  on  a  dirt  road,  through  a  mountain  wilderness,  to 
a  junction  with  a  dirt  road,  8  m.;  L.  here  2  m.  to  SODA  SPRINGS  (5,975 
alt.),  long  known  as  Hopkins's  Springs,  the  resort  that  Mark  Hopkins  and 
Leland  Stanford  opened  in  the  iSyo's.  A  trail  leads  upstream  about  1  m.  to 
PAINTED  ROCK,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  which  shows  prehistoric 
Indian  pictographs. 

At  18.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  from  this  junction  5  m.  to 
LAST  CHANCE  (4,500  alt.).  A  group  of  prospectors  pushed  their  way  to 


TOUR     9        567 

this  place  in  1850  and  lingered  on,  greedy  for  the  rich  gold  deposits,  until 
their  provisions  were  exhausted.  Staking  all  on  a  last  chance,  one  of  the 
men  went  into  the  forest  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  shot  a  large  buck.  The 
camp  survived.  By  1852  it  had  grown  into  a  real  town,  and  by  1859  it  had 
three  lodge  halls.  Remnants  of  its  short-lived  glory  appear  in  the  old  hotel 
and  the  scattered  cabins  that  still  shelter  a  handful  of  miners  in  this  isolated 
wilderness. 

US  40  runs  through  the  canyon  of  the  South  Fork  of  the  Yuba 
River,  past  a  string  of  vacation  camps,  inns,  and  public  camp  grounds. 
The  stream  cascades  down  broken  granite  slopes;  deep  among  the 
bordering  conifers  are  piles  of  gray-white  granite,  ground  from  the 
mountain  flanks  by  ancient  glaciers.  Here  and  there  tiny  meadows, 
bright  with  alpine  flowers,  soften  the  austerity. 

At  44.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  20. 

Right  on  State  20,  which  drops  down  gently  between  long  lanes  of  fir  and 
cedar  to  BEAR  RIVER,  4.5  m.,  flowing  through  a  narrow  meadow  at  the 
upper  end  of  Bear  Valley  (4,500  alt.)  among  high  mountains.  In  these  rich 
grasslands  trains  of  weary,  half-starved  immigrants  paused  to  refresh  their 
gaunt  livestock.  The  valley  is  the  summer  range  for  cattle  from  the  dry 
foothill  country  and  the  scene  of  the  annual  "stampede"  of  the  Flying  J 
Ranch. 

At  Bear  River  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  0.2  m.  to  a  junction 
with  a  second  dirt  road;  R.  again  to  LAKE  SPAULDING,  1.2  m.  im- 
pounded by  a  stone  and  concrete  dam  built  in  1912.  In  a  huge  cave  blasted 
from  the  canyon  wall  stands  the  power  house.  A  tunnel  bored  through  rock 
carries  the  lake  water  to  the  electric  turbine  and  back  to  Drum  Canal, 
where  it  flows  down  Bear  Canyon  to  the  foothill  orchards  about  Auburn. 
North  of  Lake  Spaulding  are  a  string  of  man-made  lakes  that  drain  into 
Lake  Spaulding.  Since  the  gold  days  these  reservoirs  have  been  turned  to 
many  uses:  sluice  mining  in  the  iSso's,  large-scale  hydraulic  mining  in  the 
i86o's  and  iSyo's,  irrigation  of  farms  and  orchards  from  the  iSfo's  on,  and 
generation  of  electric  power  since  the  turn  of  the  century. 

Westward,  US  40  passes  between  the  high  earth  embankments  of 
YUBA  PASS  CUT,  and  coasts  down  the  crest  of  the  ridge  into  the 
meadows  of  Wilson  Valley.  On  both  sides  the  slopes  fall  away,  R. 
into  Bear  River  Valley  600  feet  below,  L.  into  the  wooded  canyon 
of  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  River.  Through  this  notch  in  the 
ridge,  EMIGRANT  GAP,  the  North  Fork  once  spilled  into  the 
Yuba,  but  the  upheaval  of  the  Sierra  Range  lifted  up  the  giant  cause- 
way between  them;  over  this  the  highway  now  runs. 

At  49.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  EMIGRANT  GAP  (cabins,  hotel],  0.5  m.  (5,250 
alt.,  164  pop.).  LTp  the  steep  canyon  sides  from  the  railroad  track  are  mill 
buildings,  lumber  yards,  and  shanties.  At  the  western  edge  of  Tahoe  Na- 
tional Forest,  the  village  is  a  popular  fishing  and  hunting  center. 

Emigrant  Gap  marks  the  boundary  between  the  High  Sierra  and 
the  gold-veined  foothills.  For  40  miles  southward  the  highway  rides 
the  crest  of  the  long,  tapering  ridge,  affording  magnificent  panoramas 
of  steep  wooded  canyons  and  gorges.  Files  of  conifers  appear  on  the 
receding  crests. 

At  58.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  graded  road. 


568        CALIFORNIA 

Right  on  this  road  is  ALTA,  1.7  m.  (3,602  alt.,  113  pop.),  a  railroad 
station,  where  old-fashioned  white  cottages  stand  among  apple  orchards 
near  a  tiny  lake.  The  road  passes  between  broken  picket  fences,  behind 
which  are  old  houses  surrounded  in  spring  by  bowers  of  blossoming  fruit 
trees,  purple  lilac,  and  scarlet  quince.  On  the  heights  above  the  village, 
summer  visitors  have  built  houses. 

DUTCH  FLAT,  3.5  m.  (3,399  alt.,  90  pop.),  played  a  vivid  part  in  the 
history  of  the  northern  mines.  Settled  in  1851  by  German  miners,  Joseph 
Doranbach  and  his  companions  —  "Dutchmen"  in  miners'  parlance  —  it  was 
soon  crowded  with  thousands  who  flocked  in  to  the  placer  deposits.  It 
was  a  Dutch  Flat  man,  Daniel  W.  Strong,  who  pointed  out  Donner  Pass 
to  Theodore  Dehone  Judah,  young  Central  Pacific  engineer,  and  Dutch 
Flat  subscribed  money  generously  for  the  railroad.  After  1863,  when  the 
railroad  "Big  Four"  opened  their  Dutch  Flat  and  Donner  Lake  Wagon 
Road,  Concord  coaches  and  teamsters  stopped  at  hostelries  here.  Dutch 
Flat  had  lost  its  importance  as  a  stage  center  by  the  fall  of  the  next  year, 
when  the  railroad  stretched  20  miles  beyond  to  Cisco;  but  the  spectacular 
hydraulic  operations  of  the  next  decade,  when  one  company  worked  as 
many  as  32  claims  at  once  on  a  gigantic  scale,  kept  millions  of  dollars  in 
gold  passing  over  its  counters. 

CHINA  STORE  (L),  a  massive,  fortresslike  structure  with  tiny  porthole 
windows,  half  stone  and  adobe  and  half  wood,  is  all  that  remains  of  a 
Chinatown  that  housed  1,000  coolies  of  the  railroad  construction  days. 

Right  from  Dutch  Flat  a  road  winds  through  the  DUTCH  FLAT  HYDRAULIC 
DIGGINGS,  a  waste  of  rugged,  man-made  ravines  choked  with  rocks  and 
rubble.  In  these  many-hued  stony  acres,  hexagonal  crystals,  fossils,  and 
even  at  times  a  gold  nugget,  are  found. 

Crossing  Bear  River,  the  road  climbs  a  steep  canyon  wall  to  LITTLE 
ROCK,  2.8  m.  (2,900  alt.),  once  a  mining  town,  YOU  BET,  6  m.  (3,000 
alt.),  and  RED  DOG,  7.7  m.  (2,850  alt.),  around  which  2,000  miners  dug 
for  gold  in  the 


Descending  from  the  dense  forest  between  banks  of  reddish  earth 
and  crumbling  rock,  the  highway,  at  61.7  m.,  cuts  into  a  deep  gash 
along  the  face  of  bluffs  tinged  with  vivid  hues  of  russet,  buff,  and  rose 
red.  Over  the  canyon  bottoms  (L)  sprawl  mounds  of  reddish  earth 
and  gravel,  half  overgrown  with  scrub  pines;  beyond  rise  crumbling 
pinnacles  and  blasted  palisades.  From  the  river  channels  of  this  region, 
where  streams  of  the  Tertiary  era  deposited  a  bed  of  auriferous  gravel, 
250  feet  deep,  2  miles  long,  and  a  half  mile  wide,  was  washed  out 
more  than  $15,000,000  worth  of  gold  during  the  titanic  hydraulic 
operations  of  the  iSyo's  and  i88o's. 

In  the  midst  of  rose-streaked  debris  is  GOLD  RUN,  63.1  m. 
(3,224  alt.,  114  pop.),  active  in  the  i86o's  and  iSyo's.  The  log  cabin 
on  stilts  beside  the  highway  (L)  at  63.7  m.,  is  the  GO,LD  RUN  TRADING 
POST,  now  a  museum  for  pioneer  relics. 

US  40  runs  through  narrow  defiles,  where  interlacing  branches 
hide  the  sun.  The  forest  of  pine  and  cedar  begins  to  thin  out,  making 
way  for  spreading  -black  oaks,  with  tattered,  yellow-green  foliage,  and 
for  bushy  gray-green  manzanita. 

COLFAX,  73.2  m.  (2,422  alt.,  912  pop.),  is  strung  out  along 
railroad  sidings  where  boxcars  wait  by  warehouses.  On  the  hillsides 
are  old-fashioned  cottages.  Nearby  are  orchards  of  Bartlett  pears 
and  Hungarian  prunes,  and  vineyards  of  Tokay  grapes.  Called  Alden 


TOUR     9        569 

Grove  by  its  settlers  of   1849,  the  place  was  renamed  Illinoistown  in 
the    early    1850'$,    and    Coif  ax   about    1869.     During   those    turbulent 
years  it  was  a  head  of  "wagon  navigation"  to  the  gold  mines;  here 
goods  were  transferred  to  muleback  for  the  journey  to  remote  camps. 
At  73.8  772.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  down  an  easy  grade,  to  MINERAL  BAR,  5  m.  (1,200 
alt.),  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  River,  where  Judas  trees  grow 
in  moist  gullies  of  the  steep  canyon  walls.  The  river  rushes  past  aban- 
doned diggings.  When  summer  dries  the  river  to  a  low-water  level,  a  few 
miners  still  wash  out  a  little  yellow  dust  where  scores  once  made  their 
"piles." 

Steep  and  narrow,  the  way  leads  up  the  canyon  wall  to  IOWA  HILL,. 
10  m.  (3,200  alt.,  loo  pop.),  high  on  the  neck  of  a  ridge.  Only  one  of 
the  old  brick  buildings  on  the  main  street  has  survived  the  ravages  of  fire, 
and  only  a  handful  of  white  frame  cottages  remain  to  look  primly  out 
from  lilac  trees  and  hollyhocks.  Over  the  grassy  slopes  above  the  village 
spread  the  remnants  of  deserted  gardens  and  orchards;  at  the  top  of  the 
hill,  delicate  manzanita  bells  fall  softly  on  moss-grown  headstones  in  the 
old  cemetery.  All  about  are  signs  of  the  treasure-trove  which,  first  dis- 
covered in  1853,  had  yielded  an  estimated  $20,000,000  by  1880.  Long  ago 
the  rich  conglomerate  of  the  Blue  Lead  Channel,  which  ran  under  the 
town,  was  drifted  out;  tremendous  hydraulic  onslaughts  all  but  washed 
the  townsite  away. 

US  40  traverses  an  area  of  tiny  orchards  in  forest  clearings;  the 
pears  and  apples  grown  here  have  unusually  fine  flavor  and  texture. 
The  old  type  of  diversified  farming,  which  has  all  but  disappeared  from 
much  of  the  State,  lingers  here  in  the  small  holdings  given  over  to 
orchards,  vineyards,  and  pastures  for  dairy  cattle. 

AUBURN,  90.5  m.  (1,360  alt.,  2,661  pop.)  (  see  TOUR  4a)  is 
at  a  junction  with  State  49  (see  TOUR  J^a] . 

At  91.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  OPHIR,  1.5  m.  (850  alt.,  250  pop.),  which  began 
life  as  Spanish  Corral,  but  exchanged  it  for  the  name  of  King  Solomon's 
treasure  trove.  In  1852  the  most  populous  town  in  Placer  County,  Ophir 
is  still  the  trade  center  of  its  chief  quartz-mining  district.  Among  the 
nearby  orchards  and  vineyards  are  the  scars  of  old  diggings,  abandoned 
mining  pits,  dumps,  and  stamp  mill  foundations. 

Diving  into  a  long  tunnel  US  40  runs  under  NEWCASTLE, 
94.6  777.  (970  alt.,  750  pop.),  a  hilltop  town.  Newcastle  was  the  only 
one  of  the  many  camps  at  the  head  of  Secret  Ravine  to  survive.  As 
orchards  replaced  the  spent  placer  mines  in  the  1870*3  and  i88o's,  it 
became  a  fruit-packing  and  shipping  center. 

At  97.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  PENRYN,  0.2  m.  (635  alt.,  300  pop.),  which  wears 
(under  slightly  altered  spelling)  the  name  of  the  Welsh  town,  Penrhyn, 
from  which  came  Griffith  Griffith,  who  opened  a  granite  quarry  here  in 
1864.  Penryn  is  today  a  fruit-shipping  center. 

LOOMIS,  99.9  772.  (400  alt.,  319  pop.),  is  the  successor  of  Pine, 
which  took  its  name  from  Pine  Grove  in  nearby  Secret  Ravine,  where 


570        CALIFORNIA 

mining  began  in  1850.  Along  the  highway  are  strung  squat  business 
buildings,  and  along  the  railroad,  the  great  fruit  warehouses. 

As  the  last  orchard-mantled  slopes  of  the  Sierra  foothills  taper  off, 
US  40  strikes  over  a  level  straightaway  across  the  edges  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley.  Ahead  lies  open  country,  spotted  with  clumps  of  cotton- 
woods  and  willows.  Into  the  distance  sweep  grassy  knolls,  dappled 
with  groves  of  immense  spreading  oaks.  This  parklike  oak-covered 
country,  California's  most  characteristic  landscape,  encircles  the  great 
Central  Valley  and  spreads  over  much  of  the  Coast  Range. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  population  of  ROCKLIN,  102.8  m. 
(248  alt.,  724  pop.),  is  foreign-born — predominantly  Finnish.  The 
Finns  maintain  their  own  library  and  choral  society,  and  work  in  the 
granite  quarries  from  which  Rocklin  takes  its  name. 

ROSEVILLE,  106.7  m.  (163  alt.,  6,425  pop.),  at  the  junction 
with  US  99E  (see  TOUR  SB),  is  a  freight-clearing  center  clustering 
about  the  extensive  Southern  Pacific  shops  and  yards.  Its  shady  side 
streets  of  frame  dwellings  are  lined  by  olive,  maple,  and  fig  trees. 
Heart  of  an  area  that  grows  plums,  berries,  almonds,  and  grapes,  it 
ships  large  quantities  of  table  fruits  to  Eastern  markets. 

NORTH  SACRAMENTO,  124.9  m.  (34  alt.,  2,097  pop.), 
sprawls  along  the  highway,  a  string  of  one-story  shops  and  gas  stations, 
typical  city  outskirts. 

US  40  continues  southward,  and  at  125.7  m.  spans  the  tree-lined 
American  River,  on  whose  south  fork  James  W.  Marshall  discovered 
gold  in  1848. 

SACRAMENTO,  124.9  m.  (34  alt.,  93,750  pop.)  (see  SACRA- 
MENTO). Sacramento  is  at  junctions  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a) 
and  State  24  (see  TOUR  9 A) . 

Section  b.    SACRAMENTO  to  SAN  FRANCISCO,  95  m.  US  40. 

Southwest  of  the  State  capital,  the  Victory  Highway  crosses  the 
broad  farmlands  of  the  Sacramento  Valley,  passes  through  the  low, 
orchard-covered  foothills  of  the  Coast  Range,  and  follows  the  shores 
of  San  Pablo  and  San  Francisco  Bays  into  San  Francisco.  The  first 
Yankee  immigrants  found  much  of  the  land  already  claimed  by  Mexican 
dons,  but  this  did  not  hinder  their  attempts  to  possess  it.  After  gold 
seekers  swarmed  in  from  coast  to  foothills  in  the  i85o's,  roads,  rail- 
roads, and  river  boat  lines  were  developed;  later  the  land  was  divided 
into  farms,  pastures,  and  orchard  plots.  Along  winding  side  roads  in 
the  quiet  back  country  appear  the  crumbling  adobes  of  the  dons  and 
the  later  frame  mansions  of  the  Yankee  invaders;  but  the  main  high- 
way runs  through  a  countryside  embellished  with  signboards,  gas  sta- 
tions, and  soda  pop  stands,  through  vast  corporation-controlled  farms, 
and  through  bleak  company  towns  at  factory  gates. 

At  the  western  end  of  SACRAMENTO,  0  m.,  is  the  737-foot-long 
TOWER  BRIDGE,  a  vertical  lift  span  over  the  broad  Sacramento 
River.  Excavation  for  the  bridge  abutment  on  the  city  side  brought 
to  light,  20  feet  underground,  the  tracks  of  the  Central  Pacific,  first 


TOUR     9        571 

transcontinental  railroad.  The  Sacramento,  California's  largest  river, 
served  for  decades  as  the  main  artery  of  travel  between  the  early  San 
Francisco  and  this  valley.  The  great  flat-bottomed,  paddle  wheel 
river  boats  of  rival  lines  raced  each  other  from  port  to  port,  sometimes 
tying  down  safety  valves  until  steam  pressure  rose  to  the  explosion 
point.  The  Combination  Line's  Pearl,  with  93  aboard,  was  racing  the 
Citizens'  Line's  Enterprise  on  January  27,  1855,  when  her  boilers 
exploded  near  Sacramento,  killing  56  persons.  Similar  disasters  on  the 
Washoe,  the  Yosemite,  and  the  Belle  finally  dampened  the  competitive 
spirit.  In  the  end,  the  railroad  put  most  of  the  river  steamers  out  of 
business:  today  only  one  line  operates  between  San  Francisco  and 
Sacramento. 

At  2.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  BRODERICK,  0.5  m.  (550  pop.),  which  was  the 
seat  of  Yolo  County  for  two  brief  periods  (1851-57  and  1861-62),  but  lost 
the  honor  under  stress  of  fire,  flood,  and  political  storm.  Chief  point  of 
activity  today  is  the  waterfront,  with  launches  and  fishing  craft  tied  up 
near  boathouses  and  cabins  on  the  riverbank;  here  old  river  steamboats, 
the  Red  Bluff  and  the  Dover,  lie  beached.  A  weatherbeaten  GREEK  ORTHO- 
DOX CHURCH  testifies  to  the  many  Russians  who  settled  here.  Along  the 
river  bank  are  the  huts  and  shanties  of  squatters,  and  hobo  "jungles." 

Through  the  roadside  clutter  of  city  outskirts — billboards,  auto 
camps,  gas  stations,  fruit  and  vegetable  stands,  truck  garden  plots,  and 
ranchers'  shanties — US  40  strikes  out  across  the  level  floor  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley. 

Yolo  Bypass,  5.5  m.,  is  a  3-mile  causeway  over  desolate,  tule-grown 
marshlands — in  springtime  carpeted  with  yellow  baeria,  in  autumn  the 
haunt  of  wild  geese.  The  deeply  rutted  road  that  formerly  meandered 
over  these  swampy  acres  was  impassable  in  spring  when  the  swollen 
Sacramento  flooded  it  with  a  muddy  torrent.  So  yielding  was  the 
terrain  that  the  railroad,  paralleling  the  highway  on  a  high  embank- 
ment, used  to  sag  until  the  tracks  looked  like  a  sway-backed  horse. 
Unnumbered  tons  of  rock  had  to  be  dumped  into  the  swamp  before 
the  engineers  won  their  fight.  Today,  when  the  river  threatens  to 
break  its  levees,  flood  gates  are  thrown  open  and  this  whole  region  is 
inundated. 

The  Sacramento  Valley,  level  as  the  Midwest  prairies,  stretches 
ahead,  an  irregular  checkerboard  of  tomato  patches,  strips  of  blue-green 
alfalfa,  immense  tracts  of  sugar  beets,  fields  green  in  spring  with  waving 
grain  and  tawny  with  stubble  in  autumn.  Scattered  farm  buildings 
huddle  among  trees. 

By  1856,  at  DAVIS,  14.8  m.  (54  alt.,  1,243  pop.),  Jerome  C. 
Davis  had  400  acres  in  wheat  and  barley,  great  herds  of  livestock,  and 
orchards  and  vineyards. 

The  drooping  feathery  branches  of  gray-green  tamarisks  hide  the 
fields  and  orchards  of  the  University  of  California's  DAVIS  BRANCH 
OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE.  From  the  entrance  (L),  15.4  m.f 
a  driveway  leads  to  a  cluster  of  40  classrooms  and  dormitories,  athletic 
facilities,  a  model  dairy,  and  pedigreed-livestock  and  poultry  pens.  The 


572        CALIFORNIA 

i,O76-acre  farm  includes  150  acres  of  orchard  with  more  than  1,000 
varieties  of  fruit,  27  acres  of  experimental  vineyards,  250  acres  planted 
with  forage  crops,  130  acres  of  pasture,  and  a  lo-acre  poultry  plant. 

At  16.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a). 

DIXON,  26.3  m.  (67  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  is  a  farming  and  dairying 
center,  named  for  its  founder,  Thomas  Dickson,  whose  name  it  soon 
forgot  how  to  spell.  The  town  grew  up  soon  after  the  advent  of  the 
first  transcontinental  railroad,  superseding  the  village  of  Silveyville, 
on  the  stage  road  to  the  gold  mines. 

Swinging  southwest  toward  low  tumbled  hills,  US  40  is  skirted  by 
neatly  trimmed  fields,  orchards  and  pastures. 

At  36.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  VACAVILLE,  0.7  m.  (166  alt.,  1,556  pop.),  on 
gentle  knolls,  where  orchards  adjoin  rear  gardens  or  look  down  on  house- 
tops. The  warm,  frostless  slopes  of  hill-sheltered  Vaca,  Plesants,  and 
Laguna  Valleys,  each  spring  produce  early  cherries,  apricots,  peaches, 
plums  and  pears  for  the  eastern  market.  Before  1850,  when  Vacaville 
was  founded,  the  land  roundabout  was  the  range  for  the  great  cattle  herds 
of  Rancho  de  los  Putos.  As  Yankee  settlers  began  to  arrive  the  lands 
were  broken  up  into  small  farms  and  orchards.  In  this  region  are  laid 
the  opening  scenes  of  Charles  G.  Norris'  novel,  Brass.  On  Merchant  St. 
stands  (L)  the  old  frame  PENA  HOUSE;  in  the  yard  gnarled  and  blackened 
fig  trees  mingle  with  oleanders  and  aged  pear,  walnut,  and  poplar  trees. 
Vacaville's  Chinatown  is  a  survival  of  the  i88o's  and  iSgo's,  when  Chinese 
workers  flocked  in  to  work  in  the  fruit  industry. 

US  40  winds  up  into  the  smooth  Vaca  hills.  Along  the  sheltered 
valley  bottoms  are  apricot  orchards,  fragrant  with  delicate  blossoms  in 
spring,  heavily  laden  with  ripening  fruit  in  summer.  With  the  coming 
of  the  first  winter  rains,  the  parched  hillsides  are  mantled  with  tall 
grass — lush  grazing  for  sheep  and  cattle. 

In  this  region,  the  poet,  Edwin  Markham,  best  known  for  his  "The 
Man  with  the  Hoe,"  spent  his  boyhood  and  early  youth  (1861-1870) 
as  sheepherder  and  vaquero  on  his  mother's  cattle  ranges.  Here  he 
plowed  "the  little  valleys  between  the  ridges  for  wheat  and  barley," 
and  followed  the  "threshing  machine  in  the  time  of  harvesting."  Some- 
where in  the  vicinity,  he  shared  in  the  "exhilarating  spectacle"  of  the 
rodeo  held  yearly  by  the  cattle  king  of  the  region. 

The  PENA  ADOBE  (L),  40.1  m.f  sits  in  a  garden  under  the  shade 
of  the  fig  and  walnut  trees,  the  pomegranate,  the  mission  grape,  and 
the  Castilian  rose  cherished  by  early  Spanish  settlers.  The  old  structure 
is  now  under  a  board  siding. 

US  40  descends  and  crosses  level  Suisun  Valley,  FAIRFIELD,  46.6 
772.  (12  alt.,  1,131  pop.),  seat  of  Solano  County,  is  the  trade  center  of 
farmers  and  orchardists.  It  spills  over  part  of  an  old  rancho  acquired 
by  two  sea  captains,  Robert  H.  Waterman  and  Archibald  A.  Ritchie, 
who  founded  the  town  in  1859,  and  induced  the  transfer  of  the  county 
seat  from  Benicia  by  their  donation  of  land  for  a  townsite. 

Left  from  Fairfield  on  Union  Ave.  to  SUISUN  CITY,  0.8  m.  (12  alt.,  905 
pop.),  once  connected  with  Fairfield  by  a  mile-long  plank  road  over  a 


TOUR    9      573 

swamp,  today  divided  from  it  only  by  the  railroad  tracks.  All  the  way 
to  this  inland  point,  up  winding  Suisun  Slough  through  the  great  salt- 
water marshes  north  of  Suisun  Bay,  watercraft  sailed  in  the  1850*8  to 
the  landing  place  for  Mexican  ranchos.  The  old  landing  (L),  near  the 
Plaza,  is  still  owned  by  a  grandson  of  Capt.  Josiah  Wing,  who  began 
running  watercraft  here  in  1850,  erected  a  warehouse  two  years  later, 
and  in  1854  laid  out  the  town.  The  clapboarded  WING  HOUSE,  built  in 
1858,  stands  on  a  narrow  street.  Today  canneries  and  packing  plants, 
taking  advantage  of  shipment  both  by  water  and  rail,  cluster  here.  The 
salt-water  marshes,  owned  by  sportsmen's  clubs,  offer  excellent  duck  shoot- 
ing and  bass  fishing. 

Where  today's  wide  roadbed  runs  westward  past  trim  white  farm- 
houses, the  earliest  travelers  across  Suisun  Valley  followed  a  dim 
trail  through  wild  oats  so  tall  that  riders  on  horseback  were  hidden 
by  them.  Sometimes  wild  Spanish  cattle  attacked  the  wayfarer,  or 
antelope  and  elk  broke  into  a  wild  stampede. 

The  bronze  STATUE  OF  FRANCISCO  SOLANO  is  on  a  low  knoll  (R), 
51.1  m.  Solano  was  overlord  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  north  of  Suisun 
and  San  Pablo  Bays.  Born  Sem  Yoto,  chief  of  the  Suisune,  he  was 
baptized  with  a  Spanish  name  by  the  fathers  of  Mision  San  Francisco 
de  Solano  at  Sonoma,  from  whom  he  learned  many  of  the  arts  of  the 
white  men.  At  the  time  Lieut.  Mariano  G.  Vallejo  conquered  the 
Suscol  in  1835,  he  won  the  friendship  of  Chief  Solano,  who  aided 
him  in  the  peace  deliberations.  On  Rancho  Suisun,  granted  to  him 
by  the  Spaniards,  Solano  built  a  large  adobe  for  himself  and  smaller 
ones  for  his  people;  the  Yankees  who  passed  this  way  in  1846  and  1847 
found  it  occupied  by  the  Indian,  Jesus  Molino,  and  surrounded  by 
fields  of  peas,  wheat,  and  other  crops.  His  alliance  with  Chief  Solano, 
who  could  muster  a  force  of  1,000  plumed  and  painted  warriors,  was 
Vallejo's  chief  protection  for  the  struggling  new  outposts  of  Spanish 
civilization  against  the  depredations  of  the  natives.  When  Solano 
County  was  organized  in  1850,  it  was  named  at  Vallejo's  request  for 
his  Indian  ally,  whom  he  admired  and  trusted  as  a  friend.  "A  splendid 
figure  of  a  man"  (he  was  6  feet  7  inches  tall),  as  Vallejo  described 
him,  Solano  was  "a  keen,  clearheaded  thinker,  readily  grasped  new 
ideas,  learned  to  speak  Spanish  with  ease  and  precision,  and  was  so 
ready  to  debate,  that  few  cared  to  engage  with  him  in  a  contest  of 
wits."  The  bronze  likeness  represents  him  as  an  Indian  of  magnificent 
physique,  with  one  hand  upraised  in  a  gesture  of  peace — somewhat 
riddled  by  the  potshots  of  latter-day  hunters. 

At  51.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  ROCKVILLE,  1.6  m.  with  a  country  store.  Nearby, 
a  substantial  stone  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  erected  in  1856,  stands 
among  flowering  shrubs  and  trees  in  a  graveyard. 

Left  from  Rockville,  0.5  m.,  to  the  great  stone  MARTIN  HOUSE  (R),  with 
peaked  roof  and  gables,  projecting  eaves,  and  deep  window  sills,  in  the 
style  of  an  English  manor-house.  In  1850  Samuel  Martin  arrived,  having 
crossed  the  plains  from  Pennsylvania  with  his  family  in  a  covered  wagon, 
with  men  on  horseback  driving  his  herds.  He  gradually  acquired  land 
until  he  owned  an  estate  of  11,000  acres.  In  the  year  Martin's  party 
arrived,  the  last  of  the  Suisune,  whose  chief  village  stood  here,  were 


574        CALIFORNIA 

retreating  into  the  mountains,  carrying  sacks  of  grain  on  their  heads. 
On  a  wooded  knoll  back  of  the  mansion  are  great,  deeply  embedded  boul- 
ders that  reveal  mortar  holes  worn  smooth  during  the  grinding  of  grass 
seeds  and  acorns.  The  Suisune  were  an  independent  and  self-reliant  people, 
as  the  Spanish  soldier,  Gabriel  Moraga,  sent  to  subdue  them  in  1810,  dis- 
covered. Many  of  them,  retreating  after  a  bloody  encounter  set  fire  to 
their  huts  and  perished  in  the  flames.  Again,  when  Jose  Sanchez  led  a 
second  attempt  at  subjugation  in  1817,  they  followed  their  chief,  Malaca, 
in  a  resistance  that  was  defeated  only  by  the  superior  weapons  of  the 
Spanish.  In  a  field  (L)  opposite  the  Martin  House  was  a  Suisune  Burial 
Ground;  a  buckeye  tree  marks  the  GRAVE  OF  FRANCISCO  SOLANO,  who  suc- 
ceeded Malaca. 

At  53.2  772.  is  a  junction  with  State  12  (see  TOUR  2A} . 

Climbing  out  of  Suisun  Valley,  US  40  winds  into  AMERICAN 
CANYON,  a  shallow  cleft  through  low,  rounded  hills  dappled  with 
clumps  of  oak  and  bay.  Grass-covered  in  spring,  these  hill  slopes  give 
pasture  to  herds  of  sheep  and  cattle,  which  leave  them  close-cropped 
and  bare  throughout  the  summer  and  fall.  As  the  highway  leaves  the 
hills,  the  tang  of  salt  air  greets  the  nostrils.  Beyond  is  a  panorama  of 
Vallejo's  city  blocks  (see  TOUR  2 A),  topped  by  the  steel  masts  of  the 
Naval  Radio  Station,  the  silver  Napa  River,  and  Mount  Tamalpais 
beyond  San  Pablo  Bay. 

At  62.3  ra.  is  a  junction  with  an  oiled  road  (see  TOUR  2A} . 

At  63.1  m.  US  40  meets  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  SOUTHAMPTON  BAY,  3.7  m.,  where  the  James 
Corbett-Joe  Choynski  prize  fight  was  staged  June  5,  1889,  on  a  barge. 
The  encounter  was  not  quite  an  engagement  with  bare  fists,  for  Corbett's 
hands  were  encased  in  3-ounce  mitts,  Choynski's  in  driving  gloves. 
Although  Corbett  broke  both  hands  early  in  the  fight,  he  went  on  pum- 
meling  Choynski  until  he  knocked  him  out  in  the  twenty-eighth  round. 
Both  had  to  be  carried  from  the  barge.  Corbett's  seconds  were  Thomas 
Williams  and  Porter  Ashe;  Choynski's  were  Nat  Goodwin,  Eddie  Graney, 
and  Jack  Dempsey,  the  "Nonpareil." 

BENICIA,  5.5  m.  (2,913  pop.),  along  the  northern  shore  of  Carquinez 
Strait,  at  the  base  of  low  hills  that  slope  down  gently  to  the  water's  edge, 
is  a  monument  to  Gen.  Mariano  Vallejo's  town-founding  passion.  It  rose 
on  his  Rancho  Suscol,  which  he  deeded  in  1846  to  Dr.  Robert  Semple, 
editor  of  the  Californian,  and  Thomas  O.  Larkin,  only  United  States 
consul  to  Alta  California  (1844-46).  Named  Santa  Francisca  in  honor  of 
Vallejo's  wife,  the  town  dreamed  for  a  brief  interval  of  becoming  the 
metropolis  of  San  Francisco  Bay;  but  when  the  citizens  of  Yerba  Buena 
appropriated  the  name  of  the  bay,  Vallejo  and  his  associates  fell  back  on 
Senora  Vallejo's  second  name,  Benicia.  In  1849,  Benicia  was  a  thriving 
waypoint  on  a  main  traveled  road  to  the  mines;  in  1853-54  it  was  impor- 
tant enough  to  be  the  State  capital.  An  army  post,  established  here  in 
1849,  and  later  an  arsenal,  made  it  a  military  headquarters  of  the  Far 
West.  When  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company  built  wharves  and  shops 
along  the  deep-water  harbor,  it  became  a  coaling  and  repair  stop  for 
river  boats.  As  miners  drifted  back  after  the  gold  rush  and  settled  in  the 
valleys,  Benicia  became  a  quiet,  orderly  town,  proud  of  its  schools  and 
churches. 

Today  its  citizens  preserve  the  landmarks  of  its  past.  Each  year,  during 
the  Old  Timers'  Festival,  a  marker  is  placed  to  commemorate  some  feature 
of  early  days.  California's  OLDEST  MASONIC  HALL  (1851)  stands  (R)  on 
West  J  St.  near  ist  St.;  it  housed  the  State  Legislature  on  its  ground 


TOUR    9      575 

floor  in  1853  when  Benicia  was  State  capital.  ST.  PAUL'S  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH  (1885),  corner  of  ist  and  J  Sts.,  stands  on  the  site  of  the  first 
Episcopal  cathedral  (1860)  of  the  Diocese  of  Northern  California.  On  I  St. 
near  ist  St.  is  the  SITE  OF  THE  BENICIA  YOUNG  LADIES'  SEMINARY,  founded 
in  1852;  in  the  i86o's  it  was  bought  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Cyrus  Mills  who 
changed  the  name  to  Mills  Seminary,  and  moved  it  to  Oakland,  where 
later  it  became  Mills  College  (see  OAKLAND}. 

One  of  the  first  hotels  in  California,  was  the  CALIFORNIA  HOUSE  (1847), 
on  H  St.  (R)  near  ist  St.,  built  for  Maj.  Stephen  Cooper,  whose  daughter 
was  married  here  to  Dr.  Robert  Semple  in  the  town's  first  wedding.  Re- 
modeled into  a  brewery  in  1854  and  since  rebuilt,  it  retains  part  of  the 
adobe  wall.  The  red-brick  CAPITOL,  G  and  ist  Sts.,  housed  the  State 
Legislature  from  December  1853  to  April  1854,  was  the  Solano  County 
Courthouse  in  1854-59,  and  the  town  school  in  1859-1882;  today  it  is  the 
city  hall,  library,  and  museum. 

Typical  of  California's  early  inns  is  the  SOLANO  HOTEL  (R),  corner  of 
ist  and  E  Sts.,  stopping  place  for  famous  men  and  women  of  the  i85o's 
and  scene  of  gay  social  events.  The  VON  PFISTER  ADOBE  STORE  (R),  near 
ist  and  D  Sts.,  was  built  in  1847;  here,  where  a  certain  Mr.  Von  Pfister 
set  up  shop  in  1848  with  merchandise  brought  from  Honolulu,  Charles 
Bennett  announced  James  Marshall's  discovery  of  gold. 

At  the  foot  of  M  St.  is  the  UNITED  STATES  ARSENAL  (1851),  whose  oldest 
extant  building  (1869)  is  a  sandstone  edifice  with  a  square  clock  tower. 
Beyond  waterfront  shacks  and  fishing  craft  lies  the  abandoned  Solano,  one 
of  the  twin  Southern  Pacific  ferries  which  carried  whole  trains  between 
Benicia  and  Port  Costa  (1879-1930).  In  a  barge  anchored  off  Carquinez 
Point,  Jack  London  made  a  sojourn  (1882-83),  described  in  John  Barleycorn. 

The  MUNICIPAL  PARK,  ist  St.  between  K  and  L  Sts.,  is  on  the  site  of 
California's  first  Presbyterian  Church,  organized  April  1849.  California's 
first  convent  school  was  ST.  CATHERINE'S  SEMINARY,  L  St.  near  ist  St.,  estab- 
lished at  Monterey  in  1851  by  Dominican  sisters  and  moved  to  Benicia  in 
1854.  BISHOP  WINGFIELD'S  HOUSE,  M  and  2nd  Sts.,  at  the  end  of  a  tree- 
lined  drive  was  one  of  the  buildings  of  St.  Augustine  Episcopal  College, 
instituted  in  1867  on  a  site  where  a  boys'  academy  had  been  since  1852. 
The  organization  of  ST.  DOMINIC'S  CHURCH,  I  and  5th  Sts.,  was  organized 
in  1854  by  Father  Villarosa,  Dominican  priest,  and  his  community  of 
brothers;  members  of  the  order  still  use  the  priory  quadrangle. 

Left  from  5th  and  M  Sts.  in  Benicia  on  State  21  to  ST.  DOMINIC'S  CEME- 
TERY, 0.5  m.,  where  Dona  Maria  Concepcion  Argiiello,  who  taught  in  St. 
Catherine's  Seminary  from  1854  until  her  death  in  August  1857,  lies  buried. 
Dona  Concepcion,  immortalized  in  poetry  by  Bret  Harte  and  in  the  novel 
Rezanov  by  Gertrude  Atherton,  was  not  quite  16  when  handsome  Russian 
Count  Rezanov  came  to  visit  her  father,  Don  Luis,  comandante  of  the  San 
Francisco  Presidio;  Rezanov's  mission  was  to  secure  food,  potatoes  espe- 
cially, for  the  Russian  settlement  at  Sitka,  Alaska.  He  fell  in  love  with 
Dona  Maria  Concepcion  and  she  with  him;  but  Rezanov  said  the  Tsar's 
consent  to  the  marriage  had  to  be  obtained  and  he  set  off  on  the  long 
journey  across  the  Pacific  and  over  Siberia  to  St.  Petersburg.  Years  passed 
without  word  from  him,  but  the  girl  waited.  Giving  up  hope,  she  had 
joined  the  Dominican  Sisterhood  before  word  came  back  that  Rezanov 
had  died  on  the  way  home. 

The  BENICIA  BARRACKS  (R),  0.8  m.  now  in  the  Army  reservation  that 
includes  the  United  States  Arsenal  stands  on  a  site  chosen  by  Gen.  Persifer 
Smith  in  1849.  Established  in  April  of  that  year  as  State  Army  head- 
quarters under  command  of  Commodore  Robert  Stockton,  they  served  the 
post  until  1908. 

At  64.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  29  (see  TOUR  2 A}. 

At  65.2  m.  is  the  tollhouse  of  CARQUINEZ  BRIDGE  (45$  a  car,  5$ 


CALIFORNIA 

a  passenger),  completed  in  1927.  This  $8,000,000  bridge,  with  a 
roadbed  4,482  feet  long  borne  by  towers  rising  325  feet  above  water, 
was  conceived  by  Avon  Hanford  and  Oscar  Klatt,  who  knew  nothing 
of  bridge  building,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  warnings  of  wiseacres 
that  the  strait's  swift-running  tides  would  prevent  the  laying  of  piers. 
A  million  dollars  of  his  own  and  his  friends'  money  had  been  risked 
when  Hanford  died  in  1926,  but  he  lived  to  see  the  central  pier  founda- 
tions successfully  laid.  Klatt  found  capitalists  ready  to  finance  the 
rest  of  the  construction.  The  foundations  alone  cost  more  than 
$2,500,000. 

Through  narrow  Carquinez  Strait,  8  miles  long  and  I  mile  wide 
at  its  narrowest  point,  pour  the  waters  from  the  Central  Valley's  two 
great  rivers,  the  Sacramento  and  the  San  Joaquin.  Bayard  Taylor, 
visiting  California  in  the  gold  days,  compared  the  strait  to  the  Bosporus, 
but  said  it  had  a  greater  natural  beauty  with  its  "bold  shores"  and  its 
"varying  succession  of  bays  and  headlands  on  either  side."  Through 
it  passed  the  immense  river  traffic  to  the  gold  mines;  today  it  carries 
products  of  the  orchards,  dairies,  and  grain  farms  of  the  hinterland. 

Beyond  the  southern  end  of  Carquinez  Bridge  rise  the  Contra  Costa 
hills,  bearing  the  name  which  the  Spanish  gave  to  the  whole  region 
lying  across  San  Francisco  Bay. 

At  66.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  CROCKETT,  0.5  m.  (o-ioo  alt.,  3,885  pop.),  spread- 
ing over  a  ravine  and  up  the  hillsides  from  the  shore.  A  company  town, 
Crockett  huddles  about  the  concrete  CALIFORNIA-HAWAIIAN  SUGAR  REFINING 
CORPORATION  PLANT  (visiting  hours  10-1).  One  of  the  fleet  of  great  sea- 
going freighters,  which  bring  500,000  tons  of  raw  cane  sugar  annually 
from  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  usually  lies  unloading  at  the  dock.  On  the 
shellmound  left  behind  by  prehistoric  aborigines,  who  hunted  shellfish  in 
a  sheltered  cove  here,  the  first  American  settler,  Thomas  Edwards,  built 
in  1867  the  first  house,  a  rough  board  and  batten  structure,  on  his  1800- 
acre  ranch.  The  town  was  laid  out  with  the  advent  of  the  railroad  in 
1877  and  christened  with  the  name  of  a  one-time  California  Supreme  Court 
Justice.  In  1882  a  foundry  was  built,  and  two  years  later  the  Starr  flour 
mill,  largest  on  the  Pacific  Coast  at  the  time.  This,  superseded  by  a  beet 
sugar  refinery  in  1898,  became  in  1906  the  first  unit  of  the  C-H  sugar 
refinery. 

At  Crockett  is  a  junction  with  State  4  (see  TOUR  9 A). 

A  parkway  (R),  66.4  m.,  looks  out  over  the  cool  gray  waters  of 
San  Pablo  Bay.  At  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  beyond  the  small  wharves 
that  jut  out  from  shore,  the  tiny  craft  of  bass  fishermen  bob  in  the 
swift  tide.  Pleasant  as  the  scene  is,  Capt.  Pedro  Pages  and  Father 
Juan  Crespi,  the  first  Europeans  to  see  it,  March  30,  1772,  gazed 
northward  in  dismay,  for  the  stretch  of  water  blocked  their  search  for 
a  land  route  to  Point  Reyes  (see  TOUR  la).  Both  they  and  the 
men  led  by  Capt.  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza,  who  arrived  here  April  2, 
1776,  watched  with  interest  the  Indian  fishermen  crossing  the  bay  in 
rafts  from  their  fishing  coves  on  the  southern  shore  to  their  villages 
on  the  opposite  side. 

Following  the  contours  of  receding  highlands,  US  40  runs  now  in 


TOUR    9      577 

a  southwesterly  direction  through  the  succession  of  factory  towns  that 
string  in  a  continuous  chain  along  the  shores  of  San  Pablo  Bay,  where 
Mexican  vaqueros  once  herded  cattle. 

At  67.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  SELBY,  0.2  m.  (o-ioo  alt.,  141  pop.),  owned  and 
operated  by  the  American  Smelting  and  Refining  Company.  Since  1885 
the  Selby  smelter  has  produced  $60,000,000  worth  of  gold,  silver,  lead,  and 
antimony.  Although  lead  is  its  main  product,  gold  from  California's 
Mother  Lode  and  silver  from  Nevada's  Comstock  Lode  have  also  been 
smelted  here  for  many  years. 

OLEUM,  68  m.  ( o-ioo  alt.,  217  pop.),  a  Union  Oil  Company 
town,  huddles  about  a  great  refinery  in  the  midst  of  gigantic  oil  tanks, 
at  night  lit  up  by  great  floodlights.  Long  trains  of  tank  cars  show 
black  against  the  silver  sheen  of  the  bay.  On  the  waterfront,  oil 
cargoes  are  loaded  and  discharged  at  five  modern  piers.  There  are 
900  tanks  and  the  plant  can  refine  35,000  barrels  of  petroleum  products 
daily. 

RODEO,  69  m.  (12  alt.,  1,299  pop.),  preserves  in  its  name  the 
days  of  Spanish  dominion  when  ranchers  held  their  yearly  cattle  rodeos 
in  nearby  Rodeo  Valley.  The  town  of  Rodeo  sprang  up  when  two 
Irishmen,  John  and  Patrick  Tormey,  started  a  meat-packing  plant  here 
on  a  9,ooo-acre  cattle  ranch. 

At  72  777.  is  a  junction  with  an  improved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  HERCULES,  0.3  m.  (8  alt.,  392  pop.),  overlooking 
San  Pablo  Bay  from  parklike  hilltops.  In  the  ravines,  which  run  down 
to  the  water's  edge,  stand  the  powder  mills,  acid  house,  mixing  and  packing 
house,  and  magazine  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Works,  each  stationed  in  a 
separate  gully  as  a  result  of  a  safely  campaign  occasioned  by  disastrous 
explosions.  Established  here  in  1869  to  manufacture  dynamite  for  the 
mines,  the  plant  covers  3,000  acres.  At  peak  capacity  it  manufactures  a 
quarter  of  a  million  pounds  of  explosives  each  month. 

PINOLE,  72.4  777.  ( ii  alt.,  781  pop.),  is  on  the  former  Rancho  el 
Pinole,  christened  according  to  legend  with  the  name  that  a  little  group 
of  half-starved  Spanish  soldiers,  who  struggled  out  of  the  Canada  del 
Hombre  to  the  bayshore,  bestowed  on  the  meal  made  out  of  acorns 
and  grass  seeds  that  friendly  Indian  squaws  gave  them  to  eat.  Ignacio 
Martinez,  comandante  of  the  San  Francisco  Presidio  1822-32,  had 
occupied  these  lands  by  1829,  long  before  they  were  officially  granted 
to  him  in  1842;  and  he  continued  his  aggressive  cattle-raising  activities 
under  the  American  flag.  A  young  Englishman,  Dr.  Samuel  J.  Ten- 
nant,  physician  to  the  king  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  landed  at  Don 
Ignacio's  embarcadero  on  one  of  his  gold-prospecting  voyages  to  the 
interior  in  1849.  Tennant  was  so  captivated  by  the  beauty  of  young 
Senorita  Rafaela  that  he  gave  up  both  Hawaii  and  gold  to  marry  her 
here  Sept.  8,  1849.  After  Don  Ignacio's  death,  when  the  Rancho  el 
Pinole  was  divided  among  his  children,  Tennant,  through  his  wife, 
came  into  control  of  a  vast  part  of  it,  and  later  laid  out  the  town  of 
Pinole. 


57$        CALIFORNIA 

South  of  Pinole,  US  40  strikes  through  open  rolling  country  dotted 
with  the  giant  oil  tanks  of  a  huge  Standard  Oil  Company  tank  farm. 
Although  it  produces  no  oil,  this  region  is  one  of  the  world's  important 
oil  storage  centers.  From  fields,  the  nearest  of  them  250  miles  away, 
oil  is  brought  by  pipe  line,  tankcars,  and  tankers. 

At  74.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  is  GIANT,  1  m.  (10-30  alt.,  90  pop.),  the  company- 
owned  town  of  the  Giant  Powder  Company,  on  a  peninsula  jutting  into 
San  Pablo  Bay.  Half-hidden  by  the  eucalyptus  groves  of  Giant  Park  are 
the  mills  and  warehouses.  The  Giant  Powder  Company,  incorporated  in 
1867,  was  the  first  company  in  California  to  manufacture  dynamite;  for  a 
number  of  years  it  held  exclusive  American  rights  to  the  manufacture  under 
Nobel  patents. 

When  De  Anza  and  his  expedition  passed  San  Pablo  Creek,  77  m.f 
on  April  I,  1776,  they  found  an  Indian  village  on  its  banks,  deep 
among  liveoaks  and  sycamores.  The  friendly  inhabitants  turned  out 
to  gape  at  the  strange  procession.  Behind  the  group's  chaplain,  in  his 
brown  Franciscan  habit,  chanting  the  Alabado  (a  Spanish  hymn  in 
praise  of  the  sacrament),  followed  De  Anza  at  the  head  of  a  cavalcade 
of  soldiers  on  horseback,  muleteers  driving  beasts  of  burden,  and  Indian 
servants.  In  exchange  for  gifts  of  glass  beads,  the  Indians  offered  a 
feast  of  roasted  cacomites,  a  species  of  wild  iris. 

SAN  PABLO,  77.5  m.  (35  alt.,  489  pop.),  oldest  white  settlement 
in  this  region,  lies  on  tableland  between  San  Pablo  and  Wildcat  creeks. 
Here,  before  1820,  Mision  San  Francisco  de  Asis  pastured  great  herds 
of  cattle  and  sheep  and  built  an  adobe  ranchhouse  for  the  overseer. 
The  whole  region  roundabout  was  part  of  the  Rancho  San  Pablo  of 
Francisco  Maria  Castro.  Castro,  who  died  in  1831,  three  years  before 
the  grant  was  confirmed,  left  half  the  estate  to  his  wife  and  half  to 
his  1 1  children,  precipitating  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  involved 
controversies  that  tangled  California  land  titles. 

The  CASTRO.  ADOBE,  built  about  1838  by  Don  Francisco's  son, 
Antonio,  stands  at  the  northwest  corner  of  US  40  and  Church  St. 
Here,  from  1849  until  his  death  in  1882,  lived  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado, 
Mexican  governor  of  Alta  California  (1836-1842),  husband  of 
Martina  Castro.  The  little  house,  now  a  storeroom,  has  3O-inch  walls 
that  have  been  hidden  by  a  wooden  superstructure.  The  old  garden 
is»  overgrown  with  weeds,  and  the  wooden  gateway  is  broken.  The 
rear  is  a  remnant  of  the  orchard  that  Alvarado  planted;  it  still  sends 
forth  a  shower  of  pear  and  apple  blossoms  in  the  spring. 

For  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  RICHMOND,  79.5  772.  (12  alt., 
20,093  pop-)i  are  auto  camps,  gas  stations,  and  barbecue  stands.  The 
heart  of  town  stretches  westward  over  a  headland  jutting  into  San 
Francisco  Bay.  An  industrial  city  on  a  deep-water  harbor,  Richmond 
is  Contra  Costa's  outlet  for  farm  and  factory  produce.  It  was  estab- 
lished in  1899,  when  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  purchased  a  right-of-way 
to  the  bayshore  here,  and  grew  up  around  branch  plants  of  such  indus- 
trial corporations  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  the  Ford  Motor 


TOUR    9      579 

Company.  The  more  than  60  industrial  plants  within  the  city  represent 
20  major  industries  and  many  smaller  ones.  Richmond's  workers  are 
nearly  all  enrolled  in  industrial  unions. 

Richmond's  Inner  Harbor  Channel,  at  the  foot  of  loth  St.,  where 
George  Ellis,  schooner-operator,  opened  Ellis  Landing  in  1859,  has  been 
developed  since  1917  by  dredging  and  filling.  Nearby  is  the  $5,000,000 
FORD  MOTOR  ASSEMBLING  PLANT  (open  9-3  weekdays;  guides). 

Separated  from  the  downtown  area  by  a  thinly  settled,  industrial 
section  reaching  southward,  is  POINT  RICHMOND.  It  is  a  water- 
front district,  its  air  heavy  with  the  odor  of  crude  oil.  From  here 
RICHMOND  POINT  juts  into  the  Outer  Harbor  with  a  6-mile  deep- 
water  frontage  sheltered  by  a  sea  wall.  Standard  Ave.  leads  north 
from  Point  Richmond  to  the  STANDARD  OIL  REFINERY  (adm.  by  pass 
only),  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind.  Beyond  the  refinery,  at  the  foot 
of  Standard  Ave.,  is  the  SAN  RAFAEL-RICHMOND  FERRY  SLIP  (10$ 
per  person;  auto  and  driver,  ?0(f;  auto  and  4  passengers,  80$). 

EL  CERRITO  (the  little  hill),  80.6  m.  (10-500  alt.,  3,870  pop.), 
straggles  along  the  highway  for  more  than  two  miles.  Beyond  a  pro- 
cession of  gaudy  signboards,  gas  stations,  and  roadstands,  are  scattered 
suburban  bungalows;  in  nearby  vacant  lots,  family  goats  feed  on  yellow 
buttercups  in  the  spring.  At  the  El  Cerrito  embarcadero,  in  early  days, 
travelers  landed  from  Don  Victor  Castro's  whaleboat  ferry,  first  to 
connect  San  Francisco  with  Contra  Costa;  Don  Victor  acquired  it  in 
exchange  for  his  vegetable  crop.  Travelers  were  entertained  in  the 
14-room  CASTRO  ADOBE,  which  stands  in  a  eucalyptus  grove  on  San 
Pablo  Ave.  Its  older  part,  the  low  south  wing,  is  said  to  have  been 
built  by  Don  Francisco  himself  before  1831.  In  the  1850*5  his  son 
Victor  built  the  two-story,  balconied  central  section.  Walls  four  feet 
thick  guard  a  fountain,  a  winding  staircase,  and  a  tiny  chapel,  where 
mission  fathers  sometimes  said  mass  (now  altered  beyond  recognition). 

El  Cerrito  Creek,  82.3  m.,  forms  the  boundary  between  Contra 
Costa  and  Alameda  Counties  and  between  the  cities  of  El  Cerrito  and 
Albany.  On  Aug.  16,  1820,  Sgt.  Luis  Peralta,  his  sons,  Domingo  and 
Antonio,  his  friend,  Lieut.  Ignacio  Martinez,  and  two  or  three  soldiers, 
arrived  here  on  horseback.  "Unto  this  point,  Senor,  I  wish  possession," 
said  Peralta  to  Martinez,  the  Governor's  representative.  Thus  the 
Arroyo  del  Cerrito  de  San  Antonio  (Sp.,  gulch  of  the  little  hill  of 
St.  Anthony)  was  decreed  the  boundary  between  Rancho  San  Pablo 
(see  above)  and  Peralta's  48,ooo-acre  Rancho  San  Antonio,  within 
whose  boundaries  lie  today  the  cities  of  Albany,  Berkeley,  Emeryville, 
Piedmont,  Oakland,  Alameda,  and  San  Leandro. 

ALBANY,  83  m.  (0-300  alt.,  8,569  pop.),  incorporated  in  1908 
as  Ocean  View,  one  year  later  took  the  name  of  its  popular  mayor's 
New  York  birthplace. 

BERKELEY,  84.6  m.  (0-1,300  alt.,  82,109  pop.)  (see  BERKE- 
LEY). 

South  of  Berkeley,  US  40  follows  a  high-speed  roadbed  laid  across 
the  brackish  mudflats  of  the  bayshore,  where  the  stagnant  odor  of 


580        CALIFORNIA 

decay  wafts  inland.  The  grayish  waters  lap  half-rotted  pilings  and 
sway  small  dories. 

EMERYVILLE,  86.5  m.  (060  alt.,  2,336  pop.),  has  one  industry 
to  every  38  inhabitants.  Even  before  the  advent  of  the  Spanish,  a 
populous  settlement  lay  near  here,  as  shown  by  the  Indian  shellmound. 
This  mound,  largest  of  the  425  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region,  yielded 
many  artifacts  when  it  was  leveled  for  factory  sites  in  1924.  Where 
generations  of  Indians  plundered  the  great  beds  of  shellfish  at  the  mouth 
of  Temescal  Creek,  Vincente  Peralta  before  1836  had  built  an  em- 
barcadero  for  Rancho  San  Antonio.  In  the  late  1840'$  Yankees  began 
to  settle  here  on  the  Peralta  acres;  in  later  years  the  place  became  a 
popular  racing  center,  the  home  of  the  California  Jockey  Club  Track. 

OAKLAND,  87.3  m.  (0-1,550  alt.,  284,063  pop.)  (see  OAK- 
LAND). 

A  turn  here  leads  (R),  through  labyrinthine  overpasses  and  under- 
passes, to  a  junction  with  US  50  (see  TOUR  lOb)  at  the  entrance  to 
the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  (see  ARCHITECTURE). 
From  the  plaza  (toll  50$  an  auto),  88.6  m.,  US  40  follows  the  great 
series  of  spans  across  San  Francisco  Bay,  midway  crossing  Yerba  Buena 
Island,  through  an  unusually  high  double  decker  tunnel. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  95  m.  (18  alt.,  634,394  pop.)  (see  SAN 
FRANCISCO). 


mami^^ 


Tour  9  A 


Sacramento — Rio  Vista — Antioch  —  Pittsburg  —  Concord  —  Oakland ; 
118.4  m.  State  24. 

Roadbed  paved. 

Southern  Pacific  R.  R.  roughly  parallels  route  between  Antioch  Toll  Bridge  and 

Walnut  Creek. 

Accommodations  only  in  larger  towns. 

State  24  cuts  across  the  southern  end  of  the  Sacramento  Valley, 
following  the  top  of  the  levee  which  hems  in  the  Sacramento  River's 
slow-moving  waters.  On  one  side,  it  overlooks  the  river's  busy  traffic; 
on  the  other,  the  rich  farmlands  of  the  reclaimed  delta  region — a  crazy- 
quilt  of  "islands"  encompassed  by  meandering  sloughs  and  sheltered 
by  dikes  as  in  the  low  country  of  the  Netherlands.  It  strikes  through 
the  industrial  towns  clustering  at  the  confluence  of  the  Sacramento  and 
the  San  Joaquin  Rivers  and  follows  the  windings  of  quiet,  orchard- 
shaded  valleys. 

State  24  strikes  southward  from  US  40  (see  TOUR  9)  in  SAC- 


TOUR     9  A        58l 

RAMENTO,  0  m.f  across  level  farmlands  to  FREEPORT,  9.3  m. 
(30  alt.,  1 20  pop.),  a  village  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Sacramento; 
then  hugs  the  river's  edge,  traveling  the  crest  of  the  levee. 

The  first  known  white  men  to  see  the  Sacramento  River  were  in 
the  Pedro  Fages  expedition,  whose  explorations  of  the  eastern  shore 
of  San  Francisco  Bay  in  1772  carried  them  as  far  as  the  confluence  of 
the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  Rivers,  where  "from  a  point  of 
vantage,"  they  saw  the  river's  winding  lower  reaches.  The  first  re- 
corded navigation  of  the  river  was  in  1811,  when  Jose  Antonio  Sanchez 
proceeded  a  little  way  upstream  from  the  mouth  in  a  small  boat.  The 
development  of  the  great  waterway  into  an  important  artery  of  travel 
and  trade  was  left  to  the  Argonauts  of  1848,  who  pressed  up  from 
San  Francisco  on  their  way  to  the  "diggin's"  in  vessels  of  every  de- 
scription— from  tiny  sail-craft  to  lumbering  stern-wheelers.  The  am- 
bitious realtors  of  the  day,  quick  to  capitalize  on  the  growing  stream 
of  travelers,  optimistically  laid  out  a  series  of  river  towns  at  steamboat 
landings — all  but  a  few  of  which  scarcely  outlived  the  flush  years  of 
the  gold  rush. 

HOOD,  17.5  m.  (25  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  a  shipping  point  on  the 
Sacramento  River  for  fruits  and  vegetables.  COURTLAND,  21.7  m. 
(14  alt.,  750  pop.),  among  pear  orchards  and  truck  farms,  is  a  canning, 
packing  and  shipping  center. 

At  29.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  across  the  river,  to  WALNUT  GROVE,  0.2  m.  (9  alt., 
631  pop.),  clustering  under  the  levee.  Walnut  Grove's  ramshackle  CHINA- 
TOWN is  a  reminder  of  the  days  when  the  Chinese  were  reclaiming  the 
Sacramento  delta  region.  Today  Japanese  comprise  the  majority  of  the 
population. 

The  rich  delta  region  lying  southward  is  crisscrossed  with  dikes 
that  hem  in  winding  sloughs,  sheltering  the  lush  black-loam  farmlands, 
often  far  below  water  level,  from  floods.  It  was  settled  in  the  early 
i85o's  by  disappointed  gold  seekers  who  squatted  here  to  raise  their 
own  food.  In  the  1870*8,  the  Chinese  coolies  who  had  built  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  were  put  to  work  reclaiming  the  delta  region  at  low 
wages.  With  wheelbarrows  they  built  up  the  first  levees.  Gradually 
the  whole  425,oooacre  region  of  tule  marshes  was  reclaimed  by  an 
elaborate  system  of  levees,  drainage  canals,  and  pumping  plants.  Today 
the  incalculably  fertile  black  peat  soil  is  irrigated  by  flood  gates  from 
the  levees.  Asparagus,  pears,  hops,  beans,  onions,  celery,  potatoes  and 
grains  are  farmed  in  enormous  holdings. 

RYDE,  32.1  m.  (8  alt.,  150  pop.),  clusters  at  the  river's  edge  on 
Grand  Island,  largest  of  the  delta  "islands,"  encompassed  by  the  Sacra- 
mento on  one  side  and  Steamboat  Slough  on  the  other.  It  is  a  port 
of  call  for  river  boats  carrying  agricultural  products. 

The  broad,  placid  Sacramento  is  thronged  with  a  motley  parade  of 
water  craft — the  tiny,  light-draught  boats  of  the  so-called  "mosquito 
fleet,"  slow-moving  barges  laden  with  sacks  of  grain,  chugging  stern- 
wheelers,  motorboats,  launches,  and  houseboats. 


582        CALIFORNIA 

The  highway  bridges  the  river  to  ISLETON,  39  m.  (14  alt., 
2,090  pop.),  a  prosperous  farm  trading  and  canning  town  that  calls 
itself  "the  Asparagus  Center  of  the  World."  In  the  green  pastures  of 
the  surrounding  dairy  farms,  herds  of  sleek  Guernseys  and  Holsteins 
browse  on  alfalfa. 

From  the  Sacramento  delta  region  comes  nearly  one-half  of  the 
United  States  asparagus  crop  and  about  90  per  cent  of  the  world's 
canned  asparagus.  In  the  level,  far  stretching  fields  Filipino  field 
hands,  decked  in  veils  to  keep  the  region's  swarming  gnats  out  of  their 
eyes,  cut  the  white  and  tender  asparagus  stalks  as  soon  as  they  appear 
above  ground.  They  thrust  their  long-handled  knives  into  the  earth 
to  slice  off  the  plants  underground.  The  work  starts  at  the  break  of 
dawn.  The  asparagus  stalks  are  left  in  neat  little  piles  along  the 
furrows  by  the  hands  working  with  feverish  haste  lest  the  tender  stalks 
wilt  in  the  sun.  In  the  old  days,  the  piles  of  asparagus  were  picked 
up  by  small  wagons  drawn  by  horses  shod  with  wide  plates  like  snow- 
shoes;  now  tractors  are  used,  outfitted  with  tires  wide  enough  to  keep 
them  from  sinking  into  the  soft  earth.  The  asparagus  is  rushed  to 
nearby  canneries,  where  it  is  cleaned,  canned,  cooked,  and  sealed — all 
within  a  few  hours  from  the  time  it  is  cut. 

At  43.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  12,  paved. 

Right  on  State  12,  crossing  the  river  to  RIO  VISTA,  1  m.  (n  alt., 
1,309  pop.),  in  the  center  of  a  huge  reclamation  project.  It  is  a  river 
shipping  point  for  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  tule-fringed  sloughs  and 
marshlands  of  the  vicinity  are  a  mecca,  in  season,  for  hunters  and  fisher- 
men. During  the  migration  season  the  marshes  abound  with  ducks — chiefly 
mallard,  green-winged  teal,  and  sprig.  The  Wilson  snipe,  called  hereabout 
the  Jacksnipe,  is  abundant;  and  the  spoonbill,  red-head  widgeon,  and 
canvas-back  are  also  found.  Every  year  in  October  Rio  Vista  decks  itself 
out  in  flags  to  receive  visitors  on  its  Bass  Derby  Day,  when  it  awards  a 
prize  to  the  angler  who  lands  the  largest  bass.  Here,  by  the  river's  edge 
in  the  fall  of  1857,  Col.  N.  H.  Davis  laid  out  the  settlement  of  Brazos  del 
Rio  (arms  of  the  river)  and  in  the  following  year  built  a  wharf.  A 
thriving  town  grew  up — renamed  in  1860  Rio  Vista — only  to  be  washed 
down  the  river,  house  by  house,  in  the  January  floods  of  1862,  as  the  shiver- 
ing inhabitants  looked  on  from  the  hillsides.  The  settlers  retreated  to  the 
Montezuma  Hills,  farther  back  from  the  waterfront,  to  rebuild. 

State  24  diverges  from  the  river  at  about  50.5  m.  and  strikes  south- 
ward across  Sherman  Island  to  the  ANTIOCH  TOLL  BRIDGE,  54.6  m. 
(toll  60$  for  car  and  driver;  10$  a  passenger}  over  the  San  Joaquin 
River.  It  parallels  the  San  Joaquin  westward  for  a  short  distance. 

At  56.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  4,  paved. 

Left  on  State  4  is  BRENTWOOD,  7.9  m.  (77  alt.,  340  pop.),  among  large 
fruit  and  nut  orchards.  Its  chief  industries  are  packing  and  shipping 
agricultural  products.  Right  from  Brentwood  on  a  paved  road,  5.3  m.  to 
the  junction  with  paved  Marsh  Creek  Road ;  R.  here  4  m.  to  the  STONE 
HOUSE,  in  the  midst  of  wide  fields,  built  by  "Doctor"  John  Marsh  in  1856. 
Marsh,  a  Massachusetts  immigrant,  was  granted  a  license  to  practice 
medicine  by  the  Los  Angeles  ayuntamiento  (council)  when  he  displayed  his 
Harvard  diploma.  He  bought  Rancho  los  Medanos  (the  sandhills)  and 
settled  in  the  shadow  of  Mount  Diablo  in  1837.  The  Indians  of  the  region, 


TOUR     9  A        583 

in  return  for  his  kindness  in  healing  their  sick  and  teaching  them  to  trap 
bear  and  otter,  helped  him  to  build  a  crude,  thatch-roofed,  floorless  adobe 
of  four  rooms  and  attic  with  a  tule-roofed  portico;  plow  a  field  and  sow  it 
with  wheat;  and  plant  an  orchard  of  figs,  pears,  and  olives,  and  a  vineyard 
of  grape  cuttings  brought  from  Mission  San  Jose.  With  his  vaqueros, 
who  acted  as  his  bodyguard,  Marsh  lived  in  solitary  state,  prizing  his  little 
store  of  books  and  reading  them — stretched  out  before  the  fireplace — until 
he  knew  them  by  heart. 

Toward  everyone  but  his  Indian  neighbors,  Marsh  was  sharp,  even 
niggardly.  When  the  Bidwell-Bartleson  Party,  first  to  cross  the  Sierra  into 
California,  came  to  his  place  in  1841,  he  charged  them  a  good  fee  for  his 
hospitality.  For  his  services  as  a  doctor — he  was  the  first  and  for  several 
years  the  only  one  in'  the  San  Joaquin  Valley — he  was  paid  in  cattle,  ithe 
number  of  cows  expected  as  a  fee  depending  on  the  number  of  miles  he 
had  to  travel.  A  shrewd  business  man,  he  bargained  on  California's  future 
by  sending  regular  letters  East,  chiefly  to  Missouri  newspapers,  to  induce 
immigration. 

The  "Stone  House"  was  built  for  Marsh's  bride,  Abbie  Tuck  of  Massa- 
chusetts, whom  he  married  in  1851;  but  she  died  before  it  was  finished. 
It  was  built  of  local  cream-colored  freestone,  quarried  nearby,  in  "the  old 
English  domestic  style  of  architecture — a  pleasing  and  appropriate  union 
of  Manor  House  and  Castle" — according  to  the  San  Francisco  Daily 
Evening  Bulletin  of  July  1856.  "The  arched  windows,  the  peaked  roofs 
and  gables,  the  projecting  eaves,  the  central  tower  sixty-five  feet  in  height 
.  .  .  must  be  acknowledged  a  most  felicitous  deviation  from  the  prevailing 
style  of  rural  architecture.  .  .  .  The  building  ...  is  three  stories  in  height, 
with  three  gabled  windows  in  the  attic  looking  east,  west,  and  south.  On 
three  sides  of  the  building  is  a  piazza  .  .  .  supported  by  beautiful  octagon 
pillars;  over  this  is  a  walk  on  a  level  with  the  second  floor,  enclosed  by 
an  elaborately  finished  balustrade.  .  .  ." 

Marsh  himself  scarcely  outlived  the  completion  of  his  house.  On  Sep- 
tember 24,  1856,  he  was  murdered  on  the  road  to  Martinez  by  four  of  his 
Mexican  neighbors,  reputedly  in  revenge  for  his  stingy  and  scornful 
attitude. 

On  State  4  at  12.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  paved  Byron  Rd. ;  R.  (straight 
ahead)  is  BYRON,  14.1  m.  (30  alt.,  400  pop.),  shipping  center  for  large 
apricot  orchards,  where  an  Apricot  Festival  is  celebrated  each  spring. 

At  16.1  m.  on  Byron  Rd.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  0.8  m. 
to  BYRON  HOT  SPRINGS  (hotel,  cottages;  golf],  known  to  Yankee 
settlers  since  1849.  The  springs  are  of  three  types — a  "hot  Salt  Spring" 
(122°),  a  "Liver  and  Kidney  Spring"  (58°),  and  a  "White  Sulphur 
Spring"  (70°). 

At  29.2  m.  is  the  junction  of  Byron  Rd.  with  US  50  (see  TOUR  lob). 

On  State  24  is  ANTIOCH,  60.2  m.  (42  alt.,  3,563  pop.),  on  the 
San  Joaquin's  southern  bank  in  rich  silt  deposited  by  the  two  great 
rivers,  a  shipping  point  for  industrial  and  agricultural  products. 
Antioch's  first  settlers  were  twin  brothers,  Joseph  H.  and  W.  W. 
Smith,  both  carpenters  and  ordained  ministers,  who  arrived  here  from 
Boston  with  their  families  on  the  schooner  Rialto  in  July  1849  and 
took  up  quarter-sections  of  land.  In  September  1850  W.  W.  Smith 
induced  a  shipload  of  New  England  families  arriving  from  Maine  on 
the  California  Packet  to  settle  here ;  he  gave  each  family  a  lot  on  which 
to  build  a  home.  At  a  Fourth  of  July  picnic  in  1851  the  question  of 
naming  the  town  arose.  Smith  suggested  a  Biblical  name  in  honor 
of  his  brother,  who  had  meanwhile  died;  the  name  of  Antioch  (Syria), 
where  Christ's  followers  were  first  called  Christians,  was  unanimously 


584        CALIFORNIA 

adopted.  Antioch's  first  house,  the  GEORGE  W.  KIMBALL  HOUSE, 
still  standing  on  Third  Street  next  door  to  Scout's  Hall,  was  the  home 
of  the  captain  of  the  California  Packet.  He  built  it  in  1851  of  Oregon 
pine  with  the  proceeds  of  a  crop  of  barley  that  he  raised  and  hauled 
to  San  Francisco. 

PITTSBURG,  64.8  m.  (21  alt.,  9,610  pop.),  is  a  steel  city,  one 
of  California's  best  small-scale  versions  of  its  Pennsylvania  namesake. 
Here  is  the  COLUMBIA  STEEL  COMPANY  PLANT  (open  by  arrange- 
ment at  firm's  Russ  Building  offices,  San  Francisco),  whose  giant  roll- 
ing mills  press  red-hot  ingots  from  the  open-hearth  furnaces  into  thin 
metal  strips  100  feet  long.  Interesting  to  watch  are  the  pouring  of 
molten  steel  and  the  intricate  processes  in  the  manufacture  of  tin  plate, 
corrugated  iron,  wire  mesh,  nails,  and  wire. 

The  new  Yankee  owners  of  part  of  Rancho  los  Medanos  persuaded 
William  Tecumseh  Sherman  of  later  Civil  War  fame  to  lay  out  a  city 
here  in  1849.  With  a  small  crew,  Sherman  sailed  up  the  river  from 
San  Francisco,  making  soundings  to  chart  the  best  channel  through 
Suisun  Bay  to  the  confluence  of  the  rivers.  The  city  he  platted  was 
so  large  in  area  that  one  of  the  owners,  Col.  Jonathan  D.  Stevenson, 
who  brought  the  First  Regiment  of  New  York  Volunteers  to  California 
in  March  1847,  named  it  New  York  of  the  Pacific.  Stevenson  hoped 
it  would  grow  into  a  prosperous  seaport,  but  to  globe  trotter  Bayard 
Taylor  it  was  still  in  1850  only  a  "three-house  city." 

For  three  decades  after  discovery  of  coal  in  the  1850*8  on  the  slopes 
of  Mount  Diablo,  the  town  was  a  busy  coal  shipping  port,  renamed  in 
1863  Black  Diamond  for  the  best  known  of  the  mines.  A  railroad  was 
built  to  the  coal  towns  that  grew  up  around  the  mines,  settled  by  immi- 
grants from  the  coal  fields  of  England  and  Wales.  The  coal  was  of 
such  poor  grade,  however,  that  the  industry  went  into  a  slump  after 
1880,  strangled  by  competition  and  too-lavish  outlays  of  capital.  Until 
1909,  when  the  town's  industrial  possibilities  were  recognized — and  its 
name  was  correspondingly  changed  to  Pittsburg — the  population  sup- 
ported itself  by  salmon  fishing.  The  quiet  waters  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  are  still  thronged  with  the  lateen-sailed 
boats  of  Italian  and  Greek  fishermen  who  fish  for  shad,  bass,  and 
salmon.  Their  nets  sometimes  stretch  halfway  across  the  channel.  In 
some  of  Jack  London's  Tales  of  the  Fish  Patrol,  the  lives  of  these  fisher- 
men are  described. 

State  24  rounds  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Mount  Diablo  Range  and 
turns  southwestward  down  broad,  fertile  Concord  Valley,  following  the 
route  blazed  in  the  spring  of  1772  by  the  first  white  men  in  the  region, 
the  Pedro  Fages  expedition,  accompanied  by  Fray  Juan  Crespi,  12 
soldiers,  a  muleteer,  and  an  Indian  servant.  In  search  of  a  land  route 
to  Point  Reyes,  they  had  followed  the  eastern  shore  of  San  Francisco 
and  the  southern  shore  of  San  Pablo  Bay,  always  finding  their  passage 
to  the  north  blocked  by  water.  On  March  30,  they  entered  Concord 
Valley.  Climbing  one  of  the  hills  of  the  Mount  Diablo  Range,  they 
looked  out  over  a  vast  expanse  never  before  seen  by  any  European — 


TOUR     9  A        585 

the  Sacramento  Valley.     That  night  they  camped  and,  early  the  next 
morning,  turned  back  toward  Monterey,  giving  up  their  search. 

CONCORD,  94.6  m.  (65  alt.,  1,125  pop.),  shipping  the  farm 
produce  of  the  surrounding  valley,  stands  on  the  site  of  Rancho  del 
Diablo  (devil's  ranch),  granted  to  Salvio  Pacheco  in  1834.  His  de- 
scendants occupy  the  thick-walled  adobe  PACHECO  HOUSE,  standing  in 
the  shade  of  pepper  trees  at  Concord  and  Salvio  Avenues,  which  he  built 
about  a  decade  later.  With  its  balconies,  shuttered  windows,  and  deep 
casements,  it  is  well  preserved  within  its  protective  wooden  sheath. 
American  squatters  had  begun  settling  on  Pacheco's  land  by  1852;  but 
his  title  was  secured  the  next  year  by  the  United  States  Government. 
The  patent  date,  1853,  is  on  the  stone  boundary  posts  in  front  of  the 
house. 

Right  from  Concord  on  a  paved  road  is  the  old  country  village  of 
PACHECO,  1.8  m.  (35  alt.,  200  pop.).  The  home  of  its  first  settler,  the 
G.  L.  WALLRATH  HOUSE,  a  redwood-timbered  structure  with  ornamented 
eaves,  built  in  1853,  stands  amid  trees  and  shrubbery  on  a  hill  on  the 
northern  edge  of  town.  The  town  was  laid  out  in  1857  around  a  ware- 
house and  a  flour  mill  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Carothers.  It  was  largely  swept  away 
by  flood  in  1862,  twice  ravaged  by  fire  in  the  next  6  years,  and  almost 
leveled  by  earthquake  in  1868;  but  it  survived  all  three  disasters. 

Right  from  Pacheco  on  State  21  to  MARTINEZ,  6.9  m.  (12  alt.,  6,569 
pop.),  seat  of  Contra  Costa  County  since  1850,  facing  broad  Suisun  Bay 
from  the  rnouth  of  Alhambra  Valley.  Its  quiet,  rural  air,  enhanced  by  the 
spreading  trees  that  shade  its  streets,  belies  its  importance  as  an  oil 
refinery,  canning,  and  fishing  center.  It  bears  the  name  of  Ignacio 
Martinez,  comandante  at  the  San  Francisco  Presidio  1828-31,  who  settled  on 
neighboring  Rancho  El  Pinole  about  1836.  The  agent  for  the  Martinez 
family,  Col.  William  M.  Smith,  laid  out  the  town  in  1849. 

Left  from  Martinez  on  Alhambra  Ave.,  which  becomes  Franklin  Canyon 
Road  (State  4),  2  m.  to  the  JOHN  MUIR  RANCH,  where  a  large  old-fashioned 
ranch  house,  the  home  of  John  Muir,  overlooks  orchards  from  a  knoll  in 
a  wooded  valley.  Muir,  who  came  to  the  United  States  from  Scotland 
in  1849  at  the  age  of  n,  spent  most  of  his  life  studying  the  mountains, 
valleys,  glaciers,  and  wild  life  of  California  and  Alaska,  discovering  and 
naming  many  of  the  peaks  and  glaciers  along  the  Pacific  Coast.  One  of 
the  foremost  advocates  of  National  parks,  he  publicised  the  region's  natural 
beauties  in  his  books,  best-known  of  which  was  probably  The  Mountains 
of  California  (1894). 

West  of  Martinez  State  21  follows  the  southern  slope  of  Carquinez 
Strait  (see  TOUR  9b)  to  PORT  COSTA,  12.9  m.  (n  alt.,  593  pop*.),  today 
almost  abandoned,  but  once,  in  the  days  when  California  was  one  of  the 
Nation's  greatest  grain-producing  States,  a  port  from  whose  wharves  grain 
was  shipped  direct  to  Europe  in  ocean-going  vessels. 

At  14.3  m.  on  State  21  is  CROCKETT  (see  TOUR  9b),  at  the  junction 
with  US  40  (see  TOUR  9b). 

WALNUT  CREEK,  101.3  m.  (147  alt.,  1,014  pop.),  is  a  country 
town  in  the  midst  of  great  walnut  groves.  Besides  being  a  shipping 
center  for  soft-shell  walnuts,  this  town  supplies  facilities  for  orchards 
and  chicken  ranches. 

Left  from  Walnut  Creek  on  State  21,  paved,  through  the  orchard-shaded 
acres  of  San  Ramon  Valley,  once  part  of  Rancho  San  Ramon,  granted  to 
Jose  Maria  Amador  in  1833. 


586        CALIFORNIA 

ALAMO  (poplar),  3.2  m.  (356  alt.,  69  pop.),  where  poplars  once  grew 
thickly,  is  shaded  today  by  the  giant  maples  that  line  its  main  street.  In 
1848  or  1849  the  first  adobe  was  built  here;  and  in  1854,  two  stores  that 
drew  their  trade  from  the  neighborhood's  Spanish  population.  The  sturdy 
FOSTER  HOUSE  (R),  on  the  main  street,  was  built  by  James  Foster,  who 
opened  a  wheelwright  shop  here  in  1857. 

DANVILLE,  6.3  m.  (370  alt.,  600  pop.),  stands  on  land  once  owned  by 
Daniel  Inman,  who  first  visited  the  site  in  1852  and  took  up  wheat  farming 
in  1858. 

Left  from  Danville  on  a  paved  road  3.4  m.  to  the  south  entrance  to 
MOUNT  DIABLO  STATE  PARK  (25$  adm.;  firewood  sold  at  gate; 
picnicking  facilities}.  The  road  winds  upward  past  the  jumbled  rocks  of 
the  DEVIL'S  SLIDE  and  through  the  animal-like  rock  formations  of  the 
GARDEN  OF  THE  JUNGLE  GODS — including  La  Rana  (the  frog),  La  Ballena 
(the  whale),  and  El  Perro  (the  dog) — to  PARK  HEADQUARTERS,  8.5  m. 

At  10.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  L.  here  8  m.  to  the  junction 
with  a  paved  road;  L.  on  this  road  1.5  m.  to  the  junction  with  another 
paved  road;  L.  on  this  road  2.1  m.  to  Walnut  Creek. 

The  main  side  route  goes  R.  from  the  junction  with  the  Walnut  Creek 
road  to  the  summit  of  MOUNT  DIABLO  (3,849  alt.),  15.1  m.,  a  rugged 
peak  rising  alone  from  a  level  plain  to  dominate  the  countryside  for  great 
distances  in  every  direction.  From  the  earliest  days,  explorers  and  pioneers 
set  their  course  by  its  conical,  volcano-like  outline.  Its  summit  was  chosen 
in  1851  as  the  base  point  for  United  States  surveys  in  California;  the  posi- 
tions of  all  lands  of  the  State,  outside  southern  California  and  the  Hum- 
boldt  region,  are  still  determined  by  reference  to  this  point.  Of  the 
view  from  the  crest,  William  Henry  Brewer,  who  in  1862  climbed  the 
mountain  with  the  Whitney  geological  survey  party,  wrote:  "Probably  but 
few  views  in  North  America  are  more  extensive — certainly  nothing  in 
Europe.  ...  I  made  an  estimate  .  .  .  that  the  extent  of  land  and  sea 
embraced  between  the  extreme  limits  of  vision  amounted  to  eighty  thousand 
square  miles."  A  powerful  revolving  beacon  light  on  the  summit  tcday 
guides  aviators. 

The  mountain's  ruggedly  fantastic  grandeur — with  its  two  cones  divided 
by  a  gap  through  which,  wrote  Brewer,  "the  wind  roared  with  a  violence 
almost  terrific  at  times  .  .  .  and  at  intervals  the  clouds  rushed  through 
like  a  torrent" — gave  rise  to  legends  of  its  being  haunted  by  a  demon. 
Gen.  Mariano  G.  Vallejo  reported  to  the  Legislature  in  1850  that  a  battle 
between  soldiers  from  San  Francisco  led  by  Gabriel  Moraga  and  the 
Bolgones  Indians,  in  1806,  was  about  to  be  decided  in  favor  of  the  Indians, 
when  "an  unknown  personage,  decorated  with  the  most  extraordinary 
plumage  and  making  divers  movements,  suddenly  appeared.  .  .  .  The 
Indians  were  victorious.  .  .  .  The  defeated  soldiers,  on  ascertaining  that 
the  spirit  went  through  the  same  ceremony  daily  and  at  all  hours,  named 
the  'mount  'Diablo.'  ...  In  the  aboriginal  tongue  'Puy'  signifies  'Evil 
Spirit';  in  Spanish  it  means  'Diablo,'  and  doubtless  it  signifies  'Devil'  in  the 
Anglo-American  language."  Whether  or  not  the  Puy  may  have  been  a 
medicine  man  impersonating  the  spirit  of  the  mountain,  he  failed  to  pre- 
vail against  the  Spanish,  who  subdued  the  Bolgones  in  a  second  campaign 
the  same  year. 

State  21  continues  southward  from  Danville  to  SAN  RAMON,  9.5  m. 
(470  alt.,  200  pop.),  where  John  White  put  up  the  first  house  in  1852, 
originally  named  Lynchville  and  nicknamed  Limerick,  because  most  of  the 
settlers  roundabout  were  Irish. 

DUBLIN  (see  TOUR  lOb),  15.4  m.,  is  at  the  junction  with  US  50  (see 
TOUR  10b}. 

State  24  turns  westward  from  Walnut  Creek  into  low  hills. 

The  site  of  LAFAYETTE,  106.6  m.  (280  alt.,  750  pop.),  at  the 


TOUR     I  O       587 

eastern  edge  of  a  small  fertile  valley,  was  chosen  for  a  home  in  Febru- 
ary 1848  by  Elam  Brown,  a  year  and  a  half  after  his  arrival  in  Cali- 
fornia as  captain  of  a  i6-wagon  immigrant  company.  To  save  carrying 
his  grain  by  ox  team  to  the  flour  mill  at  San  Jose,  Brown  in  1849  set  up 
a  horsepower  mill  near  his  house. 

State  24  winds  between  rolling  grazing  lands  to  the  BROADWAY 
TUNNEL,  a  low,  level,  double-bore  tunnel,  four  lanes  wide,  1.8  miles 
long,  completed  in  1937  at  a  cost  of  $4,500,000. 

In  OAKLAND  (see  OAKLAND),  118.4  m.,  is  the  junction  with 
US  50  (see  TOUR  lOb). 


Tour  10 


(Carson    City,     Nev.) — Lakeside — Placerville — Sacramento — Stockton 
— Tracy — San  Francisco;  US  50. 
Nevada  Line  to  San  Francisco,  239.5  m. 

Route  paralleled  by  Southern  Pacific  R.  R.  between  Placerville  and  Oakland, 

by  Western  Pacific  R.  R.  between  Sacramento  and  Stockton. 

Accommodations  plentiful. 

Paved   roadbed   throughout,  open   all   seasons  except  for  brief  periods   during 

winter  snowstorms  at  higher  altitudes;  excellent  route  for  trailers. 

Between  the  Nevada  Line  and  Placerville,  US  50  (the  Lincoln  High- 
way) climbs  the  crest  of  the  forested  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  skirts 
the  shores  of  popular  Lake  Tahoe,  and  runs  through  the  heart  of  the 
El  Dorado  National  Forest.  West  of  Placerville  the  road  winds  down 
through  foothills  covered  with  oak  and  scrub  pine  to  the  level  expanse 
of  the  great  Sacramento  Valley.  From  here  the  highway  runs,  straight 
and  level,  between  the  valley's  farmlands  and  grazing  fields,  until,  east 
of  Stockton,  it  twists  through  the  bald  hills  of  the  Mount  Diablo  Range 
and  comes  out  on  the  eastern  shore-line  of  San  Francisco  Bay. 

Section  a.   NEVADA  LINE  to  SACRAMENTO;  110  m.,  US  50. 

For  more  than  a  decade  this  section  of  US  50  was  part  of  an  impor- 
tant overland  route  into  California.  Centuries  before  the  gold  rush  it 
was  an  Indian  trail.  In  the  period  1850-1857  it  was  an  immigrant 
course,  rough,  rocky,  and  almost  unmarked.  In  1858  the  first  crude 
wagon  track  was  built  over  the  mountains  by  public  funds.  In  that 
same  year,  George  Chorpenning  carried  the  first  overland  mail  over 
this  thoroughfare  from  Salt  Lake  City  across  the  Sierra  to  Placerville. 
When  the  rich  Comstock  Silver  Lode  was  discovered  in  Washoe  Valley, 


588        CALIFORNIA 

Nev.,  in  1859,  it  brought  boom  times  to  the  Placerville  Road.  As  many 
as  3,000  freight  wagons,  with  25,000  animals,  used  it  at  one  time,  ac- 
cording to  contemporary  accounts.  The  cumbrous  wagons  carried  loads 
of  from  three  to  eight  tons,  drawn  by  teams  of  six  to  ten  horses  or  mules. 
Hay  for  the  animals  cost  four  to  six  cents  a  pound,  and  barley  in  pro- 
portion. Private  companies  got  franchises  on  sections  of  the  route  from 
the  State ;  grades  were  made  easier,  bridges  built,  and  the  road  widened. 
In  some  places  the  profit  from  tolls  during  a  single  year  was  twice  the 
original  investment.  In  1862  one  section  of  the  road,  assessed  at 
$14,000,  collected  $75,000  in  tolls.  Total  toll  charges  for  a  6-mule 
team  and  wagon  over  the  whole  length  were  from  $32  to  $36. 

In  April  1860,  the  first  Pony  Express  rider  galloped  over  this  track. 
The  riders  kept  up  their  record-making  runs  from  St.  Joe,  Mo.,  to 
Sacramento  until  November  1861,  when  the  overland  telegraph  spanned 
the  continent  with  copper  wire.  The  tremendous  flow  of  traffic  on  the 
Placerville  Road  ceased  when  the  transcontinental  railway  was  com- 
pleted through  Donner  Pass  in  1869.  With  the  opening  of  the  auto- 
mobile age,  it  again  became  one  of  the  main  cross  country  arteries. 

LAKESIDE,  0  m.  (6,225  alt.,  4  pop.),  on  the  Nevada  line,  27 
miles  south  of  Carson  City,  Nev.,  is  one  of  the  long  chain  of  summer 
resorts  along  the  shore  of  LAKE  TAHOE  (R).  In  1864  there  was 
already  a  large  log  hotel  here,  entertaining  many  visitors  from  Cali- 
fornia and  Nevada. 

Lake  Tahoe,  by  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  is  of  glacial  origin, 
21.6  miles  long  and  12  miles  wide,  with  a  surface  area  of  193  square 
miles.  Meadow  land  and  forested  valley  sweep  from  its  blue  waters 
to  the  summits  of  MONUMENT  PEAK  (10,085  alt.),  MOUNT 
FREEL  (10,900  alt.),  and  JOB'S  SISTER  (10,820  alt.).  In  Rough- 
ing It,  Mark  Twain  wrote  of  Lake  Tahoe:  "We  plodded  on,  and  at 
last  the  lake  burst  upon  us,  a  noble  sheet  of  blue  water  .  .  .  walled  in 
by  a  rim  of  snow-clad  peaks  that  towered  aloft  full  3,000  feet  higher 
still.  As  it  lay  there  with  the  shadows  of  the  mountains  brilliantly 
photographed  upon  its  still  surface,  I  thought  it  must  surely  be  the 
fairest  picture  the  whole  earth  affords.  .  .  .  Down  through  .  .  .  these 
great  depths,  the  water  was  not  merely  transparent,  but  dazzling,  bril- 
liantly so;  we  could  see  trout  by  the  thousands  winging  about  in  the 
emptiness  under  us." 

An  old  Washoe  Indian  legend  said  that  a  giant  bird,  the  Ong,  with 
a  body  like  an  eagle's  and  wings  "larger  than  the  tallest  pine"  lived  in  a 
nest  at  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  From  its  nest  gushed  the  waters  that 
filled  the  lake.  The  Ong  lived  on  human  flesh  and  terrified  the  Indians. 
Finally  an  Indian  brave  fought  it  to  death  to  rescue  his  sweetheart,  and 
after  that  the  Indians  could  paddle  their  canoes  on  the  lake  without 
danger  of  being  torn  by  its  terrible  beak. 

The  first  white  men  to  report  seeing  Lake  Tahoe  were  John  C. 
Fremont  and  his  topographer,  Charles  Preuss,  on  February  14,  1844, 
who  discovered  it  from  the  heights  of  STEVEN'S  PEAK  (10,100  alt.). 
Fremont  first  called  it  "Mountain  Lake,"  but  on  the  map  that  he  made 


TOUR     10        589 

of  his  first  passage  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  it  appears  as  "Lake  Bonplan" 
(for  the  French  botanist  and  traveling  companion  of  Alexander  von 
Humboldt).  On  the  first  official  map  of  California  this  body  of  water 
was  called  "Lake  Bigler,"  for  the  third  governor  of  California.  In 
1862  William  Henry  Knight,  map  maker  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
the  Interior,  restored  the  Indian  name  of  Tahoe,  and  subsequent  maps 
have  retained  it,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  legislative  act  of  1870 
legalizing  the  name  of  Lake  Bigler  has  never  been  repealed. 

BIJOU  (jewel),  1.6  m.  (6,225  alt.,  10  pop.),  a  former  lumber 
camp,  named  by  appreciative  French  lumberjacks  50  or  60  years  ago, 
is  now  a  summer  resort.  The  long  wharf  at  which  lumber  schooners 
docked  while  loading  pine  and  fir  logs  to  be  freighted  to  the  mills  at 
Glenbrook,  Nev.,  has  been  replaced  by  a  pier  for  pleasure  craft.  Most 
of  the  great  pine  and  fir  forests  about  Lake  Tahoe  were  cut  over  be- 
tween 1860  and  1900.  Their  timbers  built  Virginia  City,  Nev.,  and  its 
neighbor  camps,  and  lined  the  shafts  and  tunnels  of  the  Comstock  Lode 
and  other  Nevada  mines. 

EL  DORADO  COUNTY  PUBLIC  PARK  (sanitary  conven- 
iences), 2.1  m.,  is  one  of  several  public  lake  resorts. 

AL  TAHOE,  2.3  m.  (6,225  alt.,  150  pop.),  a  resort,  known  as 
Rowland's  before  1912,  is  typical  of  the  many  recreation  centers  strung 
along  the  west  side  of  the  lake. 

At  4.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  89,  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  State  89  along  the  shore  of  the  lake  through  an  almost  con- 
tinuous line  of  resorts,  to  CASCADE  LAKE  (L),  52  m.,  one  of  the  many 
small  glacial  lakes  in  the  DESOLATION  VALLEY  PRIMITIVE  AREA, 
a  glacially  eroded  region  of  thick  forests  and  granite  crags. 

BAY  VIEW  PUBLIC  CAMP  and  INSPIRATION  POINT  (camping  and 
trailer  accommodations),  7.7  m.,  offer  a  fine  view  of  EMERALD  BAY. 
RUBICON  POINT  STATE  PARK,  12  m.,  a  promontory  of  the  lake,  is 
kept  in  its  natural  beauty  by  the  State.  MEEKS  BAY  (hotel,  cabin, 
camps),  16.5  m.,  has  an  excellent  sandy  beach,  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
swimming  spots  on  the  lake.  Launches  and  speedboats  leave  from  here 
for  trips  around  the  lake. 

The  road  continues  through  TAHOE  NATIONAL  FOREST  (L)  of 
576,227  acres. 

TAHOE  CITY  (all  accommodations),  27.5  m.  (150  pop.),  centers  the 
resort  area  at  the  upper  end  of  the  lake.  Many  wealthy  families  have 
summer  estates  near  here.  The  more  modest  cabins  of  people  of  moderate 
means  are  strung  along  the  shore,  almost  as  close  together  as  bungalows 
in  a  suburban  town. 

TRUCKEE  (see  TOUR  9a),  41.5  m.t  is  at  the  junction  with  US  40  (see 
TOUR  9a),  also  with  another  section  of  State  89  (see  TOUR  5b). 

South  of  Lake  Tahoe,  US  50  goes  over  the  ridges  of  the  glacial 
moraine  that  dams  up  the  lower  end  of  the  lake. 

At  MEYERS,  9.4  m.  (6,400  alt.,  50  pop.),  the  old-fashioned  inn 
is  reminiscent  of  stagecoach  and  freighting  days.  At  the  MEYERS 
RANGER  STATION  (R)  free  maps  and  information  regarding  the  El 
Dorado  National  Forest  are  available.  Just  north  of  the  inn  is  the 
SITE  OF  YANK'S  HOTEL,  one  of  the  many  stage  stations  of  the  old 
Placerville  Road. 


59°        CALIFORNIA 

Here,  too,  is  the  usual  PONY  EXPRESS  MONUMENT  with  a  bronze 
bas-relief  of  a  rider.  The  story  of  how  these  daredevil  riders  united 
East  and  West  was  described  by  Mark  Twain  in  Roughing  It:  "Saint 
Joe  to  Sacramento,  1900  miles  in  eight  days!  The  pony- rider  was 
usually  a  little  man.  He  rode  fifty  miles  without  stopping,  by  daylight, 
moonlight,  starlight,  or  through  the  blackness  of  darkness — just  as  it 
happened.  He  rode  a  splendid  horse,  born  from  a  racer,  and  fed  and 
lodged  like  a  gentleman;  kept  him  at  his  utmost  speed  for  ten  miles, 
and  then,  as  he  came  crashing  to  the  station  where  stood  two  men  hold- 
ing fast  a  fresh,  impatient  steed,  the  transfer  of  rider  and  mail  bag  was 
made  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  away  flew  the  eager  pair,  and  were 
out  of  sight  before  the  spectator  could  get  hardly  the  ghost  of  a  look. 
Both  rider  and  horse  went  'flying  light.'  The  rider's  dress  was  thin 
and  fitted  close ;  he  wore  a  'roundabout'  and  a  skull-cap,  and  tucked  his 
pantaloons  into  his  boot  tops  like  a  race-rider.  He  carried  no  arms — 
he  carried  nothing  that  was  not  absolutely  necessary,  for  even  the 
postage  on  his  literary  freight  was  worth  five  dollars  a  letter.  He  got 
but  little  frivolous  correspondence  to  carry — his  bag  had  business  letters 
mostly.  His  horse  was  stripped  of  all  unnecessary  weight,  too.  He 
wore  light  shoes,  or  none  at  all.  The  little  flat  mail-pockets  strapped 
under  the  rider's  thighs  would  each  hold  about  the  bulk  of  a  child's 
primer.  They  held  many  and  many  an  important  business  chapter  and 
newspaper  letter,  but  they  were  written  on  paper  as  airy  and  thin  as 
gold-leaf,  nearly,  and  thus  bulk  and  weight  were  economized.  The 
stagecoach  traveled  about  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
a  day  (twenty- four  hours),  the  pony-rider  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  There  were  about  eighty  pony-riders  in  the  saddle  all  the  time, 
night  and  day,  stretching  a  long,  scattering  procession  from  Missouri 
to  California,  forty  flying  eastward,  and  forty  toward  the  west,  and 
among  them  making  four  hundred  gallant  horses  earn  a  stirring  liveli- 
hood and  see  a  deal  of  scenery  every  single  day  in  the  year." 

At  ECHO  CREEK,  10.6  m.,  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road, 
State  89. 

Left  on  State  89  through  LUTHER  PASS,  9  m.  (7,800  alt.),  to  a  junction 
with  State  8,  11.5  m.;  L.  on  State  8-89,  6.5  m.  to  WOODFORDS  (5,634  alt.), 
a  small  resort;  R.  from  Woodfords  on  State  89,  6.6  m.  to  the  junction  with 
State  4  (see  TOUR  4). 

The  main  side  route  goes  R.  from  the  State  8-89  junction  at  the  eastern 
end  of  Luther  Pass  on  State  8,  which  rises  to  cross  the  main  range  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  through  CARSON  PASS  (8,600  alt.),  19.8  m.  Capt.  John 
Fremont  and  "Kit"  Carson  found  this  pass  in  the  winter  of  1843-44  while 
looking  for  a  direct  route  to  California  from  the  East;  it  was  used  by 
thousands  of  gold  seekers.  State  8  descends  through  a  forested  region, 
past  several  small  mountain  resorts  and  the  sites  of  once  active  mining 
camps. 

PINE  GROVE,  74.6  m.  (2,100  alt.,  126  pop.),  is  at  the  junction  with  a 
dirt  road;  R.  3  m.  on  this  to  VOLCANO  (2,150  alt.,  150  pop.),  in  a  crater- 
like  hollow,  rimmed  by  fir-covered  hills.  Once  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
populous  towns  of  the  Mother  Lode,  the  dust  of  its  main  street  is  now 
rarely  disturbed.  Occasionally  an  old-timer  shuffles  along  on  his  way  to 
buy  something  at  the  store.  Only  the  wind  in  the  fir  trees  or  the  tinkle  of 


TOUR     I  O        591 

cowbells,  as  the  cows  come  home  at  sunset,  breaks  the  stillness.  In  the 
spring  of  1848  Gen.  John  A.  Sutter  mined  on  the  creek  that  bears  his  name, 
and  the  next  year  men  from  Stevenson's  regiment  of  New  York  Volunteers 
found  rich  deposits  in  SOLDIERS'  GULCH,  where  in  later  years  hydraulic 
washing  left  weird  outcroppings  of  limestone.  By  1850  Volcano  was  going 
full  blast.  Besides  the  saloons  and  fandango  halls  that  every  camp 
boasted,  it  had  a  Thespian  Society  and  a  Miners'  Library  Association. 
Opened  in  1862  and  still  doing  business  is  the  dignified  ST.  GEORGE  HOTEL 
(R)  ;  its  lobby  has  been  modernized,  but  the  bar  is  the  original,  and  here 
are  kept  a  collection  of  miners'  relics,  among  them  a  Swiss  music  box  that 
still  tinkles  plaintively.  At  the  end  of  the  main  street  are  the  iron-shuttered 
ADAMS  EXPRESS  BUILDING  (R)  and  the  ODD  FELLOWS  AND  MASONIC  LODGE 
BUILDING.  Here  Angelo  Rossi,  Mayor  of  San  Francisco  (1939),  was  born. 
He  sometimes  visits  his  birthplace  in  a  big  car  such  as  miners  never 
dreamed  of,  escorted  by  motorcycle  police  with  their  sirens  wailing. 

JACKSON,  83.2  m.  (see  TOUR  4),  is  at  a  junction  with  State  49  (see 
TOUR  4). 

US  50  begins  its  climb  up  through  the  pines  to  ECHO  SUMMIT, 
12.7  m.  (7,365  alt.),  at  the  top  of  JOHNSON'S  PASS.  From  Sum- 
mit Lodge  is  a  magnificent  view. 

At  12.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  ECHO  LAKE,  1  m.  There  are  many  camps  in  this 
section  from  which  foot  trails  lead  into  the  DESOLATION  VALLEY 
PRIMITIVE  AREA,  a  region  preserved  in  its  natural  state.  The  tract  of 
41,380  acres  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Rubicon  River  is  a  picturesque 
region  of  granite  peaks  and  blue  alpine  lakes. 

The  highway  sweeps  down  the  long  western  slope  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  through  luxuriant  groves  of  pine,  fir,  and  cedar  with  many  free 
Forest  Service  camps  and  summer  home  tracts.  At  other  choice  places 
are  privately  owned  homes  and  resorts. 

The  entrance  to  AUDRAIN  LAKE  CAMP  (R)  is  passed  at  13.3  m. 
LAKE  AUDRAIN  is  a  main  source  of  the  South  Fork  of  the  American 
River,  down  the  canyon  of  which  the  highway  passes.  The  old  Hawley 
Grade  into  Lake  Valley,  used  from  1859  to  1861,  began  at  this  point. 

Audrain's  station  once  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  DARRING- 
TON'S  STORE  (R),  14.3  m.,  on  the  edge  of  HAY  PRESS  MEADOWS, 
where  an  old-fashioned  hay  press  baled  the  tall  wild  grasses  that  were 
cut  here  for  sale  at  $90  to  $100  a  ton  at  Virginia  City,  Nev. 

Another  alpine  meadow  marks  the  site  of  the  onetime  stage  station 
of  PHILLIP'S  (R),  15.4  m.  (7,000  alt.),  now  a  summer  resort. 
Nearby  is  the  ASPEN  CREEK  TRACT  for  summer  homes,  within 
a  forest  of  fir. 

TOLL  HOUSE  FLAT,  17.3  m.,  is  the  SITE  OF  SWAN'S  UPPER 
TOLL  HOUSE,  where  long  lines  of  cumbersome  wagons  once  waited  to 
pay  tolls. 

The  bold,  granite  ridge  that  bulwarks  the  canyon  of  the  South 
Fork  on  the  north  forms  the  southern  extension  of  Desolation  Valley. 
A  U-shaped,  rocky  gorge  here  comes  down  precipitously  from  the  Deso- 
lation Valley  Primitive  Area,  leaps  the  long,  white  cascades  of  HORSE 
TAIL  FALLS  (R),  and  follows  the  glacier-polished  basin  of  Pyramid 


592        CALIFORNIA 

Creek  to  the  South  Fork.  High  in  the  northwest  is  the  austere,  grey 
summit  of  PYRAMID  PEAK  (10,020  alt.). 

To  the  south,  LOVER'S  LEAP  (6,985  alt.)  rises  (L)  a  sheer 
1,285  feet  above  the  river.  There  is  the  usual  legend  of  the  Indian  girl 
who  plunged  from  that  height  because  her  love  was  unrequited.  At  the 
base  of  the  cliff  was  the  SLIPPERY  FORD  HOUSE.  In  1863,  Brewer,  in 
Up  and  Down  California,  wrote:  "Clouds  of  dust  arose,  filling  the  air, 
as  we  met  long  trains  of  ponderous  wagons,  loaded  with  merchandise, 
hay,  grain — in  fact  everything  that  man  or  beast  uses.  We  stopped 
at  the  Slippery  Ford  House.  Twenty  wagons  stopped  there,  driving 
over  a  hundred  horses  or  mules — heavy  wagons,  enormous  loads, 
scarcely  any  less  than  three  tons.  The  harness  is  heavy,  often  with  a 
steel  boy  over  the  hames,  in  the  form  of  an  arch  over  each  horse,  and 
supporting  four  or  five  bells,  whose  chimes  can  be  heard  at  all  hours  of 
the  day.  The  wagons  drew  up  on  some  small  level  place,  the  animals 
were  chained  to  the  tongue  of  the  wagon,  neighing  or  braying  for  their 
grain.  They  are  well  fed  although  hay  costs  four  to  five  cents  a  pound, 
and  barley  accordingly — no  oats  are  raised  in  this  State,  barley  is  fed 
instead. 

"We  are  at  an  altitude  of  over  six  thousand  feet,  the  nights  are 
cold,  and  the  dirty  dusty  teamsters  sit  about  the  fire  in  the  barroom  and 
tell  tales — of  how  this  man  carried  so  many  hundredweight  with  so 
many  horses,  a  story  which  the  rest  disbelieve — tell  stories  of  marvelous 
mules,  and  bad  roads,  and  dull  drivers,  of  fights  at  this  bad  place,  where 
someone  would  not  turn  out,  etc.,  until  nine  o'clock,  when  they  crawl 
under  their  wagons  with  their  blankets  and  sleep  to  be  up  at  early  dawn 
to  attend  to  their  teams." 

A  good  ski  course  is  at  TWIN  BRIDGES  (R),  19.5  m. 

At  21.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  graveled  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  STRAWBERRY  HOUSE,  0.3  m.,  a  stopping  place  on 
the  later  Placerville  Road  and  now  a  summer  resort.  The  simple  dignity 
of  the  old  house,  the  commodious  barns,  and  hay  lofts  nearby  are  vivid 
reminders  of  stagecoach  days.  They  stand  at  the  edge  of  a  well-watered 
meadow,  with  the  granite  walls  of  the  canyon  close  at  hand. 

PYRAMID  RANGER  STATION  (R)  and  PYRAMID  PUBLIC  CAMP  (L) 
are  passed  at  23.7  m. 

For  several  miles  US  50  follows  the  north  bank  of  the  river  in  long 
graceful  curves;  but  the  old  stage  road,  bits  of  which  can  still  be  traced 
up  and  down  the  mountainside,  was  hewn  from  the  canyonsides. 

Passing  the  SITE  OF  LEON'S  STATION  (R),  28  m.,  often  known  as 
Mother  Weltie's  in  the  old  days,  US  50  enters  KYBURZ,  30.2  m. 
(4,700  alt.,  10  pop.).  Where  DICK  YARNOLD'S  TOLL  HOUSE  once 
reaped  a  remunerative  harvest,  a  store,  hotel,  and  post  office  now  serve 
tourists  and  summer  campers.  Southward,  along  the  Silver  Fork  of 
the  Truckee  River,  trails  lead  into  the  beautiful  SILVER  LAKE 
region  (7,250  alt.). 

In  the  shadow  of  SUGAR  LOAF  ROCK  (R),  31  m.,  the  SUGAR 
LOAF  HOUSE  once  stood,  and  the  SITE  OF  PERRIN'S  TOLL  HOUSE  is 


TOUR    i  o     593 

passed  at  31.7  m.  Ruins  of  an  Old  Bridge  (L)  across  the  river  at 
35.6  m.  mark  the  eastern  end  of  Oglesby  Grade,  one  of  four  or  five  rival 
detours  over  which  traffic  to  Virginia  City  sought  easier  and  quicker 
routes  in  the  sixties. 

The  fast  rigs  of  Baker's  stage  line  changed  to  horses  at  RIVERTON, 
39.6  m.  (3,300  alt.),  formerly  Moore's  Station.  The  old  hotel  stands 
at  the  river's  edge  surrounded  by  poplar  and  locust  trees. 

Between  1859  and  1864,  stages  used  the  Brockliss  Grade  (R),  the 
beginning  of  which  is  passed  at  43.7  m.  There  is  an  old  orchard  and 
green  meadow  at  the  PACIFIC  HOUSE,  43.8  m.  (3,375  alt.,  20  pop.). 

At  BULLION  BEND,  47.6  m.,  a  stone  monument  (R)  marks  the 
spot  where  two  stages  were  held  up  and  robbed  on  the  night  of  June  30, 
1864.  The  road  was  then  a  narrow  grade;  six  men  leaped  out  from 
a  clump  of  trees,  covered  Blair,  driver  of  the  first  stage,  with  pistols 
and  shotguns,  seized  his  lead  team,  and  ordered  him  to  halt.  When 
they  called,  "Throw  down  your  treasure  box!"  Blair  said  he  had  none. 
Then  they  demanded  the  stage's  cargo  of  bullion.  "Come  and  get  it," 
Blair  answered.  Two  of  the  road  agents  covered  him  with  their  guns, 
and  two  others  took  out  the  bullion.  Blair  asked  them  not  to  rob  the 
passengers,  and  the  men  replied,  "We  don't  intend  to.  All  we  want  is 
the  treasure." 

Just  then  the  second  stage  came  around  the  bend,  driven  by  a  man 
named  Watson,  from  whom  the  robbers  took  three  sacks  of  bullion  and 
a  small  treasure  box.  The  leader  of  the  band,  before  they  galloped 
off,  wrote  the  following  receipt :  "This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  received 

from  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.,  the  sum  of  $ cash  for  the  purpose  of 

outfitting  recruits  enlisted  in  California  for  the  Confederate  States 
army.  R.  Henry  Ingrim,  Captain  Commd'g  Co.  C.  S.  A.  June,  1864." 

Two  of  the  highwaymen  were  arrested  next  morning  in  the  THIR- 
TEEN MILE  HOUSE,  49.2  m.,  where  they  had  overslept,  and  were  taken 
to  Placerville  and  jailed.  When  officers  surprised  others  at  Somerset 
House,  12  miles  south,  the  cornered  men  unlimbered  their  pistols,  killed 
the  sheriff,  wounded  a  constable,  robbed  them,  and  escaped.  Thomas 
Poole,  most  notorious  of  the  band,  was  captured  later  and  executed. 

SPORTSMAN'S  HALL,  which  stood  where  the  SNOW  LINE  AUTO 
CAMP  (L),  51.2  m.,  now  is,  was  a  stage  and  freight  station  with  stable 
room  for  500  horses. 

Orchards  climb  the  slopes  above  CAMINO,  54.7  m.  (3,200  alt.,  516 
pop.),  a  busy  town  with  mills  and  extensive  lumberyards  fragrant  with 
stores  of  yellow  pine. 

SMITH'S  FLAT  (R),  59.4  m.  (2,200  alt.,  150  pop.),  was  a  rich 
mining  camp  of  the  i85o's. 

PLACERVILLE,  62.3  m.  (1,848  alt.,  2,322  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
4a),  is  at  a  junction  with  State  49  (TOUR  4#) ,  which  unites  with  US 
50  between  this  point  and  EL  DORADO,  69.2  m.  (1,610  alt.,  417 
pop.)  (see  TOUR  4a) . 

Between  El  Dorado  and  Sacramento,  US  50  follows  the  old  Carson 
Emigrant  Trail,  over  which  many  of  the  forty-niners  came  into  Cali- 


594        CALIFORNIA 

fornia.  The  trail  was  blazed  by  members  of  the  Mormon  Battalion  on 
their  way  to  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  summer  of  1848. 

At  SHINGLE  SPRINGS,  74.4  m.  (1,425  alt.,  119  pop.),  site  of  a 
shingle  mill  in  1849,  many  travel-worn  gold  seekers  stopped  for  rest 
and  refreshment.  The  gulches  about  the  springs  were  filled  with 
miners'  cabins  in  1850.  The  Shingle  Spring  House,  now  LOCUST  TREE 
INN  (L),  74.7  m.,  was  built  in  1850  of  lumber  brought  around  the 
Horn. 

The  ruins  of  CLARKSVILLE,  82.5  m.  (L)  (600  alt.,  25  pop.), 
are  overgrown  with  ailanthus  trees.  Here  and  there,  old  iron  doors 
still  hang  to  broken  stone  walls.  Roofs  and  windows  are  gone.  Beyond 
the  village  signs  of  abandoned  placer  diggings  are  seen  in  the  fields. 
From  here,  the  broad,  treeless  hills  slope  gently  westward  to  the  great 
Sacramento  Valley. 

WHITE  ROCK,  85.7  m.,  once  a  stage  stopping  place  known  as 
the  White  Rock  House,  is  now  merely  a  railroad  flag  station.  From 
here  the  original  Placerville  Road  continued  to  Sacramento  in  a  west- 
erly direction  instead  of  turning  northwest  as  the  present  highway  does. 

The  eastern  end  of  a  ten-mile  gold-dredging  area  is  at  90  m.  Gigan- 
tic piles  of  smooth  round  stones  line  both  sides  of  the  highway,  stones 
torn  from  the  bed  of  an  ancient  river  channel  by  the  huge  dredgers, 
which  float  on  artificial  ponds.  Operations  have  been  going  on  since 
1880.  Since  1922  dredging  in  Sacramento  County  has  yielded  $1,300,- 
ooo  in  gold. 

At  FOLSOM,  91.8  m.  (200  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  a  row  of  brick  stores, 
erected  in  the  late  1 850*8  and  early  i86o's,  line  the  highway.  Negro 
miners  in  1849  dug  for  gold  at  this  spot  on  the  American  River,  and 
their  camp  was  called  Negro  Bar.  The  camp,  laid  out  on  the  Mexican 
rancho,  Rio  de  los  Americanos,  on  the  Coloma  Road,  was  granted  to 
William  A.  Leidesdorfr,  U.  S.  vice-consul,  Oct.  8,  1844.  A  mere  trail 
in  1847,  when  traced  by  Captain  Sutter  from  his  fort  (see  SACRA- 
MENTO) to  his  sawmill  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  American  River, 
Coloma  Road  became  the  first  route  to  the  gold  fields  after  Marshall's 
discovery  in  1848  (see  TOUR  4). 

After  the  death  of  Leidesdorff  in  1848,  Capt.  Joseph  L.  Folsom, 
assistant  quartermaster  of  Stevenson's  New  York  Volunteers,  traveled 
to  the  West  Indies  to  purchase  the  35,ooo-acre  estate  on  the  American 
River  from  LeidesdorfFs  heirs.  Its  acquisition,  together  with  other 
properties  in  San  Francisco,  made  Folsom  one  of  California's  wealthiest 
men.  In  1855  a  town  was  surveyed  by  Theodore  D.  Judah,  tireless 
advocate  of  a  transcontinental  railroad.  In  1856  it  became  the  tempo- 
rary terminus  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  Railroad,  the  first  in  California. 
In  1857  construction  of  the  California  Central  Railroad  between  Fol- 
som and  Marysville  was  begun.  From  1856  to  1864  Folsom  prospered 
as  a  point  of  departure  to  the  mining  area.  It  was  also  an  important 
freight  depot,  connected  with  the  Placerville  Road  by  a  branch  road 
to  White  Rock — the  route  followed  by  the  present  highway. 

On  April  4,  1860,  Harry  Roff,  a  curly  haired  lad  of  fifteen,  galloped 


TOUR    10     595 

through  Folsom  on  the  initial  run  of  the  Pony  Express.  The  run  be- 
tween Sacramento  and  Placerville,  a  distance  of  55  miles,  was  made  in 
2  hours  and  59  minutes. 

Right  from  Folsom  on  a  graveled  road  to  FOLSOM  STATE  PENITENTIARY, 
2  m.,  a  fortress-like,  unwalled  structure  built  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
American  River  in  1880.  Among  its  prisoners  are  J.  B.  McNamara,  con- 
victed of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  bombing,  and  Warren  K.  Billings,  of  the 
famed  Mooney-Billings  case.  The  site  was  selected  because  of  its  prox- 
imity to  a  granite  quarry,  a  cheap  water  and  power  supply,  and  adjacent 
fertile  fields.  The  first  electric  power  plant  in  central  California  was 
constructed  on  the  American  River  above  the  penitentiary,  and  the  first 
power  was  transmitted  from  Folsom  to  Sacramento,  July  13,  1895.  The 
construction  of  the  dam  was  begun  in  1866  by  the  Natoma  Water  and 
Mining  Company. 

West  of  Folsom  the  landscape  is  dominated  by  artificial  rock  hills 
thrown  up  during  more  than  fifty  years  of  dredging  activity. 

NATOMA,  93.5  m.  (143  alt.,  106  pop.),  has  been  a  mining  center 
since  1880,  the  amount  of  gold  taken  out  by  its  dredges  totaling  more 
than  $40,000,000. 

At  ROUTIER,  103.1  m.  (10  pop.),  a  long  shed  in  front  of  an  old 
wayside  station  once  protected  horses  and  drivers  from  the  heat  of  the 
sun  or  the  pouring  rain.  Leidesdorfr's  adobe  ranchhouse  stood  on  the 
bank  of  the  American  River  (R).  Orchards  and  vineyards  now  cover 
the  acres  of  the  former  Rancho  Rio  de  los  Americanos. 

Hopfields  appear  at  106.1  m.t  their  green  vines  spread  out  over 
acres  of  trellises  that  look  like  an  immense  summerhouse.  The  barnlike 
buildings  with  round  cupolas  are  hopkilns. 

PERKINS,  107.9  m.  (48  alt.,  200  pop.),  with  its  fruit-packing 
sheds,  is  a  center  of  diversified  horticulture  and  viticulture. 

The  Brighton  gristmill  was  erected  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Ameri- 
can River  in  1847  by  Mormons  in  the  employ  of  Captain  Sutter.  The 
news  of  gold  called  the  millers  away,  but  in  1849  a  group  of  speculators 
laid  out  a  town  at  the  site  and  called  it  BRIGHTON,  109.2  m.  The 
first  site  of  Brighton,  by  the  river,  was  abandoned  in  1852,  and  the 
present  tract  by  the  railroad  was  opened  up  in  1861. 

SACRAMENTO,  110  m.  (30  alt.,  93,75O  pop.)  (see  SACRA- 
MENTO). 

In  Sacramento  are  junctions  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3a),  US  99E 
(see  TOUR  3b),  and  US  40  (see  TOUR  9a). 

Between  Sacramento  and  Stockton  US  50  and  US  99  are  united 
(see  TOUR  3b). 


Section  b.    STOCKTON  to  SAN  FRANCISCO;  86.5  m.,  US  50. 

STOCKTON,  0  m.  (23  alt.,  47,963  pop.)  (see  STOCKTON), 
is  at  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3b),  which  continues  south- 
ward. US  50  also  continues  southward,  a  few  miles  west  of  US  99. 

At  5.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 


CALIFORNIA 

Left  on  this  road  is  FRENCH  CAMP,  0.5  m.  (15  alt.,  248  pop.),  named 
for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  trappers,  many  of  them  French-Canadians, 
who  camped  in  this  vicinity  and  hunted  beaver  and  other  fur-bearing 
animals  along  the  river  and  its  sloughs  from  1830  to  1845. 

For  several  miles  US  50  passes  through  what  was  once  the  Rancho 
Campo  de  los  Franceses,  covering  some  hundred  square  miles  of  land 
between  the  Calaveras  and  San  Joaquin  Rivers.  This  estate  was  granted 
Jan.  13,  1844,  to  Wiliam  Gulnac,  a  New  Yorker,  who  had  married  a 
Mexican  girl  and  become  a  Mexican  citizen.  Gulnac  had  hoped  to 
colonize  his  land,  but  hostile  Indians,  a  smallpox  epidemic,  and  primi- 
tive conditions  discouraged  settlement.  In  1845  he  sold  his  entire  estate 
to  Capt.  Charles  M.  Weber  for  $60,  the  amount  of  a  grocery  bill  he 
owed  to  Weber.  Weber  induced  settlement  on  his  rancho  only  by 
practically  giving  the  land  away. 

Across  the  ancient  ford  at  the  SAN  JOAQUIN  RIVER,  13.2  m. 
(fishinff  and  boating  resort),  now  bridged  by  railroad  and  highway, 
passed  the  Spanish  cavalcade  of  Gabriel  Moraga  and  Father  Viader  in 
1810,  and  succeeding  expeditions,  following  the  well-worn  Indian  trail 
through  the  Tulares  (place  of  tules)  in  search  of  mission  sites.  On 
these  journeys,  the  Spanish  saw  Indians  fishing  and  named  the  ford 
El  Paso  del  Pescadero  (the  passage  of  the  fishing  place).  The  main 
trail  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  the  coast  valleys  of  California  came 
to  the  ford  as  early  as  1844.  In  seasons  of  high  water,  Indians  ferried 
travelers  across  in  tule  balsas  (Sp.,  rafts).  After  1848  John  Doak  and 
Jacob  Bonsell  transported  miners  across  the  river  in  a  yawl.  When 
traffic  to  the  mines  became  heavy,  a  substantial  ferryboat  was  con- 
structed, and  high  carrying  rates — $8  for  a  team  and  wagon,  $3  each 
for  horsemen,  and  $i  each  for  pedestrians — netted  the  partners  enor- 
mous profits  from  1849  to  1852. 

TRACY,  21  m.  (49  alt.,  3,829  pop.),  was  a  stopping  place  of 
travelers  from  the  time  it  was  laid  out  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
in  the  early  1 870*5.  Its  main  street,  lined  with  restaurants,  cafes,  and 
soft  drink  stands,  is  a  popular  stopping  place  for  the  truck  drivers  who 
pilot  big  loads  through  Altamont  Pass. 

At  25  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  paved  Byron  road  (see  TOUR 
94). 

On  the  site  of  the  MOUNTAIN  HOUSE,  29.7  m.  (193  alt.,  20 
pop.),  a  blue  tent  was  pitched  in  1849  to  supply  refreshments  to  miners 
on  their  way  to  the  gold  fields. 

ALTAMONT,  35.1  m.  (740  alt.,  64  pop.),  at  the  summit  of 
ALTAMONT  PASS,  was  settled  in  1868,  when  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  was  built.  Ranch  cattle  feed  on  the  smooth  hills. 

At  35.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  unimproved  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  through  two  gates  (please  dose),  to  a  farmhouse, 
3  m.  (arrange  here  to  enter  a  third  gate;  25$  a  car]  at  the  base  of 
BRUSHY  PEAK  (1,675  alt.),  in  the  early  i9th  century  called  La  Loma 
Alta  de  las  Cuevas  (high  hill  of  the  caves).  The  crest  is  grown  with 
clumps  of  scrub  oak,  and  on  the  lower  eastern  slope  is  an  unusual  group 
of  water-worn  sandstone  caves.  Like  many  another  rocky  outcropping  in 


TOUR    i  o      597 

California's  remote  highlands,  these  caves  are  said  to  have  been  a  hide-out 
for  Joaquin  Murrieta  and  his  robber  band  in  the  early  iSfo's.  MURRIETA'S 
POST  OFFICE  is  pointed  out  as  the  place  where  the  bandit  left  messages  for 
his  gang.  The  post  office  is  also  a  tomb;  the  body  of  a  pioneer  of  the 
region  was  buried  in  the  rocky  crypt  at  his  own  request. 

At  42  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  LIVERMORE,  1  m.  (487  alt,  3,119  pop.),  since  1868 
the  principal  center  of  trade  and  shipping  for  the  farmers  and  manu- 
facturers of  the  valley.  One  of  California's  largest  rodeos  is  held  here 
annually  in  June. 

PLEASANTON,  Q2  m.  (352  alt.,  1,237  pop.),  founded  in  1868  celebrates 
La  Fiesta  del  Vino  when  the  grapes  are  purple  in  its  vineyards. 

THE  LIVERMORE  MONUMENT  (R),  43.7  ra.,  commemorates  Robert 
Livermore,  the  first  English-speaking  settler  in  the  valley.  The  young 
Britisher  deserted  from  the  ship  Colonel  Young  in  1822,  married  Josefa 
Higuera,  and  wandered  into  the  pleasant  Valley  of  San  Jose  in  1835. 
In  1838,  he  and  his  partner,  Jose  Noriega,  were  granted  the  8,880  acres 
of  land  which  comprised  the  Rancho  las  Positas — named  for  the  peren- 
nial springs  or  pools  of  water  from  which  the  creek  flowed.  Livermore's 
ranch  house  was  noted  for  its  hospitality  to  early  immigrants.  Nathaniel 
Greene  Patterson,  in  March  1850,  leased  it  for  a  hotel.  Livermore 
erected  a  frame  dwelling  for  himself  in  1851;  the  timbers,  shipped 
around  the  Horn,  were  used  by  his  son  in  the  present  LIVERMORE 
HOUSE,  erected  on  the  same  site  in  the  i88o's,  just  north  of  the 
monument. 

At  48.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  7  m.  to  the  rolling  hills  and  pastures  of  TASSAJARA 
(Sp.,  a  place  where  jerked  beef  is  hung)  VALLEY.  Bret  Harte  came  here 
in  the  autumn  of  1856.  An  old-time  religious  camp  meeting  was  in 
progress,  which  was  later  described  in  Harte's  short  story,  An  Apostle  of 
the  Tules,  the  scene  of  which  was  Tassajara  Valley. 

DUBLIN,  52.7  m.  (367  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  in  a  valley  visited  in 
1811  by  Jose  Maria  Amador,  a  young  private  in  the  San  Francisco 
Company.  Later,  while  major-domo  at  Mission  San  Jose,  he  drove  the 
mission  flocks  and  herds  onto  it.  In  1834,  m  recompense  for  his  military 
services,  he  was  granted  16,517  acres.  For  a  decade,  Amador's  adobe 
served  as  an  inn  on  the  Hayward-Stockton  road  to  the  mines,  becoming 
the  nucleus  of  a  village.  It  is  said  that  the  village  was  christened 
Dublin  by  James  Witt  Dougherty,  who  bought  the  Amador  house  in 
1852.  Asked  by  a  stranger  what  the  place  was  called,  he  replied  that 
the  post  office  had  been  designated  Dougherty's  Station,  but  since  there 
were  so  many  Irish  there,  the  settlement  might  as  well  be  called  Dublin. 
The  name  stuck. 

Dublin  is  at  the  junction  with  State  21   (see  TOUR  9A). 

Left  from  Dublin  on  State  21,  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra  de  San  Jose 
at  the  western  edge  of  Livermore  Valley,  to  ST.  RAYMOND'S  CHURCH, 
0.1  m.,  dating  from  1859.  The  JEREMIAH  FALLON  HOUSE  (L),  1  m.,  was 
erected  in  1850  of  timbers  cut  from  the  San  Antonio  redwoods  and  of 


598        CALIFORNIA 

lumber  brought  around  the  Horn.  Beneath  a  giant  oak  tree  (L),  3  m.,  is 
the  ALVISO  ADOBE,  built  in  1845  bY  Francisco  Alviso,  major-domo  of  Rancho 
Santa  Rita.  The  well-preserved  BERNAL  ADOBE  (R),  3.5  m.,  was  con- 
structed in  1852  by  Augustin  Bernal,  one  of  the  grantees  of  Rancho  el 
Valle  de  San  Jose. 

SUNOL,  8.5  m.  (300  alt.,  600  pop.),  is  among  the  hills  at  the  edge  of 
Sunol  Valley's  walnut  groves.  In  the  i84o's  the  adobe  ranch  house  of 
Antonio  Sunol  stood  amid  alders  and  sycamores  near  where  the  San 
Francisco  water  system's  Grecian-style  WATER  TEMPLE  now  stands — south 
of  the  main  road  at  the  end  of  an  avenue  in  a  luxuriant  garden. 

The  way  leads  westward  into  Niles  Canyon,  a  winding  gorge  cut  deep 
by  Alameda  Creek,  whose  "very  deep  pools  .  .  .  many  sycamores,  cotton- 
woods,  and  some  live  oaks  and  other  trees"  were  noted  by  Padre  Pedro 
Font  of  the  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza  expedition  in  1776. 

NILES  (see  below),  15.9  m.,  is  at  the  junction  with  Foothill  Boulevard 
(see  below). 

West  of  Dublin,  US  50  crosses  the  wooded  San  Jose  Range  through 
HAYWARD  PASS.  A  thick  growth  of  live  oak,  buckeye,  bay,  and 
other  native  trees  cover  the  southern  slopes. 

At  60.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  is  HAYWARD,  1.9  m.  (116  alt.,  5,530  pop.),  which  is 
one  of  the  largest  poultry  centers  in  the  country  and  has  the  largest  pigeon 
lofts;  it  celebrates  its  chief  industry  with  a  yearly  poultry  and  pigeon 
show.  Here  in  1852,  when  Guillermo  Castro  owned  the  surrounding  acres 
of  Rancho  San  Lorenzo,  William  Hayward  pitched  his  tent,  having  been 
visited  at  a  previous  site  by  Castro  and  informed  that  he  was  trespassing. 
The  two  came  to  an  agreement,  however;  and  when  Castro  laid  out  the 
town  in  1854,  he  named  it  for  his  American  friend. 

Left  from  Hayward  on  Foothill  Boulevard. 

NILES,  11.3  m.  (77  alt.,  1,525  pop.),  known  as  Vallejo  Mills  in  the 
iSso's,  grew  up  around  a  flour  mill  on  Jose  de  Jesus  Vallejo's  Rancho 
Arroyo  de  la  Alameda  (ravine  of  the  tree-lined  road).  The  stone  founda- 
tions remain  east  of  the  railroad  tracks  and  north  of  Niles  Canyon  Road, 
which  is  paralleled  a  mile  up  the  canyon  by  the  mill's  stone  aqueduct. 
The  VALLEJO  ADOBE,  one  of  the  Vallejo  ranch  houses,  stands  in  the  CALI- 
FORNIA NURSERY,  founded  in  1865,  where  trees  and  shrubs  cover  hundreds 
of  acres. 

MISSION  SAN  JOSE,  15.8  m.  (48  alt.,  525  pop.),  clusters  around  La 
Mision  del  Gloriosisimo  Patriarcha  Senor  San  Jose  (the  mission  of  the 
most  glorious  patriarch,  St.  Joseph),  the  fourteenth  mission  in  order  of 
time  and  one  of  the  most  prosperous,  founded  June  n,  1797,  by  Padre 
Fermin  Francisco  Lasuen.  The  mission  structures  were  first  built  of  timber 
roofed  with  grass  and  later  rebuilt  of  adobe.  The  German  explorer 
Georg  Heinrich  von  Langsdorff,  visiting  here  in  May  1806,  wrote:  "The 
quantity  of  corn  in  the  granaries  far  exceeded  my  expectations  .  .  .  and 
a  proportionate  quantity  of  maize,  barley,  pease,  beans,  and  other  grains. 
The  kitchen  garden  is  extremely  well  laid  out,  and  kept  in  very  good 
order  .  .  .". 

Strategically  situated,  Mission  San  Jose  was  a  starting  point  for  ex- 
ploration of  the  interior  and  for  punitive  expeditions  against  the  Indians; 
travelers  often  stopped  here.  One  of  them,  the  praying  Methodist  trapper 
Jedediah  Strong  Smith,  got  a  cold  reception  when  he  appealed  in  May 
1827  f°r  food  and  clothing  to  continue  his  journey.  Father  Duran,  unim- 
pressed by  a  letter  signed  ".  .  .  your  strange,  but  real  friend  and  Christian 
brother,  J.  S.  Smith,"  put  him  in  the  guardhouse.  For  two  weeks  he  was 
a  prisoner,  until  the  Governor  sent  a  guard  to  escort  him  to  Monterey. 
Returning  on  November  24,  he  and  his  men  spent  two  weeks  at  the 


TOUR    i  o      599 

mission  repairing  their  guns,  drying  meat,  baling  goods,  and  rounding  up 
horses  before  departure.  Smith  made  a  note  in  his  journal  about  the  music 
at  the  Mission  services,  which  "consisted  of  12  or  15  violins,  5  base  vials 
and  one  flute." 

The  last  mission  but  one  to  be  secularized,  San  Jose  was  so  neglected 
that  by  1846,  when  Governor  Pio  Pico  ordered  it  sold,  its  value  had  fallen 
to  $12,000.  Subsequently  it  was  returned  to  the  Church,  passing  into  the 
keeping  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Dominic.  Of  the  original  structures,  only  a 
section  of  the  living  quarters  remains,  a  vine-clad  adobe  building  partly 
restored  in  1916.  In  the  belfry  of  the  modern,  steepled  parish  chapel  on 
the  site  of  the  old  church  hang  two  of  the  old  bells,  one  dated  1815  and 
the  other,  1826;  inside  are  old  vestments,  silver  relics,  and  a  font  of 
hammered  copper.  The  ungainly  three-story  brick  CONVENT  OF  THE 
DOMINICAN  SISTERS  stands  in  the  rear.  The  mission  gardens,  with  their 
statue  of  St.  Dominic,  have  orange,  lemon,  fig,  apricot,  almond,  and  olive 
trees,  some  of  them  planted  by  the  mission  Indians  for  the  padres. 

Right  from  Mission  San  Jose  on  a  paved  road  1  m.  to  the  OLHONE  BURIAL 
GROUND,  where  a  granite  monument  on  a  grassy  knoll  stands  over  the 
spot  in  which  are  buried  about  4,000  Olhone  who  helped  build  Mission 
San  Jose.  Foothill  Boulevard  continues  southward  to  WARM  SPRINGS 
(see  below),  19.5  m.,  at  the  junction  with  State  17  (see  below). 

US  50  continues  to  SAN  LEANDRO,  65.3  m.  (48  alt.,  11,555 
pop.),  seat  of  Alameda  County  from  1855  to  I8y2,  which  long  called 
itself  "Cherry  City  of  California,"  celebrating  the  wealth  of  its  sur- 
rounding cherry  orchards  at  a  yearly  Cherry  Festival.  The  town  was 
settled  in  the  early  1 850*5  by  squatters  who  tried  to  drive  Jose  Joaquin 
Estudillo  and  his  family  off  their  Rancho  San  Leandro  by  attacks  on  the 
white  cattle  that  were  Estudillo's  chief  pride.  Although  the  Estudillos 
lived  for  a  while  in  fear  of  their  lives,  in  the  long  run  they  forced  the 
squatters  to  pay  for  their  land,  and  laid  out  a  town  for  the  county  seat. 

Around  San  Leandro  live  most  of  Alameda  County's  25,000  Portu- 
guese, chiefly  dairy  farmers,  producing  much  of  the  area's  milk.  One 
of  the  most  spectacular  of  their  religious  festivals  celebrates  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Azores  (from  which  came  two-thirds  of  San  Leandro's 
population).  The  peak  of  the  celebration  is  a  parade,  with  church 
dignitaries  in  full  regalia.  The  largest  of  the  elaborate  floats  repre- 
sents Lusitania,  the  poetical  figure  symbolizing  Portugal.  Following 
the  parade,  thousands  of  visitors  join  the  festivities,  which  feature  a 
barbecue  presided  over  by  a  queen  of  the  festival,  elected  by  popular 
ballot  at  one  cent  a  vote. 

Left  from  San  Leandro  on  State  17  is  SAN  LORENZO,  3.4  m.  (500  pop.), 
a  suburb  of  San  Leandro  on  the  banks  of  San  Leandro  Creek,  which  was 
first  known  as  Squattersville  in  1851,  when  the  squatters  who  overran 
Estudillo's  land  settled  here. 

At  MOUNT  EDEN,  72  m.  (25  alt.,  500  pop.),  is  the  junction  with  a 
paved  road ;  R.  here  3  m.  to  the  SAN  MATEO-HAYWARD  BAY  BRIDGE  across 
San  Francisco  Bay,  with  an  over-all  length  of  12  miles  and  a  length  over 
water  of  7.1  miles.  All  the  cement  that  went  into  its  construction  was 
manufactured  from  oyster  shells  dredged  from  the  bottom  of  the  bay.  At 
15.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  Bayshore  Highway  (US  loi-Alt.)  (see 
TOUR  2b). 

State  17  continues  to  ALVARADO,  102  m.  (n  alt.,  1,850  pop.),  site  of 
an  early  beet  sugar  factory  and  of  the  CALIFORNIA  SALT  COMPANY  WORKS. 


6OO        CALIFORNIA 

Here  in  the  spring  of  1853  were  not  one  but  three  ambitious  cities — J.  M. 
Homer's  Union  City,  founded  in  1850;  Henry  C.  Smith's  New  Haven, 
founded  in  1851;  and  Alvarado,  named  for  Mexican  Gov.  Juan  Bautista 
Alvarado,  founded  in  1852-3 — all  rivaling  one  another  and  attempting  to 
rival  San  Francisco.  The  name  of  the  third  survived  for  all  three.  The 
H.  G.  SMITH  HOUSE,  at  the  head  of  Vallejo  Street,  built  in  1852,  was  the 
home  of  the  founder  of  the  first. 

In  the  midst  of  vegetable  gardens  and  orange  groves  is  CENTERVILLE, 
13.6  ra.  (1,700  pop.),  a  farm  community  on  the  site  of  one  of  the  425 
Indian  shell  mounds  discovered  around  San  Francisco  Bay. 

IRVINGTON,  16.8  m.  (72  alt.,  1,000  pop.),  was  "Washington  Corners" 
in  the  iSjo's  and  i88o's,  when  Washington  College,  one  of  the  State's 
pioneers  in  industrial  education,  was  in  operation. 

At  the  junction  with  Foothill  Boulevard  (see  above]  is  WARM 
SPRINGS,  20.3  OT.  (48  alt.,  75  pop.),  where  the  Spanish-Calif ornian  women 
of  the  neighborhood  used  to  come  to  do  their  washing  at  hot  springs.  A 
resort  opened  here  in  1850  was  a  gay  watering  place  until  the  earthquake 
of  1868  destroyed  it. 

At  21.2  the  junction  with  a  private  dirt  road;  L.  here  1  m.  to  the 
HIGUERA  ADOBE  HOUSES,  erected  by  Jose  Higuera,  owner  of  Rancho  los 
Tularcitos.  The  older  one,  built  about  1822,  is  a  roofless  fire-blackened  ruin 
with  crumbling  walls,  doorways,  partitions,  and  hearth.  The  second,  and 
larger,  building,  erected  about  1831,  is  protected  by  an  earthquake-warped 
wooden  superstructure. 

In  MILPITAS  (Sp.,  little  maize  patches),  24.8  m.  (13  alt.,  460  pop.), 
the  residents  of  Pueblo  San  Jose  used  to  hold  harvest-time  merry-makings 
in  their  corn,  pepper,  and  squash  patches  along  Penitencia  Creek.  The 
claimant  of  Rancho  Milpitas,  Nicolas  Beryessa,  suffered  one  misfortune 
after  another:  Fremont's  battalion  plundered  his  cattle  and  killed  his 
brother,  Jose  de  Reyes;  squatters  seized  his  land;  and  finally  the  Land 
Commission  confirmed  the  rancho  to  a  rival  claimant,  Jose  Maria  Alviso. 
He  died  insane  in  1863. 

1.  Left  from  Milpitas  on  paved  Calaveras  Road,  1.5  m.  to  the  ALVISO 
ADOBE,  only  remaining  one  of  the  four  adobe  ranch  buildings  that  Alviso 
built  about  a  century  ago.     The  house,  painted  white  with  gay  trimmings, 
stands  in  a  flower  garden  amid  orchards;  its  second  story  is  encased  in 
modern  weather-boarding. 

2.  Right  from  Milpitas  4  m.  on  State  9,  paved,  is  ALVISO   (8  alt.,  381 
pop.),  a  shipping  port  at  the  head  of  Alviso  Slough  and  a  starting  point 
for  duck  hunts  in  the  sloughs  and  marshes  of  the  vicinity.    El  Embarcadero 
de  Santa  Clara  at  this  point  was  a  port  of  call  for  Yankee  hide  traders 
from   1835  to   J8so,   serving  the  missions   and  ranches  of  the  Bay   region. 
Richard  Henry  Dana  wrote  in  Two.  Years  Before  the  Mast:    "Large  boats, 
or   launches,    manned   by   Indians  .  .  .  are    attached   to   the   missions,    and 
sent  to  the  vessels  with  hides,  to  bring  away  goods  in  return."     Here  in 
1840  settled  Ignacio  Alviso,  mayordomo  at  Mission  Santa  Clara,  who  gave 
his  name  to  the  place.     As  trade  increased  with  the  gold  rush,  a  steamer 
line   from    San    Francisco    was    established — fare    one   way,   $35    (and   $10 
additional  for  the  stage  trip  to  San  Jose).     After  1865  the  railroads  began 
to  divert  trade,  and  Alviso  dwindled.     Today  its  cove  shelters  transporta- 
tion boats  and  the  yachts  of  the  South  Bay  Yacht  Club. 

At  8.3  m.  is  the  junction  of  State  9  with  US  ioi-Alt.,  the  Bayshore  High- 
way (see  TOUR  2b). 

SUNNYVALE  (see  TOUR  2b),  10.3  m.,  is  at  the  junction  of  State  9  with 
US  101  (see  TOUR  2b). 

The  main  side  route  (State  17)  continues  southward  to  SAN  JOSE  (see 
SAN  JOSE),  32.3  m.,  at  the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2b). 


TOUR     I  O        6O I 

OAKLAND,  67  m.  (01,550  alt.,  284,063  pop.)  (see  OAK- 
LAND). 

Left  from  6th  and  Harrison  Sts.  in  Oakland,  through  the  POSEY  TUBE 
(see  OAKLAND],  0.6  m.  to  ALAMEDA  (25  alt.,  35,033  pop.),  with  tall 
old  houses  set  among  quiet  gardens,  modern  apartment  buildings,  and 
industrial  establishments.  Built  on  a  low,  flat  island  separated  from  Oak- 
land and  the  mainland  by  an  estuary  that  is  connected  by  a  canal  with 
San  Leandro  Bay,  Alameda  shares  with  Oakland  its  deep-water  harbor 
and,  on  its  southern  and  western  shores,  faces  San  Francisco  Bay.  On  part 
of  the  former  Rancho  San  Antonio,  Alameda  was  settled  in  the  early  fifties 
largely  by  Yankees.  The  absence  of  heavy  fogs  attracted  home  builders. 
The  town's  position  on  the  bay  has  stimulated  shipbuilding,  the  fishing 
industry,  and  waterborne  shipping.  But  Alameda  remains  principally  a 
residential  community  and  the  majority  of  its  working  population  is  em- 
ployed in  other  bay  cities  and  towns. 

Extending  along  Alameda's  southwestern  shore  are  several  beach  resorts 
and  amusement  parks;  largest — and  northernmost — is  125-acre  NEPTUNE 
BEACH  (swimming,  dancing,  playground,  amusement  concessions),  at  the 
foot  of  Webster  St.  The  resort  has  an  outdoor  salt  water  plunge  300  feet 
long  and  75  feet  wide.  Adjacent  to  the  resorts  are  many  fine  residences 
and  the  small  homes  of  retired  seafarers.  In  LINCOLN  PARK,  at  the  foot 
of  Santa  Clara  Ave.,  is  a  stone  monument  erected  1000  feet  east  of  a  place 
where  an  Indian  shell  mound,  400  feet  long,  150  feet  wide,  14  feet  high, 
was  excavated  in  1908.  The  remains  of  450  Indians,  with  stone  imple- 
ments and  shell  ornaments,  were  found  there. 

Occupying  a  tract  equal  to  more  than  50  city  blocks  between  Webster 
St.  and  the  estuary,  with  an  entrance  one  block  south  of  the  Posey  Tube's 
Alameda  portal,  is  the  SAN  FRANCISCO  BAY  AIRDROME,  home  port  for 
between  50  and  60  ships — charter  and  private.  On  Main  St.,  at  the  western 
end  of  the  island,  is  BENTON  FIELD,  where  a  large  naval  air  base  is  under 
construction  (1939).  West  of  Benton  Field,  near  the  end  of  Alameda  Pier, 
is  ALAMEDA  AIRPORT,  western  terminus  for  Pan-American  Airways'  clipper 
ships.  From  here  in  1936  the  China  Clipper  took  off  on  its  initial  flight, 
inaugurating  regular  mail,  express  and  passenger  service  to  the  Orient. 

In  Alameda's  industrial  zone  is  the  BETHLEHEM  SHIPBUILDING  CORPORA- 
TION PLANT,  on  the  Inner  Harbor  east  of  Webster  St.,  one  of  the  largest  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  The  plant  made  a  world's  record  for  speed  in  construc- 
tion when  it  built  the  i2,ooo-ton  Invincible  in  24  days,  July  1918.  The 
ALASKA  PACKERS'  ASSOCIATION  WINTER  QUARTERS,  at  Fortmann  Basin  on 
the  Estuary,  harbor  the  concern's  Alaska  salmon  fishing  fleet,  its  shipyards 
and  shops.  At  the  west  end  of  Alameda,  facing  the  Bay,  is  the  PACIFIC 
COAST  BORAX  COMPANY  PLANT,  which  refines  the  crude  borax  brought  from 
Death  Valley. 

The  eastern  approach  to  the  SAN  FRANCISCO-OAKLAND  BAY 
BRIDGE  (toll  50$  a  car)  is  at  78.1  m.,  at  the  junction  with  US  40  (see 
TOUR  9b),  which  unites  with  US  50  westward. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  86.5  m.  (18  alt.,  634,394  pop.)  (see  SAN 
FRANCISCO). 


602        CALIFORNIA 

&&3&&<&&^^ 


Tour  ii 


(Las   Vegas,    Nev.) — Baker — Barstow — Mojave — Tehachapi — Atasca- 
dero — Morro  Bay;  US  91-466. 
Nevada  Line  to  Morro  Bay,  381.4  m. 

Paved  roadbed,  open  all  seasons;  extremely  hot  in  summer. 

Union  Pacific  R.R.  parallels  route  between  Midway  and  Yermo ;  Santa  Fe  R.R. 

between  Barstow  and  Wasco. 

Accommodations  limited;  extra  supplies  advisable  in  desert. 

Section  a.    NEVADA  LINE  to  BARSTOW;  117.2  m.    US  466. 

South  of  the  Nevada  Line  and  the  sere,  cracked  mud  flats  of  Ivanpah 
Lake,  this  section  of  US  91-466  stretches  over  the  wind-eroded  moun- 
tains and  the  vast,  torrid  valleys  of  the  Mojave  Desert.  It  roughly 
parallels  the  route  taken  by  the  Mormon  pioneers,  who,  traveling  from 
Salt  Lake  City  to  the  founding  of  San  Bernardino,  toiled  in  the  heat 
with  their  cumbersome,  crawling  oxcarts.  The  land  is  still  as  they 
found  it :  inhospitable,  ovenlike,  feral,  bleak,  and  deceptively  lifeless,  yet 
filled  with  the  beauties  of  its  far  vistas  and  its  variegated,  ever-changing 
colors. 

Great,  quadrangular  Mojave  Desert,  ranging  from  2,000  to  5,000 
feet  in  altitude — 50  blistering  valleys  and  scarred  by  worn-down  moun- 
tains— is  a  land  neither  as  old  nor  as  cadaverous  as  it  appears.  Covered 
at  least  twice  in  ancient  geologic  times  by  an  encroaching  blanket  of 
ocean,  the  region  later  raised  itself  to  a  precipitous  land  of  sheer,  needle- 
like  volcanic  crags  and  inconceivable  chasms.  Volcanic  ash,  mud,  lava, 
and  the  effects  of  erosion  at  last  filled  the  land's  gorges;  then  great 
chains  of  warm  lakes,  linked  by  the  now  trickling  Mojave  River,  sup- 
ported a  life  of  tropical  verdure  and  roaming  prehistoric  animals. 
Slowly,  with  the  rising  of  encompassing  mountain  ranges,  the  Mojave 
became  a  cooped-in  desert.  At  the  time  when  Columbus  discovered 
America  the  last  great  vestiges  of  today's  bone  dry  lakes  were  probably 
still  in  existence.  Nor  is  the  land  dead,  for  there  are  innumerable  in- 
sects, birds,  reptiles,  and  mammals. 

The  route  cuts  across  the  parched  bottom  of  Soda  Lake,  follows  the 
dry  Mojave  River  for  long  stretches,  passes  numerous  small  desert  towns 
— many  of  them  no  more  than  filling  stations  with  a  scattering  of  desert 
shacks — rises  several  times  over  high  and  low  mountain  chains,  all 
studded  with  the  weirdly  gesturing  Joshua  trees. 

US  91-466  crosses  the  Nevada  Line,  0  m.,  42  miles  west  of  Las 
Vegas,  Nev.  Stretching  far  out  on  every  side  is  a  land  yellow,  cracked, 
glittering — a  wide  expanse  of  dry  clay  deposits  washed  by  sudden, 


TOUR     II         603 

though  infrequent,  rains  from  the  mountains  into  the  shallow  basin  of 
dry  and  torrid  I  VAN  PAH  LAKE.  In  the  distance  saw-toothed,  deso- 
late mountains  meet  the  sky.  Across  the  dry  lake  bed  the  road  runs 
straight  as  a  die,  and  then  ascends  the  long  upgrade,  covered  with 
tumbleweed,  to  the  mountains. 

LAKEVIEW  STATION,  10.8  m.,  is  a  solitary  gasoline  station 
sweltering  by  the  roadside. 

WHEATON  SPRINGS,  12.1  m.,  in  hills  dotted  with  green 
clumps  of  Spanish-bayonet,  consists  of  little  more  than  a  service  station 
and  a  cluster  of  cabins. 

The  Spanish-bayonet  abounding  on  the  nearby  hillsides  was  ex- 
tremely useful  to  the  desert  Indians.  Soap  was  made  from  the  roots, 
cordage  from  fibers  in  the  leaves,  and  the  flowers  and  fruit  were  con- 
sidered a  great  delicacy. 

Still  ascending,  US  466  skirts  mountain  washes,  from  the  rocky  beds 
of  which  mesquite  trees — the  water-searching  marvels  of  the  desert — 
raise  their  slender,  delicately  green,  and  tortuously  gnarled  shapes. 
These  trees  oftentimes  send  their  roots  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  earth 
in  search  of  moisture.  On  their  delicate  limbs  grow  the  mesquite  bean, 
once  another  food  staple  of  the  desert  Indians. 

MOUNTAIN  PASS  (fuel,  cabins),  16.1  m.  (4,700  alt.),  snug- 
gling between  yellow  hills  and  black  crags,  marks  the  summit  of  the 
pass  between  CLARK  MOUNTAIN  and  the  MESCAL  RANGE. 
Clark  Mountain,  immense  in  the  distance  (R),  yielded  the  bearded 
Mormon  pioneer  miners  immense  quantities  of  gold  before  the  deposits 
were  exhausted. 

At  CLARK  MOUNTAIN  STATION,  19.1  m.,  the  customary 
frame  building  housing  a  gas  station  and  general  store,  backed  by  cabins, 
looks  across  the  highway  at  a  squat,  barnlike  structure  with  a  corrugated 
metal  roof — :the  gathering  place  of  Death  Valley  Post  2884,  Veterans 
of  Foreign  Wars.  Every  two  weeks  the  building  is  noisy  with  the  meet- 
ing of  a  group  that  has  boasted  as  many  as  1 50  members,  many  of  whom 
ride  from  such  distant  points  as  Death  Valley  and  San  Bernardino. 

US  466  slopes  gently  into  the  wide  and  arid  wastes  of  a  valley 
dotted  with  the  pearly  whiteness  of  saltbrush  and  pearlweed,  and  the 
olive  green  of  creosote  brush — that  imperishable  shrub  which  no  hot  sun 
can  kill  and  which  lends  a  deceptive  appearance  of  verdancy  to  the 
desert  floor. 

WINDMILL  STATION,  24.9  m.,  is  decorated,  as  its  name  im- 
plies, with  a  dusty  windmill.  Around  the  barren  stand  of  buildings,  the 
yucca,  most  fantastic  of  all  the  desert's  growths,  begins  to  make  its 
appearance. 

PASO  ALTO  (high  pass),  31.7  m.  (4,200  alt.)  (accommodations 
limited},  walled  by  jagged,  crumbling  spurs  of  volcanic  rock,  is  at  the 
summit  of  a  pass;  westward  the  road  undulates  through  the  hills  in  a 
gentle  descent. 

YUCCA  GROVE,  32.9  m.  (4,000  alt.)  (restaurant},  is  amid  a 
grove  of  yucca  trees.  In  the  daytime  the  fantastic  posturing  of  yucca 


604        CALIFORNIA 

limbs  seems  to  mock  the  traveler.  At  night  the  dusky  shadows  of  the 
contorted  arms,  backed  by  the  star-crowded  Mojave  skies  and  the  loom- 
ing black  bulks  of  hills,  lend  an  air  of  deeper  mystery  to  the  desert. 

The  yucca,  protected  by  law  from  destruction,  was  called  the  Joshua 
tree  by  Mormon  pioneers.  Its  reproduction  is  accomplished  by  a  tiny 
white  moth  that  lives  only  in  its  blossoms. 

SODA  LAKE,  the  great  dry  sink  of  dying  Mojave  River,  lies  far 
below  in  clear  view,  immense  and  glistening  white,  ringed  with  faint 
blue  mountains. 

BAKER,  50.7  m.  (921  alt.,  109  pop.),  a  sweltering  desert  hamlet, 
once  a  busy  mining  town,  is  at  a  junction  with  the  Tonopah  and  Tide- 
water Line  to  Death  Valley. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  railroad,  Baker  was  on  the  line  of  march 
of  the  carriers  of  borax  from  Death  Valley — the  "2O-mule"  borax  teams. 

Right  from  Baker  on  State  127  through  brush-studded  desert  (gas  and 
oil  at  8  m.;  not  again  till  Shoshone). 

The  Armagosa  River,  here  a  tiny  stream,  is  crossed  at  32  m.  The  dark 
hills  on  the  western  horizon  are  clearer  now;  they  are  the  rugged  moun- 
tains of  southern  Death  Valley. 

SHOSHONE  (hotel),  57  m.,  consists  of  a  few  scattered  buildings;  wil- 
lows and  low  bushes  indicate  the  presence  of  springs.  The  highway  enters 
increasingly  mountainous  country. 

At  DEATH  VALLEY  JUNCTION,  83  m.  (2,000  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  the 
junction  with  State  190;  L.  on  this  route  which  ascends  an  easy  grade  to 
a  low  mountain  pass,  then  descends  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  Death 
Valley  National  Monument,  100  m.  (see  DEATH  GALLEY  Tour  1). 

West  of  Baker  the  most  significant  feature  of  the  typical  expanse 
of  desert  valley  is  still  the  glittering,  dry  surface  of  Soda  Lake.  Here, 
in  1860,  on  this  hard  playa  of  baked  sediment  from  the  mountains, 
Indians  and  dragoons  of  the  U.  S.  Army  battled.  Under  the  command 
of  Lieutenant  Carr,  a  small  body  of  men  rode  into  the  mesquite  am- 
bushes in  search  of  Indians  who  had  been  waylaying  desert  travelers. 
In  the  ensuing  battle  three  braves  were  killed,  one  seriously  wounded, 
and  a  squaw  was  taken  prisoner.  The  Army  maintained  a  camp  on  the 
floor  of  the  dry  lake  until  1866. 

BEACON  STATION,  63.7  m.  (accommodations  limited),  is 
named  for  the  red  airplane  beacon  half  a  mile  away  (L). 

Visible  straight  ahead  is  one  of  the  desert's  fantastic  formations — 
CAT  MOUNTAIN.  This  mass,  resembling  a  great  sleeping  cat,  is 
one  of  a  number  of  rain-fissured  hills  in  the  Mojave  which,  through  the 
years,  have  assumed  the  shapes  of  animals.  Below  Cat  Mountain  are 
the  flat  and  placid  CRONISE  LAKES,  often  mistaken  for  mirages. 
Frequently  dry  in  summer,  the  lakes  nevertheless  made  human  habita- 
tion possible  here  long  before  the  days  of  railroads.  Not  visible  from 
the  highway  are  small  farms,  kept  alive  by  judicious  husbanding  of  the 
lake  waters  and  by  a  thin  trickle  from  deep-sunk  wells;  they  produce  a 
single  crop — watermelons. 

CRONISE  STATION,  68.5  m.,  is  a  straggling  collection  of  frame 
houses. 


TOUR      II         605 

The  route  descends  into  an  immense  and  narrow  valley,  where  the 
dry  Mojave  River  parallels  the  highway.  Weather-worn  pearl-pink 
hills  are  passed;  green  mounds  give  way  to  black,  crumbling  ones  atop 
residual  slopes  of  yellow. 

MIDWAY,  81.3  ra.,  is  a  scattering  of  buildings  in  a  widening  of 
the  valley. 

The  CALIFORNIA  STATE  AGRICULTURAL  QUARANTINE  STATION 
and  the  DIVISION  OF  REGISTRATION  OF  MOTOR  VEHICLES  (see  GEN- 
ERAL INFORMATION)  is  at  102.7  m. 

In  YERMO,  103.6  m.  (1,935  alt.,  195  pop.),  are  dusty  houses 
around  a  station  and  roundhouse  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

Right  from  Yermo  to  CALICO,  4.1  m.,  a  ghost  town  perched  high  in  the 
riotously  colored  CALICO  MOUNTAINS.  It  was  a  large  silver-mining 
settlement  in  the  late  i88o's;  the  decline  in  silver  prices  closed  the  mines. 

Left  from  Calico  0.5  m.  through  ODESSA  CANYON  to  the  SITE  OF 
BISMARCK,  a  mining  camp  contemporaneous  with  Calico.  Here  lived 
Dorsey,  a  dog  trained  to  carry  the  mail  to  and  from  Calico.  In  this 
section  were  found  the  first  deposits  of  the  volcanic  clays  with  a  crystal- 
line borate  of  lime  content,  named  colemanite  for  their  discoverer,  W.  T. 
Coleman.  They  were  extensively  mined  for  production  of  borax  until 
purer  deposits  were  found  elsewhere. 

The  CACTUS  GARDENS,  111.2  m.,  on  a  barren  knoll  adjoining  the 
road,  maintained  by  the  State,  contain  a  representative  collection  of  all 
the  varieties  of  the  region's  cacti,  which  are  protected  by  law. 

Pallid  mountains  loom  in  the  distance;  sycamores  and  alders  spring 
into  view;  and  clusters  of  houses  become  visible. 

At  116  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  66  (see  TOUR  12a)  which 
unites  with  US  91-466  into  BARSTOW,  117.2  m.  (see  TOUR  12a). 

Section  b.    BARSTOW  to  MORRO  BAY;  264*2  m.    US  466. 

This  section  of  US  466  strikes  westward  across  a  parched  and 
monotonous  plateau  to  the  desert  metropolis  of  Mojave,  then  winds  over 
the  Tehachapi  Range,  to  the  great  fertile  expanse  of  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  West  of  Bakersfield  US  466  runs  directly  westward  through 
fertile  ranches  to  a  barren  land  studded  with  oil  derricks.  The  high- 
way traverses  mountain  valleys,  and  crosses  the  Santa  Lucia  Range  to 
the  Pacific  Coast. 

West  of  BARSTOW,  0  m.,  US  466  winds  in  and  out  of  low, 
rugged  hills  toward  flat  plains,  which  extend  monotonously  for  miles 
ahead,  relieved  only  by  stunted  sagebrush,  creosotebush,  and  saltweed. 

HAWES,  21.5  m.  (2,495  alt.,  30  pop.),  is  a  railroad  station  sur- 
rounded by  a  few  dusty  houses. 

KRAMER,  34.2  m.  (2,482  alt.,  100  pop.),  is  the  sunburned  home 
of  the  main  plant  of  a  large  borax  company.  The  one  small  hotel  and  a 
few  gas  stations  are  concessions  to  the  tourist  trade. 

At  37.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  PACIFIC  COAST  BORAX  WORKS,  3.1  m.  In  these 
dust-filmed  buildings,  the  borax  is  separated  from  clay  mined  at  a  depth 


606        CALIFORNIA 

of  about  150  feet  in  the  surrounding  country.  The  separation  is  achieved 
by  an  ingenious  system  of  blowers,  the  steady  roar  of  which  shatters  the 
desert  silence  for  miles  around.  The  crystals  are  transported  to  Wilming- 
ton for  refining.  Borax,  prized  as  a  cleansing  agent,  has  long  been  of 
commercial  importance;  for  many  years  it  was  imported  into  the  United 
States  from  Tibet,  where  it  was  obtained  from  saline  lakes,  then  the  only 
known  deposit  in  the  world.  About  a  century  ago,  the  chemical  was  dis- 
covered in  the  hot  springs  of  Tuscany,  Italy,  recovered  by  evaporation, 
and  sold  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  not  until  1856  that  borax  was 
discovered  in  California.  The  deposits  at  Kramer  were  discovered  in 
1912,  when  a  homesteader  drilling  for  water  brought  up  white  crystals. 
In  1925  it  was  learned  that  vast  deposits  of  pure  borax  and  sodium  borate 
were  concealed  under  the  layer  of  desert  sand.  This  compound,  rasorite, 
has  not  been  found  elsewhere. 

MUROC  DRY  LAKE,  (L)  48.7  m.,  is  a  barren,  hard-packed, 
playa.  The  perfectly  flat  and  saucerlike  depression  has  been  found  ideal 
for  automobile  speed  tests,  and  is  used  frequently  for  experimentation, 
both  by  racing  car  owners  and  manufacturers  of  stock  models.  The 
mud  formed  in  the  lake  bed  during  the  rainy  seasons  has  been  found 
peculiarly  adaptable  to  the  needs  of  oilwell  drillers,  and  thousands  of 
tons  of  the  substance,  known  as  rotary  mud,  are  shipped  annually  to 
southern  California  drillers.  On  the  east  shore  of  the  dry  bed  is  the 
U.  S.  ARMY  BOMBING  RANGE,  practice  ground  for  aerial  dreadnoughts. 

West  of  MOJAVE,  67.5  m.  (2,755  alt.,  750  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
7£),  at  a  junction  with  US  6  (see  TOUR  7b),  US  466  plunges  into 
more  desert.  Ahead  loom  the  towering  TEHACHAPI  (Ind.,  land 
of  plenty  of  acorns  and  good  water)  MOUNTAINS,  purple,  black, 
and  rust-colored  in  the  sunlight. 

The  LOS  ANGELES  AQUEDUCT,  75  m.f  lies  like  an  immense 
snake  along  the  base  of  the  mountains.  US  466  traverses  a  canyon  of 
the  Tehachapis.  A  forest  of  yucca  grows  thicker  as  the  canyon  walls 
narrow,  only  to  disappear  as  the  walls  reach  vertiginous  heights. 

CAMERON,  79  m.  (3,789  alt.,  25  pop.),  is  a  railroad  shipping 
station  for  fruit. 

Through  TEHACHAPI  PASS,  80.5  m.  (3,793  alt.),  thousands  of 
early  travelers  forged  their  way.  The  gorge  is  beautiful,  with  black 
escarpments  of  mountain  rock  and  the  coloring  contrast  of  trees. 

As  the  pass  grows  wider,  the  highway  nears  the  blue,  tree-girt  ex- 
panse of  PROCTOR  LAKE,  (L),  84  m.,  whose  waters  are  highly 
saline.  During  the  summer  salt  is  frequently  shoveled  from  the  dry  lake 
bottom  by  the  wagonload  and  sold  commercially. 

MONOLITH,  85  m.  (3,928  alt.,  261  pop.),  clusters  around  the 
giant  MONOLITH  CEMENT  MILLS  (L),  which  provided  all  the  cement 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct. 

US  466,  still  ascending,  passes  through  land  walled  by  mountains, 
but  beginning  to  show  evidences  of  the  fruit  growing  made  possible  by 
the  drilling  of  deep  artesian  wells.  The  region  is  noted  for  its  prize- 
winning  apples  and  pears. 

TEHACHAPI,  88  m.  (3,966  alt.,  736  pop.),  is  the  business  and 
social  center  of  a  surrounding  fruit  area.  Gold  in  the  China  Hill 


TOUR     II         607 

placers  in  1854  drew  the  first  settlers  to  Tehachapi — then  3  miles  east; 
in  1876,  when  the  railroad  passed  Tehachapi  by,  the  town,  Mohammed- 
like,  went  to  the  railroad. 

At  91.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  CALIFORNIA  INSTITUTE  FOR  WOMEN,  6  m.  (visit- 
ing hours  of  inmates,  9-3  daily),  a  pleasing  array  of  Normandy  architecture 
rising  in  Cummings  Valley.  Around  the  penitentiary  are  no  high 
walls;  only  a  wire  fence  and  one  lone  guard  are  required  for  approxi- 
mately 175  women  prisoners  and  1,600  acres  of  ground.  There  is  little  of 
a  penal  atmosphere.  Cottages  resembling  chateaus  each  accommodate 
about  40  women  and  one  matron;  inmates  wear  no  uniforms  and  are  per- 
mitted to  decorate  their  rooms  as  they  like.  Opened  in  1932,  the  institution 
is  one  of  the  most  successful  experiments  in  penology. 

US  466  leaves  Tehachapi  Valley,  and  winds  perilously  into  moun- 
tains clothed  with  gnarled  and  ancient  oak  trees. 

The  LOOP,  98.9  m.,  high  on  a  mountainside  (R),  is  a  shining 
thread  of  railroad  tracks  swinging  in  a  huge  circle,  rapidly  descending; 
78  feet  from  the  top  it  disappears  into  the  mouth  of  a  tunnel.  A  com- 
plete circle,  3,795  feet  in  circumference,  has  been  completed. 

WOODFORD,  100.6  m.  (2,710  alt.,  164  pop.),  is  a  railroad  point 
for  scattered  fruit  farms. 

The  Tehachapi  grade  ends  at  111.8  m.;  the  mountains  are  behind, 
imposing,  verdant,  dulled  with  purple;  ahead  is  the  flat  and  monoto- 
nous plain  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  The  tops  of  grimy  oilwell  der- 
ricks loom  in  the  distance;  as  the  road  continues  westward,  their  num- 
bers increase,  dotting  the  checkerboard  of  tilled  fields  like  black-headed 
pins  on  a  field  map. 

EDISON,  125.8  m.  (572  alt.,  50  pop.),  is  in  one  of  the  thickest 
forests  of  oilwell  derricks  in  the  district. 

BAKERSFIELD,  133.5  m.  (420  alt.,  26,015  pop.)  (see  TOUR 
3b),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  Sb),  with  which  US 
466  unites  at  FAMOSO,  145.8  m.  (330  alt.,  140  pop.). 

West  of  Famoso  US  466  cuts  through  tilled  lands  producing  grapes, 
grain,  and  cotton ;  a  few  isolated  homes  and  trees  break  the  flatness. 

WASCO,  152.3  m.  (335  alt.,  2,000  pop.),  with  its  sun-bleached 
array  of  frame  houses,  serves  as  the  community  center  for  the  nearby 
ranchers. 

The  land  gradually  changes  its  aspect,  although  not  its  contours. 
Divergent  roads  become  fewer;  tilled  fields  give  way  to  grazing  lands. 
The  derricks  of  oilwells  point  upward  from  the  fields  in  the  distance. 

LOST  HILLS,  173.8  m.  (300  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  a  community  of 
oilfield  workers  and  farmers. 

ANTELOPE  PLAIN  stretches  dismally  ahead;  dust  devils,  little 
whirlwinds  swirling  the  cloying  dust  about  briefly,  are  plentiful.  In- 
flexibly straight,  US  466  stretches  ahead  to  the  hazy  bulk  of  the  TEM- 
BLOR RANGE.  Rising  gradually,  the  highway  at  last  abandons  its 
straight  path  to  follow  the  curves  of  POLONIO  PASS,  206.3  m. 
(1,850  alt.). 


608        CALIFORNIA 

CHOLAME,  210.9  m.  (1,200  alt.,  571  pop.),  in  a  high  valley,  is  a 
supply  center  for  ranchers. 

SHANDON,  217.6  m.  (1,035  alt.,  112  pop.),  by  the  San  Juan 
River,  consists  of  a  business  street  several  blocks  long. 

Zigzagging  southwestward  across  the  valley,  past  orchards,  corn- 
fields, and  cattle  ranges,  US  466  again  rises  into  hills.  Occasionally 
visible  are  white,  red-topped  farm  buildings.  Winding  and  dipping,  the 
highway  at  last  emerges  from  the  rich  irregularity  of  the  hills  into 
Creston  Valley,  232.3  m. 

US  466  passes  the  rambling  Spanish  type  buildings  of  a  resort, 
236  m.  (luxury  class),  and  then  turns  abruptly  (L)  into  the  SANTA 
LUCIA  RANGE. 

ATASCADERO  (Sp.,  deep  miry  place),  246.2  m.  (853  alt.,  2,042 
pop.)  (see  TOUR  2b),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR 
&b). 

In  a  twisting  ascent  of  the  Santa  Lucia  Range  US  466  reaches  the 
summit,  251.5  m.  Below  and  far  distant  is  the  sheen  of  the  Pacific, 
meeting  the  sky  in  a  blue-white  haze.  Nearer  are  the  tumbled,  rain- 
eroded  slopes  down  which  the  highway  twists,  paralleling  the  course 
of  the  jagged  cut  named  MORRO  CREEK.  Gradually,  the  land 
softens,  and  the  road  approaches  the  ocean  on  a  high,  level  plateau. 

US  466  reaches  its  terminus  at  a  junction  with  State  I,  264.2  m. 
(see  TOUR  lc),  1.2  miles  north  of  Morro  Bay. 


Tour  12 


(Kingman,  Ariz.) — Needles — Barstow — San  Bernardino — Los  Angeles 

— Santa  Monica;  US  66. 

Arizona  Line  to  Santa  Monica,  314.8  m. 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  parallels  route  between  Needles  and  Victor- 
ville. 

Accommodations  scanty  in  desert  sections ;  gas,  oil,  water,  and  food  available 
at  desert  hamlets,  but  extra  supplies  should  be  carried;  sleeping  accommodations 
limited  to  tourist  camps,  except  in  larger  towns. 

Paved  roadbed;  extreme  high  temperatures  between  Kingman  and  San  Bernar- 
dino in  midsummer,  occasional  heavy  windstorms  in  March  and  April. 

West  of  the  green  banks  of  the  Colorado  River,  US  66  traverses  the 
arid  Mojave  Desert,  a  bleak  plateau  furrowed  by  scores  of  untillable 
valleys,  shimmering  in  the  fierce  sunlight.  The  road  mounts  and  dips 
in  and  out  of  these  sinks,  unrelieved  in  their  desolation  except  after  rare 
rains,  when  a  thorny  mantle  of  delicate-hued  vegetation  blazes  into 


TOUR      12        609 

flower.  Ahead  rises  the  blue  bulk  of  the  San  Gabriel  Mountains.  The 
highway  runs  steadily  toward  them,  between  hills  of  jumbled  beauty, 
passing  through  widely  spaced  "towns" — mere  groups  of  tourist  cabins 
about  gas  stations  and  lunch  rooms — to  the  desert  city  of  Barstow. 

Section  a.     ARIZONA  LINE  to  BARSTOW;  167  m.   US  66. 

US  66  crosses  the  Arizona  Line,  0  m.,  54  miles  west  of  Kingman, 
Ariz.,  on  TOPOCK  (Ind.,  bridge)  BRIDGE,  which  spans  the  deceptive 
Colorado  (ruddy)  River — here  a  lazy-looking  stream  that  periodically 
goes  on  a  bridge-smashing  rampage — and  drops  US  66  onto  California 
soil.  The  route  follows  the  mesa  edging  the  river  with  its  fringe  of 
green  willows  and  sycamores. 

At  1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  ROCK  MAZE,  0.5  m.,  above  the  river  on  a  high 
bluff.  Resembling  at  a  distance  a  plowed  field,  this  work  of  prehistoric 
aborigines  is  believed  to  have  been  a  place  for  funeral  rites.  Rows  of 
brownish  pebbles,  paralleling  one  another  several  feet  apart  in  intersecting, 
roughly  concentric  patterns,  extend  over  several  acres.  A  local  legend 
relates  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  floating  down  the  Colorado,  entered 
the  maze  and  shook  off  the  evil  spirits  chasing  them  by  losing  them  in  the 
tangled  pathways. 

At  9.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  NEEDLES  MUNICIPAL  AIRPORT,  0.8  m. 

NEEDLES,  15.5  m.  (481  alt.,  3,144  pop.),  spreading  over  a  flood 
plain,  is  an  oasis  approached  through  a  lane  of  tamarind  and  pepper 
trees.  Founded  as  a  way  station  after  the  Santa  Fe  tracks  were  laid  in 
1883,  it  was  named  for  an  isolated  group  of  needle-like  spires  visible 
15  miles  southeastward  in  Arizona. 

The  railroad  yards  provide  Needle's  chief  occupation.  The  mines 
that  honeycomb  the  mountains  roundabout  yield  gold,  nonmetallic  ores, 
and  semiprecious  stones,  such  as  agates,  moonstones  and  turquoise.  In 
the  fertile  bottom  lands,  where  Mojave  Indians  till  many  of  the  ranches, 
date  palms  lift  waving  fronds  beside  green  truck  gardens  and  citrus 
orchards. 

A  sub-tropical  city,  Needles  seeks  shelter  from  the  sweltering  heat  in 
the  shade  of  the  palms,  cottonwoods,  tamarisks,  and  pepper  trees  that 
border  its  streets.  A  miscellany  of  business  buildings  surrounds  the  park 
that  fronts  the  grayish  stucco  railroad  station.  In  this  torrid  square, 
where  temperatures  often  are  112°  at  midnight,  regal  Washingtonia 
palms,  pepper  trees,  and  alders  border  the  grass.  Couples  stroll  here, 
children  play  around  the  ornamental  cannon,  and  swarthy  Mojaves, 
garbed  in  gaudy  scarlets,  blues,  and  yellows,  loiter  about. 

US  66  climbs  the  low  bleached  hills  back  of  Needles  and  plunges 
westward  into  the  MOJAVE  DESERT  (see  TOUR  lla,  also 
NATURAL  SETTING),  a  region  of  fantastic  formations,  once 
swamped  under  ocean  waters,  then  upheaved  to  bold  heights,  and  finally 


6lO        CALIFORNIA 

buried  under  lava,  mud,  and  ashes.  The  unevenly  sloping,  valley- 
furrowed  desert  floor  is  ringed  with  mountain  chains  whose  changing 
hues — sepia,  gray,  lavender — fuse  in  the  distance  into  a  dull  blue.  Their 
bristling  outlines  and  the  glistening  salt  flats  of  occasional  dry  lakes 
provide  the  only  variation  to  the  parched,  monotonous  wastes.  Cacti 
rear  their  rigid,  spiny  leaves  in  profusion.  Here  and  there  jut  the  stark 
branches  of  the  Spanish  bayonet  and  Joshua  tree.  After  the  heavy  rains 
which  come  at  infrequent  intervals,  the  desert  blazes  with  colorful 
flowers. 

JAVA,  22  m.  (936  alt.),  a  knot  of  dull  reddish  frame  buildings 
bordering  the  tracks,  is  a  desert  railroad  stop. 

The  cacti  now  become  more  conspicuous.  Most  widespread  is  the 
commonest  western  variety,  the  cholla.  In  times  of  great  drought  the 
cholla  is  eaten  by  cattle;  a  single  spark  of  fire  will  ignite  the  whole 
plant,  burn  off  the  spines,  and  leave  juicy  green  fodder.  Interspersed 
are  barrel  cacti,  stout  cylinders  sometimes  six  feet  high.  These  contain 
a  fibrous  pulp,  which,  after  the  top  is  cut  off,  can  be  pounded  to  yield 
a  liquid  that  assuages  thirst ;  the  Indians  cooked  their  meat  in  the  liquid 
with  the  aid  of  hot  stones  placed  in  the  open  barrels. 

SOUTH  PASS,  33  m.  (2,700  alt.),  is  a  cluster  of  adobe  buildings 
offering  tourist  accommodations  with  a  sign,  "Water  Free  With  Pur- 
chases Only." 

From  the  slope  west  of  the  pass,  the  flat  desert  floor  seems  to  be  a 
fertile  plain  because  of  the  deceptive  greenery  of  the  creosote  bush.  At 
intervals  appear  the  tall  towers  of  the  Boulder  Dam  Power  Line, 
webbed  with  glinting  strands  of  cables,  and  at  37.3  m.,  the  trim,  red- 
roofed  stucco  bungalows  (L)  of  the  section  workers  on  the  line. 

US  66  gradually  climbs  a  craggy  pass  through  the  PAIUTE 
RANGE. 

MOUNTAIN  SPRINGS,  43  m.  (2,720  alt.,  5  pop.),  at  the  sum- 
mit, is  a  collection  of  neat  little  buildings — gas  station,  lunch  room,  and 
tourist  cabins — near  an  irrelevant  cross  (L)  on  the  hilltop,  erected 
solely  to  induce  passing  tourists  to  stop  and  ask  questions. 

As  the  highway  rounds  the  hump  of  the  pass,  snow-crowned 
MOUNT  ANTONIO  (Old  Baldy)  appears,  towering  in  the  far  dis- 
tance above  the  nearer  mountain  ranges. 

At  55.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Right  on  this  road  22.3  m.  to  MITCHELL'S  CAVERNS  (guide  service; 
adm.  $1,  children  50$;  campground  with  free  (wood  and  water).  The 
chilly,  cavernous  chambers,  hollowed  out  of  carboniferous  limestone,  form 
an  underground  labyrinth  requiring  three  hours  to  traverse.  More  than 
20  entrances  have  been  discovered.  Within,  the  ashes  of  aboriginal  cave 
dwellers'  campfires  cover  the  floors.  The  caverns  are  frescoed,  pillared, 
and  ornamented  with  stalagmites  and  stalactites. 

The  area  around  ESSEX,  56  m.  (1,700  alt.,  30  pop.),  sparsely 
vegetated  though  it  appears,  pastures  herds  of  cattle  with  its  grease- 
wood  and  bunch-grass. 

US  66  continues  over  a  vast  plain,  sparsely  studded  with  the  desert 


TOUR      12        6ll 

brush — a  dull-toned  land  of  mystic  hues  and  vistas — between  bright- 
colored  CLIPPER  MOUNTAINS  (R),  a  jumble  of  volcanic  rock 
turned  yellow  and  brown  by  oxidation,  and  the  OLD  WOMAN 
MOUNTAINS  (L),  where  the  almost  extinct  Nelson  mountain  sheep 
clamber  over  the  crags. 

DANBY,  65  m.  (1,353  alt.),  a  cluster  of  tourist  cabins  about  a 
service  station,  is  at  the  foot  of  a  gradual  ascent  over  bleak,  unchanging 
terrain.  SUMMIT,  73.5  m.,  and  CHAMBLESS,  76.5  m.  (800  alt.), 
mere  dots  on  the  desert's  face,  provide  gas  pumps,  tourist  camps,  cafes. 

Far  out  on  the  desert  (L),  at  84.5  m.,  wisps  of  smoke  are  seen 
rising  from  the  stacks  of  the  CALIFORNIA  SALT  WORKS,  which  mine 
pure  salt  in  4O-foot  shafts.  Eastward,  like  a  ruined  castle,  rises  an 
abandoned  GYPSUM  MILL.  Nearby  (L)  are  the  yellowish,  salt- 
incrusted  flats  of  BRISTOL  DRY  LAKE,  its  dry  parts  covered  by 
puffy,  powder-like  "self-rising"  soil  in  which  a  man  would  sink  knee- 
deep.  The  lake's  spectacular  mirages,  often  create  the  illusion  of  a 
sheet  of  shimmering  water,  sometimes  of  cathedrals,  cities,  and  mountain 
peaks  floating  through  the  sky. 

AMBOY,  87  m.  (614  alt.,  95  pop.),  is  another  typical  highway 
stop,  blistered  by  temperatures  that  often  soar  above  120°  in  mid- 
summer. 

At  87  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  base  of  AMBOY  CRATER,  1.5  m.,  where  a 
footpath  leads  up  the  side  of  the  cone  of  dark  gray  pumice  and  lava,  rising 
200  feet  above  craggy  lava  beds. 

On  the  vast  desert,  here  and  there,  lies  an  abandoned  auto,  some- 
times on  its  back  like  an  upturned  turtle,  or  an  occasional  little  pile 
of  rocks,  marking  the  boundary  claims  of  some  hopeful  prospector  or, 
topped  with  a  weathered  cross,  the  resting  place  of  some  luckless 
wanderer. 

BAGDAD  (accommodations),  95.5  m.  (787  alt.,  20  pop.),  is 
merely  a  shell  of  the  rip  roaring  camp  that  thrived  here  when  the  War 
Eagle  and  Orange  Blossom  gold  mines  to  the  north  were  active.  The 
few  old  buildings  that  escaped  destruction  by  fire  in  1918  are  threatened 
by  fierce  desert  winds,  as  a  huge  oil  tank  with  its  sides  blown  in  attests. 
Except  for  one  other  spot,  Bagdad  has  less  rain  than  any  other  place 
in  or  near  the  Mojave  Desert — a  mean  annual  average  of  but  2.3 
inches;  in  four  out  of  2O  years  it  has  had  no  rainfall  at  all. 

For  20  miles  westward  US  66  covers  a  desolate  terrain  almost  as 
primitive  as  it  was  thousands  of  years  ago.  The  railroad  tracks  are 
dotted  with  lonely  stops  without  accommodations,  which  bear  such 
curiously  incongruous  names  as  Siberia  and  Klondike. 

In  comparison  with  neighboring  "towns,"  LUDLOW,  115.5  m. 
(1,782  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  a  metropolis.  Here  two  narrow-gage  rail- 
roads of  the  Tonopah  &  Tidewater  connect  with  the  Santa  Fe. 

The  SLEEPING  BEAUTY,  a  formation  resembling  a  dormant, 
smiling  human  face  is  outlined  by  the  crest  of  the  CADY  MOUN- 


6l2        CALIFORNIA 

TAINS,  northwestward.  Directly  north  appears  the  yellowish  blotch 
of  LUDLOW  DRY  LAKE,  where  experiments  have  been  made  in 
processing  the  lake  bed's  fine  "flour"  gold. 

The  landscape  at  129.5  m.  suddenly  losing  its  vegetation,  darkens 
from  gray  to  coal  black.  Above  a  6-mile-wide  lava  field  looms 
MOUNT  PISGAH  (L),  an  extinct  volcano  with  a  deep  crater  in 
the  summit  of  its  symmetrical  25ofoot  cone. 

MOJAVE  WATER  CAMP,  136.6  m.  and  GUYMAN,  137  m., 
each  has  its  small  knot  of  sun-bleached  buildings.  Northwest  of  Guy- 
man  lies  the  glittering,  salt-crusted  bed  of  TROY  DRY  LAKE. 

In  a  dry-farming  region  is  NEWBERRY,  146.5  m.  (1,631  alt., 
175  pop.),  once  named  simply  Water.  At  the  spring  that  flows  beneath 
the  overhanging  black  precipices  of  the  NEWBERRY  MOUN- 
TAINS, early  travelers  quenched  their  thirst.  Newberry  is  a  refresh- 
ing green  oasis  of  alders,  willows,  and  cottonwoods  clustering  about 
that  desert  rarity — a  swimming  pool.  Water  is  a  prized  commodity. 
Trains  of  eighteen  and  twenty  io,ooo-gallon  tank  cars  haul  it  daily 
as  far  as  Bagdad  for  use  in  locomotive  boilers.  Melons,  alfalfa,  and 
apricots  are  shipped  from  here. 

DAGGETT,  158  m.  (2,006  alt.,  102  pop.),  a  gay  camp  when  gold 
and  silver  mines  in  this  region  were  working  at  capacity  is  virtually 
deserted,  though  still  a  shipping  point  for  the  mines. 

Along  the  tree-lined  dry  wash  of  the  Mojave  River,  US  66  travels 
to  BARSTOW,  167  m.  (2,106  alt.,  2,549  pop.),  once  a  desert  junction 
for  overland  wagon  trains  and  later  an  outfitting  point  for  Death  Valley 
expeditions.  It  has  now  cast  off  its  frontier-town  aspect.  Five-and-ten- 
cent  stores  and  beauty  parlors,  auto  agencies,  and  cocktail  bars  line  the 
principal  avenue.  Barstow  was  the  center  for  gold  and  silver  mining 
in  the  iSgo's  when  the  present  ghost  town  of  Calico,  in  the  Calico 
Mountains,  was  in  its  heyday.  The  town  is  now  a  division  point  of 
the  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  whose  shops  employ  85  percent  of  its  workmen.  On 
surrounding  farms,  irrigated  from  wells,  alfalfa  is  the  principal  crop. 

Barstow  is  at  the  junction  with  US  466 — 91   (see  TOUR  11). 


Section  b.     BARSTOW  to  SAN  BERNARDINO;  77.1  m.     US  66. 

This  section  of  US  66  traverses  barren  and  burning  expanses  of 
desert  and  crosses  the  heaped  masses  of  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains. 

South  of  BARSTOW,  0  m.,  US  66  runs  through  billowing  desert 
country;  only  the  cottonwoods  and  willows  on  the  banks  of  the  Mojave 
River  (R)  relieve  the  tedium  of  rolling  sandscape. 

LENWOOD,  5.2  m.  (2,229  alt.,  200  pop.),  is  encircled  by  slate- 
colored  elevations  blanketed  with  desert  growths.  In  the  surrounding 
country  are  a  few  sprawling  alfalfa  fields  and  an  occasional  chicken 
ranch. 

HODGE,  11.7  m.  (2,150  alt.,  102  pop.),  is  a  supply  center.  Its 
brick  grammar  school,  perched  on  a  slight  rise  (L)  serves  the  far-flung 
desert  district  between  Barstow  and  Oro  Grande  (see  below). 


TOUR      12        613 

The  Mojave  River  nears  the  highway  in  Hodge.  Screwbean  mes- 
quite  and  green  desert  willows  grow  abundantly  along  its  banks. 
Distantly,  the  harsh,  jagged  mass  of  IRON  MOUNTAIN  protrudes 
(R)  islandlike  from  the  sand  and  gravel  wastes. 

HELENDALE,  21.8  m.  (2,424  alt.,  150  pop.),  is  encompassed, 
oasis-like,  by  waving  alfalfa  and  corn. 

Beyond  the  cultivated  circle  of  the  Helendale  district,  the  tawny 
desert  spreads  away.  SHADOW  MOUNTAIN,  holding  turquoise- 
bearing  porphyry  deposits  that  were  worked  by  desert-dwelling  Indians 
—predecessors  of  the  Mojave — looms  indistinctly  on  the  western 
horizon  (R)  of  HELENDALE  MESA. 

In  the  shade  of  wide-spreading  sycamores  and  spirelike  poplars,  ORO 
GRANDE,  31.7  m.  (2,648  alt.,  600  est.  pop.),  sprawls  along  the  high- 
way, dreaming  of  the  prosperous  gold-boom  days  of  the  i88o's.  Its 
population  skyrocketed  to  2, OCX)  when  in  1878  gold  was  discovered  in 
the  OLD  SILVER  MOUNTAINS  and  the  GRANITE  MOUN- 
TAINS (L).  After  1885  gold  production  diminished  until  in  1928 
the  last  of  the  mines  closed. 

Crossing  the  Mojave  River,  here  a  turgid,  muddy  stream  with  a 
year-round  flow,  US  66  sweeps  south  through  alfalfa  fields  and  cattle 
ranges  rich  with  foot-high  bunch  grass.  As  the  highway  mounts  a 
long,  easy  grade,  the  fantastic  yucca  trees  appear.  The  countryside 
soon  takes  on  a  verdant,  cultivated  appearance.  The  Mojave  River 
becomes  a  stream  of  respectable  size,  serpentining  between  broad  acres 
of  farm  land,  fruit  groves,  and  chicken  and  turkey  ranches. 

VICTORVILLE,  35.7  m.  (2,716  alt.,  2,500  pop.),  is  a  curious 
blend  of  the  present  and  the  past — a  past  carefully  preserved.  This 
was  Mormon  Crossing  from  1878  to  1885,  until  the  river  camp,  by 
then  grown  to  a  roaring  mining  town,  was  named  Victor — later  Victor- 
ville.  Mining  here  had  dwindled  to  insignificant  proportions  by  1900, 
but  the  characteristic  false  front  frontier  buildings  remained,  attracting, 
a  decade  and  a  half  later,  the  attention  of  the  young  motion-picture 
industry.  From  1914  to  1937  tne  town  and  its  "wild  West"  back 
country  were  used  as  the  locale  for  more  than  200  films.  The  first 
picture  made  here  was  a  William  S.  Hart  "quickie"  in  1914.  From 
1916  to  1924  Hart  made  an  average  of  two  pictures  a  year  in  the 
vicinity,  among  them  Wild  Bill  Hickok,  O'Malley  of  the  Mounted, 
and  Tumbleweed.  When  the  resemblance  of  D  Street  to  the  popular 
conception  of  Main  Street  in  a  "roaring"  western  town  attracted  other 
film  producers  such  western  stars  as  Harry  Carey,  Tom  Mix  and 
Hoot  Gibson  began  performing  in  "horse  operas"  here.  Will  Rogers, 
too,  was  a  frequent  and  popular  visitor.  The  town's  first  talking  pic- 
ture, In  Old  Arizona,  starred  Warner  Baxter.  A  Boulder  Dam 
high-tension  power  line  was  used  as  a  "prop"  in  Slim,  starring  Pat 
O'Brien  and  Henry  Fonda  as  linesmen.  Victorville  admits  its  attempts 
to  recapture  its  waning  movie  trade.  The  atmosphere  of  OLD 
TOWN  across  the  railroad  tracks  (L)  is  zealously  preserved.  Even 
when  new  ranch  houses,  corrals,  and  stables  are  built  in  the  cattle 


614        CALIFORNIA 

range  back  country,  they  are  constructed  in  the  old  style  to  meet  the 
demands  of  location  scouts.  Meanwhile,  Victorville  pursues  a  more 
prosaic  destiny  as  the  trade  center  for  irrigated  farming  and  poultry 
and  cattle  ranches,  and  as  headquarters  for  quarrying  and  mining 
interests. 

In  the  heart  of  town  is  (L)  the  ARENA  OF  THE  VICTORVILLE  NON- 
PROFESSIONAL  RODEO  (two  days  each  Oct.;  adm.  $i),  sponsored  by 
50  Hollywood  writers  and  actors.  Only  cowboys  working  on  the 
ranges  of  the  Southwest  are  permitted  to  compete. 

US  66  crosses  rolling  desert  country  again  toward  immense  blue 
ranges. 

MILLERS  CORNER,  47.7  m.  (3,050  alt.),  has  a  gas  station  and 
a  few  cabins  for  motorists. 

US  66  now  sweeps  across  BALDY  MESA  (3,000  alt.),  a  vast, 
sun-scorched  expanse  of  mesquite  and  scattered  yucca  trees. 

At  49.6  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6d) ,  which 
unites  with  US  66  for  about  30  miles  southward. 

As  the  desert  surrenders  to  chaparral-covered  foothills,  US  66 
crosses  at  53  m.  a  boundary  of  the  SAN  BERNARDINO  NA- 
TIONAL FOREST,  a  preserve  of  804,045  acres,  containing  more 
than  a  billion  board  feet  of  merchantable  timber — sugar  and  Jeffrey 
pine,  big  cone  spruce,  incense  cedar  and  tamarack,  among  other  species. 
It  is  maintained  principally  for  watershed  protection.  A  number  of 
streams  and  lakes  in  the  high  country  furnish  water  for  hydroelectric 
power  and  irrigation,  and  afford  excellent  trout  fishing. 

The  mountains  draw  together  to  form  the  mouth  of  CAJON  (Sp., 
box)  PASS,  through  the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains,  for  nearly  a  century 
the  southeastern  gateway  for  overland  travel  to  the  coast,  since  William 
Wolfskill  blazed  the  Spanish  Trail  from  Santa  Fe  to  Los  Angeles 
through  it  in  1831.  From  the  summit,  54  m.  (4,301  alt.),  is  an 
inspiring  view  over  mountains,  deserts,  orchards,  and  vineyards.  US 
66  makes  its  descent  in  a  series  of  twisting  slopes. 

At  59  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  2. 

1.  Left  here  to  LAKE  ARROWHEAD,  24.3  m.  (see  below). 

2.  Right  on  State  2  through  a  region  of  grotesque  sandstone  formations, 
tooled  by  centuries  of  wind   and  weather   into   freak   shapes,   pockmarked 
with  windholes  and  caves. 

At  1.4  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  here  to  LONE  PINE  CANYON,  2  m.  The  main  course  of  the  SAN 
ANDREAS  RIFT,  one  of  the  two  geologic  faults  in  the  forest,  runs  up 
this  canyon.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago  a  rolling,  uneven  plain 
spread  out  where  the  San  Gabriel  Mountains  now  rise.  This  ancient 
plain  represented  the  eroded  remnants  of  a  range  dating  from  a  still  more 
remote  period.  A  mighty  underground  earth  movement  began  which 
obliterated  the  remaining  traces  of  the  earlier  range  and  eventually  thrust 
upward  a  vast,  jagged  mass.  The  upward  thrust  came  between  two  faults 
whose  courses  are  still  clearly  defined.  The  north  fault,  San  Andreas 
Rift,  extends  from  Cajon  Pass  through  Lone  Pine  Canyon.  Characterized 
as  a  "live"  or  "active"  fault,  it  extends  two-thirds  the  length  of  Cali- 
fornia, for  an  unknown  distance  northwest  under  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 


TOUR     12        6l5 

across  Mexico  into  the  Caribbean  Sea.  It  has  caused  many  California 
earthquakes,  including  the  San  Francisco  disturbance  in  1906. 

Stunted  yuccas  appear  in  the  sagebrush  fields  away  from  the  highway 
toward  the  base  of  the  range.  The  road  here  parallels  the  route  of  the 
Mormons,  who  in  1851  came  through  the  mountains  to  settle  San  Bernar- 
dino Valley.  Attempting  to  follow  the  trail  blazed  through  Cajon  Pass  in 
1847  by  an  earlier  detachment  of  the  Mormon  Battalion,  the  party  could 
not  maneuver  its  heavy  wagons  through  "The  Narrows"  and  was  com- 
pelled to  seek  this  route  farther  west. 

At  8.3  m.  the  main  route  turns  L.  from  State  138  on  Wildhorse  Can- 
yon Rd. 

WRIGHTWOOD,  13.5  m,  (6,000  alt.,  50  pop.),  in  Swartout  Valley  is  a 
conifer  sheltered  year-round  resort  (all  accommodations).  From  500  to 
600  persons  vacation  here  during  the  height  of  the  seasons. 

BIG  PINES  CIVIC  CENTER,  16.9  m.  (6,864  alt.),  is  the  heart  of  the 
recreational  and  administrative  activities  of  BIG  PINES  RECREATION 
PARK  (all  types  of  accommodations  and  recreational  facilities),  supervised 
by  the  Los  Angeles  County  Department  of  Playgrounds  and  Recreation. 
It  consists  of  two  divisions:  Big  Pines  (2,700  acres)  and  Prairie  Fork 
(1,620  acres)  with  17  public  campgrounds  (25$  a  day;  $2.50  for  calendar 
year}. 

A  NATURE  THEATER,  in  a  natural,  pine-rimmed  bowl  (L)  near  the  Civic 
Center,  is  used  for  group  meetings,  free  lectures,  campfire  programs,  and 
picnics. 

Left  from  Civic  Center  12  m.  on  the  left  fork  of  Blue  Ridge  Rd.  to 
PRAIRIE  FORK  COUNTY  PARK  (no  accommodations). 

At  17  m.  on  the  main  road  is  a  junction  with  Table  Mountain  Rd. 

Right  on  this  road  1.5  m.  ascending  through  conifer  forests  to  the  SMITH- 
SONIAN INSTITUTION  SOLAR  OBSERVATORY,  the  primary  purpose  of  which  is 
the  recording  of  sunspo.ts  (open  1:30-5  Thurs.). 

A  well-equipped  public  campground,  18.8  m.,  lies  (R)  in  a  parklike 
grove  of  giant  pines  and  incense  cedars. 

JACKSON  LAKE,  19.6  m.,  in  a  steep-sided  gulch  (L)  rimmed  with  tall 
conifers,  is  the  water-sports  center  of  the  area. 

CAMP  MANZANITA,  20  m.,  is  fragrant  with  the  sweetish  aroma  of 
the  manzanita  tree. 

West  of  the  WEST  GATE  RANGER  STATION,  20.1  m.  (6,150  alt.),  at  the 
Big  Pines  Recreation  Park,  the  road  goes  down  SHOEMAKER  CANYON. 
As  the  2,ooo-foot  line  is  passed,  hot  desert  air  is  felt. 

At  28  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  0.7  m.  through  BIG  ROCK  CREEK  CANYON  to  a 
junction  with  a  foot  trail;  R.  on  this  trail  0.5  m.  to  DEVIL'S  PUNCH 
BOWL,  a  region  of  vast,  jumbled  masses  of  sandstone.  At  some  places 
marine  fossils  are  embedded  in  the  boulders  of  the  creek  bed. 

At  2.2  m.  on  the  paved  road  is  one  of  a  string  of  Forest  Service  camps. 

VALYERMO  (cabins}  282  m.  (3,920  alt.,  65  pop.),  is  a  settlement  in  a 
bend  of  alder-grown  Big  Rock  Creek. 

VALYERMO  CAMP  FOR  UNDERPRIVILEGED  CHILDREN,  (L),  29.2  m.,  is  main- 
tained by  the  Los  Angeles  Police  Department.  Officers  of  the  Crime  Pre- 
vention Division  of  the  Police  Department,  detailed  to  the  camp,  serve  as 
cooks,  waiters,  gardeners,  and  handy  men. 

PALMDALE,  52.2  m.  (2,669  alt.,  1,224  POP-)*  is  at  the  junction  with 
US  6  (see  TOUR  7b). 

US  66,  roughly  following  (R)  alder-grown  CAJON  CREEK,  rolls 
smoothly  downgrade  to  DEVORE,  67.1  m.  (2,025  alt.,  153  pop.). 
MOUNT  SAN  GORGONIO  (11,485  alt.),  looms  into  view. 

The  ARROWHEAD,  a  natural  phenomenon  on  the  face  of  Arrowhead 
Peak,  is  visible  at  75.2  m. 


CALIFORNIA 

At  75.3  m.  US  66  broad  and  palm-lined,  turns  R.,  dividing  the 
business  district  (L)  of  SAN  BERNARDINO,  77.1  m.  (1,073  alt., 
37,486  pop.),  seat  of  San  Bernardino  County.  The  name  San  Ber- 
nardino was  given  by  a  party  of  missionaries,  soldiers,  and  Indians 
from  the  San  Gabriel  Mission  (see  below)  under  Padre  Francisco 
Dumetz,  who  entered  the  valley  on  May  20,  1810,  the  feast  day  of 
San  Bernardino  of  Siena.  In  1851,  Capt.  Jefferson  Hunt  arrived  in 
the  valley  with  a  party  of  500  Mormons  from  Salt  Lake,  who  bought 
Rancho  San  Bernardino  for  $77,000  in  1852,  and  laid  out  a  city  along 
the  broad,  spacious  lines  of  Salt  Lake  City.  The  Mormons  remained 
dominant  here  until  1857,  when  Brigham  Young,  anxious  to  center  his 
flock  in  Utah,  issued  a  recall.  San  Bernardino  is  today  a  railroad  and 
fruit-packing  center. 

The  mammoth  NATIONAL  ORANGE  SHOW  BUILDING,  E  and  Mill 
Sts.,  is  the  setting  for  the  city's  leading  event  (held  annually  for  n 
days  beginning  third  Thurs.  in  Feb.;  adm.  $0$).  The  show  presents 
numerous  structures  built  with  columns  of  citrus  fruits;  frequently  a 
million  oranges,  lemons,  and  grapefruit  are  employed  to  achieve  the 
desired  effects. 

The  SAN  BERNARDINO  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  on  Arrowhead  Ave. 
between  Third  and  Fourth  Sts.,  is  on  the  site  of  a  fort  that  was  the 
first  structure  erected  by  the  Salt  Lake  pioneers.  The  fort  was  a  large 
walled  enclosure,  holding  numerous  buildings,  including  a  school  and 
meetinghouse,  storehouses,  and  the  colony  offices. 

In  PIONEER  PARK,  Sixth  and  E  Sts.,  are  the  Memorial  Auditorium, 
commemorating  World  War  participants;  a  Sailors'  and  Soldiers' 
Monument,  dedicated  to  heroes  of  the  Mexican,  Civil,  and  Spanish- 
American  Wars;  and  a  PIONEER  CABIN  (open  9-5),  housing  a  collec- 
tion of  early  Mormon  relics. 

San  Bernardino  is  at  a  junction  with  US  395   (see  TOUR  6e). 

Left  from  San  Bernardino  on  Third  St.  to  Sierra  Way  (State  18)  ;  L. 
here  in  a  serpentine  ascent  of  WATERMAN  CANYON  in  SAN  BER- 
NARDINO NATIONAL  FOREST,  5.6  m. 

At  7.9  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  private  road;  R.  here  1  m.  to  a  hot  springs 
resort  (rates  reasonable),  commanding  a  view  of  San  Bernardino,  Pomona, 
and  San  Gabriel  Valleys  from  a  i,8oo-acre  park.  Dominating  the  region 
is  the  natural  phenomenon  from  which  the  springs  take  their  name — the 
huge  arrowhead  on  the  slope  of  ARROWHEAD  PEAK,  behind  and  above 
the  spa.  The  arrowhead  consists  of  outcroppings  of  quartz  and  gray 
granite,  grown  over  with  whitish  weeds  and  grass;  it  covers  an  area  of 
seven-and-a-half  acres. 

An  Indian  legend  relates  that  the  Great  White  Father  sent  an  "arrow 
of  fire"  to  guide  the  Cahuilla  westward  after  they  had  been  driven  from 
their  homes  by  aggressive  neighbors.  The  arrowhead  finally  rested  on  a 
mountainside  with  its  point  toward  a  fertile  valley  (San  Bernardino)  and 
boiling  hot  springs.  A  legend  of  Mormon  origin  is  to  the  effect  that 
Brigham  Young  had  a  vision  in  which  he  saw  a  mountain  with  a  strange 
device  upon  it.  When  he  learned  of  the  discovery  of  the  arrowhead  by 
the  Mormon  Battalion  in  1851,  he  knew  it  to  be  the  mountain  of  his  dream 
and  ordered  the  establishment  of  a  Mormon  settlement  in  the  valley  below. 

State  18  continues  to  a  junction  with  the  old  Mormon  Road,  16.7  m., 
marked  (R)  by  the  WAGON  WHEEL  MONUMENT.  The  n-mile  roadway  was 


TOUR     12        617 

built  in  1851  to  facilitate  transportation  of  timber  for  building  homes  in 
the  valley;  its  terminus  was  a  sawmill  that  the  Mormons  had  established 
near  the  present  Camp  Seeley. 

The  route  leaves  the  chaparral  of  the  lower  slopes  and  enters  the  big 
timber  country  of  pine,  spruce,  and  oak. 

At  17  m.  State  18  becomes  Rim  of  the  World  Drive  and  curves  steadily 
eastward,  8,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

At  17.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  Crestline  Rd. 

Left  on  this  road  3  m.  to  CAMP  SEELEY,  a  year-round  playground 
maintained  by  the  city  of  Los  Angeles.  The  lodge  (rates  reasonable]  is  the 
social  and  musical  center. 

From  ARROWHEAD  HIGHLAND  SUMMIT,  19.9  m.  (5,174  alt.), 
slopes  billow  down  to  green  valleys  far  below.  A  few  yards  from  the 
road  (R)  is  SPHINX  ROCK,  a  corroded  formation,  50  feet  high,  in  the  shape 
of  a  human  head. 

At  20  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  unpaved  road. 

Left  on  this  winding  road  to  CRESTLINE  VILLAGE,  3  m.  (4,850  alt., 
500  pop.),  shopping  center  for  nearby  resorts.  Lying  in  a  forest  of  ever- 
greens and  pines,  the  village  has  a  view  of  desert,  valley,  and  mountains. 

CRESTLINE  BOWL  is  frequently  the  setting  for  plays,  pageants,  and  dramas. 
Nearby  are  two  ski  tracks,  a  quarter-mile  toboggan  slide,  and  three  ashcan 
slides. 

The  route  continues  upward  on  the  well-banked  highway.  (Drinking 
fountains  every  2  miles.} 

BAYLIS  PARK  PICNIC  GROUNDS  is  at  20.8  m.  (free;  tables  grilles,  water, 
sanitary  conveniences}. 

RIM  OF  THE  WORLD  MONUMENT,  21.6  m.  (6,150  alt.),  is  a  crude  boulder 
pile,  dedicated  by  John  Steven  McGroarty,  poet  laureate  of  California,  in 
1932  in  delayed  commemoration  of  the  highway's  completion. 

From  CREST  SUMMIT,  23.7  m.  (5,756  alt.),  is  a  comprehensive  view 
southward.  The  drive  drops  gradually,  circling  buttes  and  plunging 
through  parallel  walls  of  dense  forests.  Here  and  there,  through  openings 
in  the  pines,  the  roofs  of  distant  lodges  and  resorts  appear. 

At  24.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  Arrowhead  Lake  Rd. 

Left  on  this  well-paved  road  2  m.  through  a  narrow,  heavily  timbered 
canyon  to  ARROWHEAD  VILLAGE  (5,109  alt.,  510  pop.),  on  the  south 
shore  of  LAKE  ARROWHEAD,  made  up  of  shops,  hotels,  theaters,  cafes, 
and  dance  halls,  largely  in  the  Norman  style.  Roads  and  footpaths  radiate 
to  the  innumerable  resorts  on  the  forested  rim  of  the  lake,  from  auto 
camps  to  luxury  hotels. 

Right  from  Arrowhead  Village  3  m.  on  Lake  Rd.  to  ARROWHEAD 
DAM.  Before  the  dam  was  built  in  1901  to  impound  spring  and  drainage 
waters,  the  present  lake  region  was  a  tree-studded,  dry  basin. 

SKY  FOREST  POST  OFFICE,  (L),  25.6  m.,  on  the  main  road,  serves  a 
few  scattered  mountain  homes  (garage  and  fueling  accommodations}. 

At  33.6  m.  is  a  junction  with  an  unpaved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  0.7  m.  to  tiny  ARROWBEAR  LAKE,  on  the  shores  of 
which  is  the  VILLAGE  OF  ARROWBEAR  (7,800  alt.,  75  pop.),  with  a 
post  office  and  general  store.  Scattered  along  the  lake  front  are  numerous 
camps  (cabins;  low  rates). 

Rim  of  the  World  Drive  rolls  eastward  in  a  succession  of  curves  along 
the  crest  of  the  San  Bernardino  Range. 

At  34.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  Green  Valley  Rd. 

Left  on  this  paved  road  4.5  m.  to  GREEN  VALLEY  LAKE,  a  tiny  body 
of  water  in  the  verdant  depths  of  Green  Valley.  Hundreds  of  privately 
owned  lodges  cling  to  the  steeply  sloping  mountainsides  beneath  the  tall 
cone-bearing  pines  and  spruce. 

At  37.6  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  hiking  trail. 

Right  3  m.  on  this  trail  up  forested  slopes  to  a  lookout  station  on 
KELLER  PEAK  (7,863  alt.). 


6l8        CALIFORNIA 

Rim  of  the  World  Drive  drops  gradually,  for  about  6  miles,  and  at 
45.6  ra.  crosses  the  top  of  BIG  BEAR  DAM.  There  was  a  small  natural 
lake  here  in  1845,  when  Benjamin  Davis  Wilson,  for  whom  Mount  Wilson 
was  named,  and  a  party  of  men  searched  the  region  for  Indians  who  had 
been  stealing  cattle  from  ranchers.  They  shot  22  bears  on  the  trip;  from 
this  incident  the  valley  received  its  name.  Gold  was  discovered  here  in 
1860,  and  in  the  subsequent  brief  gold  rush  roads  were  built  and  scores 
of  small  shacks  sprang  up.  By  1880  the  district  was  almost  deserted.  The 
first  dam  was  built  in  1884  to  provide  San  Bernardino  Valley  cities  with 
water.  The  present  dam,  6,750  feet  high,  was  completed  in  1911.  The 
reservoir,  BIG  BEAR  LAKE,  seven  miles  long,  has  become  the  center  of  a 
very  popular  year-round  playground  thronged  with  resorts. 

From  PINE  KNOT  VILLAGE,  50.1  m.  (6,750  alt.,  750  pop.),  commercial 
center  of  the  Big  Bear  resort  district,  radiate  a  network  of  roads  and 
trails. 

Rim  of  the  World  Drive  roughly  follows  the  contour  of  Big  Bear  Lake 
to  BIG  BEAR  CITY,  54.9  m.  (6,860  alt.,  500  pop.),  on  part  of  the  former 
27,ooo-acre  Baldwin  estate. 

BALDWIN  LAKE,  58.6  m.  (6,674  alt.),  a  natural  catch  basin  for  moun- 
tain water,  is  normally  about  one-fifth  the  size  of  Big  Bear  Lake,  but, 
unlike  the  latter,  has  attracted  few  visitors. 

Section  c.    SAN  BERNARDINO  to  SANTA  MONICA;  71.1  m. 
US  66. 

West  of  San  Bernardino  US  66  runs  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  Mountains  through  the  heart  of  a  picture  post  card  landscape — 
orange  groves  overlooked  by  snowcapped  peaks.  The  tile-roofed  stucco 
towns  among  the  orchards  along  the  way  are  starting  points  for  roads 
and  trails  into  the  forested  mountains. 

West  of  SAN  BERNARDINO,  0  m.}  is  RIALTO,  3  m.  (1,203 
alt.,  1,642  pop.),  with  several  orange-packing  plants.  From  here  US 
66  runs  through  billowing  foothills  past  miles  of  citrus  groves  and 
vineyards. 

The  boulevard  skirts  the  northern  edge  of  FONTANA,  5.2  m. 
(1,242  alt.,  6,120  pop.),  in  a  section  of  small  citrus,  grape,  walnut, 
poultry,  and  rabbit  farms. 

West  of  Fontana  vineyards  cover  the  foothills,  dotted  with  wineries. 

CUCAMONGA,  14.5  m.  (1,220  alt.,  2,040  pop.),  named  for 
CUCAMONGA  PEAK  (8,911  alt.),  the  shopping  center  of  a  grape- 
and  olive-growing  district,  has  several  wineries. 

UPLAND,  17  m.  (1,210  alt.,  4,713  pop.),  is  a  citrus-packing 
community  with  nine  fruit-packing  plants,  surrounded  by  6,000  acres 
of  oranges  and  lemons. 

CLAREMONT,  19.4  m.  (1,155  alt.,  2,719  pop.),  in  the  midst 
of  citrus  groves  and  vineyards,  is  a  city  of  tree-lined  streets  and  attrac- 
tive residences.  It  has  a  citrus-packing  plant  and  a  number  of  small 
factories,  but  is  essentially  a  college  town. 

POMONA  COLLEGE  was  founded  in  Pomona  in  1887  by  the  Reverend 
Charles  B.  Sumner,  a  New  England  Congregational  minister.  The 
following  January  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  gave  500  acres  of  land  for  a 
campus  here;  an  unfinished  hotel,  now  Sumner  Hall,  was  the  first 


TOUR      12        6ig 

college  building.  In  1894  the  enrollment  was  47;  in  1937  it  was  900. 
The  buildings,  of  various  architectural  styles,  are  scattered  over  24 
tree-shaded  city  blocks.  In  1927  Pomona  became  the  sponsor  of  a 
plan  for  a  group  of  affiliated  colleges,  Claremont  Colleges,  Inc.,  of 
which  Pomona  (co-educational)  was  the  first  unit  and  Scripps  College, 
the  second. 

The  5O-acre  campus  of  SCRIPPS  COLLEGE  FOR  WOMEN  is  cut  by 
city  streets.  Scripps  became  a  unit  of  Claremont  Colleges,  Inc.,  through 
a  gift  of  Miss  Ellen  Scripps.  The  enrollment  (200)  is  limited  by 
rigid  scholastic  requirements.  The  buildings  are  of  modified  Spanish 
design. 

LA  VERNE,  21.4  m.  (1,050  alt.,  2,860  pop.),  is  a  citrus-packing 
center.  Retail  stores  depend  heavily  on  the  patronage  of  LA  VERNE 
CO.LLEGE  students.  La  Verne  originated  as  Lordsburg  during  the  1890 
land  boom.  When  the  bubble  burst,  the  promoters  found  themselves 
burdened  with  a  $75,000  three-story  hotel.  In  1891  the  Santa  Fe 
Railway  induced  new  settlers  to  come  to  the  region,  among  them  a 
group  of  Dunkards  who  later  bought  the  hotel  and  founded  Lordsburg 
College.  In  1916,  when  the  town  changed  its  name  to  La  Verne,  the 
college  did  likewise.  It  is  a  co-educational  institution  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  250. 

At  23.3  m.  is  a  junction  with  San  Dimas  Canyon  Rd. 

Right  on  this  road  to  SAN  DIMAS  CANYON  PARK,  0.5  m.,  no  acres  of 
naturally  wooded  land  (picknicking  facilities')  at  the  foot  of  the  San 
Gabriel  Mountains.  Hiking  trails  lead  into  the  mountains.  The  motor 
road  winds  up  the  canyon  to  WOLFSKILL  FALLS,  11  m. 

GLENDORA,  25.9  m.  (776  alt.,  2,761  pop.)  another  citrus- 
packing  community,  was  founded  in  1887  by  George  Whitcomb,  a 
Chicago  manufacturer,  who  coined  the  name  from  the  word  "glen" 
and  his  wife's  name,  "Ledora."  The  first  commercial  orange  grove 
here,  planted  by  John  Cook  in  1866,  is  still  productive. 

AZUSA,  27.6  m.  (611  alt.,  4,808  pop.),  dating  from  the  boom 
year  of  1887,  is  vet  another  citrus-shipping  center.  The  name  is  de- 
rived from  Asuksag-na,  name  of  an  Indian  village  here. 

The  name  of  DUARTE,  31.9  m.  (600  alt.,  1,326  pop.),  center  of 
an  old  orange-growing  district,  commemorates  Andreas  Duarte,  grantee 
of  a  4,ooo-acre  tract  on  the  site,  who  constructed  a  ditch  to  bring  water 
from  San  Gabriel  Canyon  for  irrigation  purposes. 

MONROVIA,  34.3  m.  (560  alt.,  10,090  pop.),  was  laid  out  in 
1886  by  W.  N.  Monroe,  when  lots  today  worth  many  thousands  of 
dollars  were  sold  for  $100.  Monrovia  is  surrounded  by  orange,  lemon, 
and  avocado  groves  and  other  orchards.  Poultry  raising  and  small 
gardening  are  important  in  the  vicinity.  The  town  is  noted  for  a  wide 
variety  of  trees  and  shrubs;  in  the  northern  part  of  town,  is  a  papaya 
plantation. 

ARCADIA,  35.9  m.  (479  alt.,  5,216  pop.),  is  largely  peopled  by 
Los  Angeles  commuters.  Poultry  and  rabbit  raising  is  carried  on  here. 


62O        CALIFORNIA 

The  LYON  PONY  EXPRESS  MUSEUM,  (L)  36.4  m.  (8-6;  adm. 
children  10$),  where  the  highway  widens  triangularly  to  meet 
converging  Huntington  Drive,  houses  the  privately  owned  exhibit  of 
W.  Parker  Lyon,  former  mayor  of  Fresno,  California.  The  frame 
buildings  achieve  a  deliberately  ramshackle  effect,  purportedly  re- 
sembling a  ghost  city,  with  a  "pioneer"  attendant  guarding  the  entrance. 
Inside  is  an  1849  bullet-scarred  bar,  an  old  gold  scale,  a  vigilante  bell, 
several  stagecoaches,  and  a  collection  of  Indian  mementos  and  curios 
of  the  1840*5  and  1850*8 — but  little  to  justify  the  name  "Pony  Express." 

At  36.4  m.  is  a  junction  with  Huntington  Drive. 

Left  here  to  the  main  entrance  (R)  of  SANTA  ANITA  RACE  TRACK,  0.5  m. 
(racing  1:30  p.m.  (weekdays,  except  Mon.,  during  2-month  (winter  season 
beginning  about  New  Year's  Day;  adm.  $1.10,  parking  25$},  named  for  the 
"Lucky"  Baldwin  rancho,  which  it  adjoins  (R).  It  is  the  $1,000,000  home 
of  midwinter  racing  events  that  include  a  $100,000  handicap.  Blue  build- 
ings with  white  roofs  spread  along  one  side  of  the  i-mile  oval  track, 
backed  by  the  lofty  peaks  of  the  San  Gabriel  Range.  The  grandstand  seats 
30,000;  the  stables  can  hold  1,500  horses.  During  the  racing  season  the 
5oo-acre  scene  is  one  of  excitement  and  holiday  bustle,  thronged  with 
notables,  among  them  Hollywood  celebrities.  The  season's  wagers  amount 
to  more  than  $25,000,000. 

SAN  MARINO,  4.6  m.  (557  alt.,  3,730  pop.),  has  numerous  attractive 
bungalows  and  palatial  mansions  on  the  flat  basin  of  San  Gabriel  Valley 
and  in  the  surrounding  foothills.  The  city,  named  by  the  railroad  magnate 
and  patron  of  arts,  Henry  E.  Huntington,  bans  all  structures  except  one- 
family  residences  and  supervises  even  the  cost  and  architectural  design  of 
proposed  buildings. 

At  4.7  m.  is  a  junction  with  Monterey  Rd.;  R.  here  0.5  m.  to  the  HUNT- 
INGTON LIBRARY  AND  ART  GALLERY  (open  1:15-4:30  p.m.  weekdays,  except 
Mondays,  and  first  and  third  Sundays  each  month;  adm.  free,  but  by  special 
advance  card  only}.  Massive  wrought-iron  gates  (L)  give  access  to  the 
2O7-acre  landscaped  park  that  surrounds  the  two  white  marble  buildings. 
Founded  by  Collis  P.  Huntington,  the  institution  was  established  with  a 
self-perpetuating  board  of  trustees  in  1919  to  house  a  valuable  collection 
of  paintings  and  art  objects  assembled  by  Huntington  over  a  period  of 
years.  It  has  three  principal  divisions:  the  Library,  the  Art  Gallery,  and 
the  Botanical  Gardens.  The  latter  contain  Japanese,  rose,  and  cactus 
gardens  and  a  spacious  sloping  lawn  planted  with  sub-tropical  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  library  contains  200,000  printed  books,  4,000  manuscripts, 
and  more  than  800,000  letters  and  documents,  confined  to  English  and 
American  literature,  history  and  incunabula.  Of  special  interest  are  the 
Gutenberg  Bible  of  the  year  1455;  the  Ellesmere  Chaucer  on  vellum;  the 
manuscripts  of  Milton's  Comus,  Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  King,  Stevenson's 
A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses,  Ruskin's  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,  Kip- 
ling's Recessional,  Mark  Twain's  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper,  and  Benjamin 
Franklin's  Autobiography.  Among  letters  and  documents  are  a  large  col- 
lection of  Lincolniana,  a  collection  of  Washington's  letters,  and  Christopher 
Columbus'  letter  announcing  the  discovery  of  America.  The  Art  Gallery, 
housed  in  what  was  once  Huntington's  mansion,  contains  a  world-famous 
collection  of  i8th  century  British  paintings,  including  a  large  group  of 
Gainsboroughs,  among  them  The  Blue  Boy,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  The 
Tragic  Muse,  Pinkie  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  and  canvases  by  such 
painters  as  Raeburn,  Romney,  Hoppner,  Turner,  Cotes,  Constable;  and  the 
Americans,  Copley,  and  West.  Flemish  and  Italian  paintings  of  the  i5th 
and  i6th  centuries,  and  a  distinguished  collection  of  porcelains  and  tapes- 
tries are  in  the  west  wing  of  the  library. 


TOUR      12        62 1 

SIERRA  MADRE,  36.9  m.  (835  alt.,  3,550  pop.),  is  a  foothill 
town  surrounded  by  the  deep  green  of  orange  groves.  A  trellised 
wistaria  on  the  FENNEL  ESTATE  (adm.  10$),  Carter  St.  and  Hermos 
Ave.,  planted  in  1894,  extends  over  an  acre  of  ground,  and  its  bloom- 
ing season — March  10  to  April  I — is  occasion  for  the  Sierra  Madre 
Wistaria  Fete,  held  annually  since  1921. 

At  40.2  m.  is  a  junction  with  San  Gabriel  Blvd.     (State  19). 

Left  on  San  Gabriel  Blvd.  to  Mission  Dr.  4  m.;  R.  on  Mission  Dr.  to 
SAN  GABRIEL,  5.1  m.  (426  alt.,  7,224  pop.),  a  town  populated  largely  by 
Los  Angeles  commuters.  San  Gabriel's  chief  business  is  serving  tourists. 
It  was  from  San  Gabriel  that  the  Spanish  governor,  Felipe  de  Neve, 
marched  with  44  soldiers,  Indians,  and  Mexican  colonists  in  September 
1781  to  found  the  pueblo  of  Nuestra  Senora  la  Reina  de  Los  Angeles. 

MISSION  SAN  GABRIEL  ARCANGEL,  314  Mission  Dr.  (open  8-6;  adm.  25$), 
now  a  parish  church,  was  founded  in  1771  by  order  of  Fray  Junipero  Serra.. 
The  small  band  of  monks  sent  from  San  Diego  to  establish  San  Gabriel 
were  met  upon  arrival  by  a  large  band  of  painted  savages  who  swooped 
down  upon  them.  Resourcefully,  the  priests  unfurled  their  banner  on  which 
was  a  painting  of  the  Madonna,  whereupon — so  the  story  goes — the  war- 
riors threw  down  their  weapons,  made  submission,  and  brought  gifts. 
With  energy  the  priests  constructed  their  mission  and  founded  a  prosperous, 
community.  Their  chief  troubles  were  due  to  the  turbulence  of  the  Spanish 
soldiers  stationed  with  them.  When  one  of  them  stole  an  Indian's  wife 
and  beheaded  the  husband  for  objecting,  "it  was  only,"  remarks  a  com- 
mentator, "by  miraculous  power  that  the  missionaries  were  able  to  keep 
the  Indians  in  hand."  The  original  building,  swept  by  river  floods,  was 
replaced  by  the  present  church  in  1800-1806,  and  partly  rebuilt  after  the 
1812  earthquake.  The  church,  rectangular  in  plan,  is  without  the  cus- 
tomary front  towers.  The  exterior  is  relieved  only  by  slender  buttresses 
that  line  the  long  side  walls  and  rise  above  the  roof,  forming  pointed 
finials.  The  facade  is  unadorned  except  for  religious  figures  set  in  arched 
niches  high  in  the  face  of  the  two  front  buttresses.  The  gable  end  has  a 
simple  classic  pediment.  At  the  rear  is  a  part  of  the  patio,  with  one  wing 
of  the  mission  house  and  a  vine-covered  gable  belfry.  'The  main  altar  of 
the  church  is  the  most  decorative  feature  of  the  mission.  Its  ornate  retablo 
and  reredos  antedate  the  church  and  were  probably  brought  from  Mexico. 
The  painted  and  gilded  figures  of  the  Saints,  the  elaborate  scrolls  and 
other  ornaments  were  executed  by  Indians.  Other  notable  features  include 
the  dado  and  curious  dado  crestings,  painted  on  the  walls. 

The  MISSION  PLAYHOUSE,  320  Mission  Dr.,  today  a  motion-picture  theater, 
is  the  former  home  of  California's  epic,  The  Mission  Play,  by  John  Steven 
McGroarty.  Next  door  is  the  GRAPEVINE  ADOBE,  advertised  as  the  birth- 
place of  Ramona.  In  a  walled  patio  is  a  grapevine  with  a  spread  of  100 
feet,  bearing  the  date  of  1771;  it  was  actually  planted  in  1861. 

Among  San  Gabriel's  remaining  Adobes  of  early  days  are  the  PURCELL 
ADOBE,  308  Mission  Dr.,  which  was  built  in  1768  to  house  the  Spanish 
comandante  and  the  padres  while  the  mission  was  being  erected;  the  MAY 
PLACE,  725  Carmelita  St.,  built  in  1851  by  J.  R.  Evertson,  Los  Angeles'  first 
census  taker;  the  VIGARE  ADOBE,  616  Ramona  St.,  built  by  a  soldier  of  the 
mission  guard;  and  LA  CASA  VIEJA  DE  LOPEZ  (the  old  house  of  Lopez), 
330  N.  Santa  Anita  St.,  believed  to  be  one  of  the  mission  buildings. 

West  of  its  junction  with  San  Gabriel  Blvd.,  US  66  runs  along 
Colorado  Ave.  through  charming  residential  outskirts  to  the  business 
center  of  Pasadena. 

PASADENA,  43.2  m.  (855  alt.,  70,096  pop.)    (see  PASADENA). 


622        CALIFORNIA 

Right  from  Colorado  Ave.  in  Pasadena  on  Linda  Vista  Ave.,  which 
becomes  La  Canada  Rd.,  to  Michigan  Ave.;  L.  on  Michigan  Ave.,  which 
becomes  Foothill  Blvd.,  to  Haskell  Ave.;  R.  on  Haskell  Ave.  to  Angeles 
Crest  Highway;  L.  on  Angeles  Crest  Highway,  which  at  this  point  enters 
the  San  Gabriel  Mountains. 

The  highway  follows  a  ledge  over  winding  ARROYO  SECO  (Sp.,  dry 
creek).  It  proceeds  upward  toward  the  chaparral-covered  slopes  through 
spruce,  oak,  and  bay  trees,  and  rocky  stretches  partly  covered  with  yucca. 
As  the  ascent  continues  gorges  become  deeper,  canyon  sides  steeper,  and 
the  contorted  strata  of  the  early  part  of  the  route  yield  to  the  vast  granite 
core  of  the  San  Gabriel  Mountains. 

NINO  CANYON  LOOKOUT  STATION,  8.8  m.,  provides  an  excellent  view  (R) 
of  BROWN  MOUNTAIN  (4,485  alt.),  named  for  two  sons  of  John  Brown, 
the  anti-slavery  revolutionist,  who  settled  in  one  of  its  remote  glens  after 
the  Civil  War. 

WOODWARDIA  CANYON,  11.4  m.  (2,700  alt.),  is  an  idyllic,  fern- 
strewn  gorge,  named  for  the  Woodwardia  radicans. 

At  11.9  m.  is  the  junction  with  Dark  Canyon  trail. 

Left  on  this  trail  1.5  m.  through  GRIZZLY  BEAR  FLATS  to  BIG 
TUJUNGA  CANYON,  a  wild  region  abounding  in  summer  with  rattle- 
snakes. 

GEORGE'S  GAP,  15.6  m.  (3,750  alt.),  provides  a  view  westward.  The 
name  is  a  tribute  to  the  culinary  achievements  of  a  cook  stationed  at  an 
early  ranger  camp  here.  Across  the  canyon  rises  the  gray  granite  peak 
of  MOUNT  JOSEPHINE  (5,520  alt.).  Beyond  in  the  distance  is  CONDOR 
PEAK  (5,430  alt.),  named  for  the  rare  California  condor,  which  rivals 
in  size  the  great  vulture-like  Andean  condor. 

LADYBUG  CANYON,  18  m.  (3,650  alt.),  is  so-called  because  it  is  a 
State-maintained  hibernation  refuge  for  the  red  and  black  beetle  used  in 
combating  scale  and  other  citrus  pests. 

RED  BOX  DIVIDE,  20.3  m.  (4,666  alt.),  is  the  crest  of  the  ridge  divid- 
ing the  drainage  areas  of  the  San  Gabriel  and  Arroyo  Seco  Rivers.  The 
divide  was  named  for  a  large  red  box,  a  landmark  for  many  years,  in 
which  early  forest  rangers  kept  fire-fighting  equipment.  The  steep,  rocky 
headlands  of  Mount  Wilson  in  the  distance  are  seen  from  this  place;  below 
lies  the  jumbled  maze  of  torrent-cut  canyons  wrought  by  the  two  forks 
of  the  twisting  San  Gabriel  River.  Far  beyond  is  MOUNT  BALDY 
(10,080  alt.),  snowcapped  half  the  year,  and  behind  it  a  saw-toothed  sky 
line. 

1.  Right  from  Red  Box  Divide  2  m.  on  a  trail  to  a  secondary  trail;  L. 
here  to  the  SUMMIT  of  MOUNT  SAN  GABRIEL,  5.5  m. 

2.  Right  from  Red  Box  Divide  on  a   paved   road  is  OPID'S  RESORT, 
1.5  m.    (rates  reasonable),   in  picturesque   West  Fork   Canyon   of  the   San 
Gabriel  River. 

Right  from  Angeles  Crest  Highway  at  Red  Box  Divide  on  Mount  Wilson 
Rd.  around  sharp,  blind  curves. 

The  SADDLE,  22.7  m.  (5,116  alt.),  is  a  narrow  ledge  of  rock  bridging 
Mounts  San  Gabriel  and  Wilson;  R.  from  the  Saddle  2.9  m.  on  a  trail  to 
MOUNT  LOWE. 

CREST  LOOKOUT,  24.1  m.  (5,622  alt.),  offers  a  sweeping  view  on  three 
sides  of  jagged  peaks  and  deep  canyons;  R.  from  Crest  Lookout  1.2  m.  on 
a  hiking  trail  to  MOUNT  HARVARD.  In  1889  a  telescope  was  mounted 
on  this  peak  by  observers  from  Harvard  University.  The  site  was  aban- 
doned after  one  year  because  of  the  number  of  rattlesnakes. 

MOUNT  WILSON,  25.7  m.  (5,710  alt.)  (adm.  to  grounds  50$  a  car, 
25$  a  pedestrian — refunded  to  overnight  guests;  hotel  rates  reasonable],  is 
topped  by.  a  i,o5o-acre,  much  eroded  plateau  in  Angeles  National  Forest 
that  is  owned  by  the  Mount  Wilson  Hotel  Company,  which  has  leased  the 
land  occupied  by  the  Mount  Wilson  Observatory  (see  below)  to  the 


TOUR      12        623 

Carnegie  Institution  for  100  years  at  a  nominal  sum.  Benjamin  Davis 
Wilson,  for  whom  the  peak  is  named,  blazed  a  trail  in  1864  to  the  summit, 
where  he  found  two  abandoned  cabins  on  the  plateau.  Wilson's  trail, 
early  popular  with  hikers  and  riders,  was  used  until  the  Mount  Wilson 
Toll  Road  Company  built  the  paved  toll  road.  The  hotel  is  a  low,  rustic 
building  of  stucco,  with  a  wide  veranda  looking  out  over  the  vast  valley. 

MOUNT  WILSON  OBSERVATORY,  whose  white  buildings,  towers, 
and  domes  are  scattered  among  the  trees,  is  operated  by  the  Carnegie 
Institution.  The  first  telescope  was  set  up  in  1904.  Originally  planned 
primarily  for  solar  research,  "the  necessity  for  seeking,  among  the  stars 
and  nebulae,  for  evidence  as  to  the  past  and  future  stages  of  solar  and 
stellar  life"  soon  became  evident,  early  resulting  in  a  broadening  of  the 
scope  of  the  observatory.  Today  eight  telescopes  are  in  use.  There  is  a 
technical  library  of  13,000  volumes  and  10,000  pamphlets.  The  institution 
maintains  a  large  laboratory  and  optical  shop  in  Pasadena. 

The  IOO-INCH  TELESCOPE  (shown  daily  from  1:30-2:30)  with  a  huge  re- 
flecting mirror,  is  housed  in  a  large  white  dome  northeast  of  the  hotel.  This 
telescope  has  helped  to  push  the  boundaries  of  the  known  universe  out  to 
about  100,000,000  light  years.  It  admits  250,000  times  more  light  than  the 
unaided  human  eye  and  2,500  times  as  much  light  as  did  the  telescope  with 
which  Galileo  began  the  modern  era  of  astronomy  in  1610.  Images  seen 
by  the  giant  eye  are  recorded  on  photographic  plates. 

The  6o-lNCH  TELESCOPE  (open  for  cosmic  observation  Fri.  at  7:30-8:30 
p.m.;  adm.  passes  obtained  by  mail  from  the  Carnegie  Institution,  Pasadena, 
two  weeks  in  advance)  also  has  a  reflecting  mirror.  Its  dome  is  near  the 
ico-inch  telescope. 

The  12-lNCH  TELESCOPE  (open  for  cosmic  observation  with  accompanying 
lecture  daily,  except  Mon.,  at  7:30  p.m.)  is  in  the  museum.  It  is  principally 
used  to  demonstrate  the  public  lectures. 

The  SUN  TELESCOPE  (not  open)  is- housed  in  a  iso-foot  tower  that  rises 
above  the  pine  trees  near  a  cluster  of  low,  snub-nosed  domes.  This  instru- 
ment, which  produces  an  image  of  the  sun  16  inches  in  diameter,  is  elevated 
to  prevent  reflected  heat  from  interfering  with  the  accurate  operation  of 
the  delicate  mirrors.  To  increase  the  steadiness  of  the  lenses  and  mirrors 
at  so  great  a  height,  an  inner  tower  supports  the  instruments,  an  outer 
tower  the  dome. 

The  MUSEUM  (open  1:30-2  p.m.),  adjacent  to  the  loo-inch  telescope 
dome,  shows  transparencies  of  the  more  spectacular  photographs  made  with 
the  giant  telescope. 

LOS  ANGELES,  54.2  m.  (250  alt.,  1,283,859  pop.)  (see  LOS 
4NGELES). 

Los  Angeles  is  at  junctions  with  US  60-7099  (see  TOUR  13b) 
and  US  101  (see  TOUR  2c) . 

Right  from  Figueroa  St.  on  Sunset  Blvd.  to  a  junction  with  Santa 
Monica  Blvd.;  L.  on  Santa  Monica  Blvd.  to  HOLLYWOOD,  57.6 
m.  (400  alt.,  185,847  pop.)  (see  HOLLYWOOD}. 

BEVERLY  HILLS,  62.2  m.  (260  to  325  alt.,  17,429  pop.),  is 
the  home  of  many  luminaries  of  the  cinema  world.  Standing  like  a 
small  island  almost  surrounded  by  the  irregular  boundaries  of  Los 
Angeles,  it  is  an  independent  city  laid  out  in  1907  by  a  former  resident 
of  Beverly,  Mass.  Many  of  the  earlier  motion  picture  stars  built 
homes  here  because  the  then  undeveloped  rolling  foothills  offered 
ample  space  for  large  estates  near  Hollywood  studios  and  ocean  beaches. 
Today  it  has  become  almost  traditional  for  the  principal  screen  stars 
to  be  represented  in  the  community  by  large  homes,  partly  because  of 


624        CALIFORNIA 

their  publicity  value;  and  Beverly  Hills  residential  architecture  has 
achieved  a  new  note  of  splendor.  Most  of  the  mansions  are  in  the 
foothills;  in  the  level  lowland  area  south  of  Sunset  Blvd.  are  smaller 
bungalows,  bungalow  courts,  apartment  houses,  and  hotels.  Many 
privately  owned  concerns  conduct  tours  through  the  city,  and  up-to-date 
guide  books  listing  the  names  and  the  constantly  changing  addresses 
of  the  well-known  residents  are  available  (see  also  HOLLYWOOD: 
Homes  of  Movie  Stars). 

SANTA  MONICA,  71.1  m.  (140  alt.,  37,146  pop.)   (see  TOUR 
2B),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  101  Alt.  (see  TOUR  2B). 


mmm^^ 


Tour  /j 


(Quartzsite,  Ariz.)  —  Blythe  —  Indio  —  Beaumont  —  Riverside  — 

Los  Angeles;  US  60-70. 

Arizona  line  to  Los  Angeles,  231.7  m. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout;  open  all  seasons. 

Route  paralleled  by  Southern  Pacific  R.R.  between  Indio  and  Los  Angeles. 
Accommodations    adequate;    service    stations    at    infrequent    intervals    between 
Blythe  and  Indio;  good  auto  courts. 

Caution:  For  side  trips  on  desert  roads,  carry  good  tires  and  extra  food,  gaso- 
line and  water.  After  cloudbursts,  when  water  fills  highway  dips  (indicated 
by  pairs  of  stakes  marked  with  two  black  bands),  wait  for  water  to  run  off,  a 
matter  of  only  a  few  minutes. 

The  west-bound  traveler's  introduction  to  US  60-70  is  somewhat 
misleading.  On  the  shelf  bordering  the  west  bank  of  the  Colorado, 
all  is  green  and  cool;  but  as  the  route  climbs  its  western  margin,  it 
encounters  desert.  The  highway  crosses  a  changing  waste,  now  lumped 
into  derby-shaped  hills,  now  swept  into  sand  piles  that  are  often  leveled 
smooth  by  the  wind.  On  both  sides,  thorny  vegetation  stretches  gray 
and  dusty  green  to  the  flanking  ranges.  In  the  daytime,  little  animal 
life  appears  beyond  an  occasional  mouse  flashing  across  the  asphalt 
with  the  urgency  of  a  practised  jaywalker.  (See  FLORA  AND 
FAUNA  and  TOUR  11  a.)  At  Indio,  as  the  mountain  barrier,  for 
so  many  miles  a  hazy  bulk  running  across  the  windshield,  comes  in  to 
closer  focus,  the  highway  strikes  boldly  northwest  toward  the  San 
Bernardino  and  San  Jacinto  ranges.  From  San  Gorgonio  Pass,  it  coasts 
down  the  long  slope  through  pasture-lands,  groves  of  fruit  trees  and 
walnuts,  and  wide  green  expanses  of  vineyards.  The  towns  grow 
larger  and  noiser  and  the  rural  sections  more  urban  as  the  road  runs 
between  gaudy  palisades  of  billboards,  gas  stations,  and  clapboard  eating 
houses  into  far-flung  Los  Angeles. 


z^^^^^ 


The  Natural  Setting 


&38&z&^^ 


- 


YOSEMITE  FALLS,  YOSEMITE  NATIONAL  PARK 


^ 

if    I 


MT.  SHASTA 


OWENS  LAKE  FROM  CERRO  GORDO 


it  &!* 


SAND  DUNES 


SIERRAS  FROM  OWENS  VALLEY 


PEDRO  POINT,  GULF  OF  FARRALON 


.. 


y 


£ 


MT.  WHITNEY,  FROM  WHITNEY  PORTAL 


DONNER  LAKE,  FROM  DONNER  PASS 


DANTE'S  VIEW,  DEATH  VALLEY 


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.•     * 
.  •    • 


INDIAN  PICTOGRAPH  IN  CALIFORNIA  DESERT 


ALONG  THE  MERCED  RIVER,  YOSEMITE  VALLEY 


'••-- 


DEER,  SEQUOIA  NATIONAL  PARK 


LUMBERING.   A  REDWOOD  18  FEET  IN  DIAMETER 


TOUR     13        625 

The  route  was  opened  in  1862,  when  a  stage  line  began  carrying 
prospectors  from  California  to  the  newly-discovered  gold  fields  in 
western  Arizona.  The  first  stage,  a  6-horse  Concord  of  the  type 
familiar  to  devotees  of  Western  films,  traveled  from  Los  Angeles  to 
La  Paz  in  12  days,  carrying  passengers  for  $40  apiece.  Its  drivers  were 
murdered  by  a  bandit  whom  they  had  attempted  to  hang;  he  later 
pleaded  self-defense  and  was  acquitted.  Another  party  of  travelers 
on  the  route  was  massacred  by  Indians.  The  stage  line  was  operated 
until  the  railroad  put  it  out  of  business  in  1877.  Over  this  road,  in 
1908,  was  run  the  first  Los  Angeles-to-Phoenix  auto  race,  which  the 
Los  Angeles  Times  of  that  day  hailed  as  "the  most  hazardous  race 
ever  undertaken."  The  victor,  a  steam-driven  car,  negotiated  the  455 
miles  in  30  hours.  The  sparse  population  along  the  route  engages 
chiefly  in  catering  to  travelers,  occasionally  in  farming,  mining,  or 
health-seekers. 

Section  a.    ARIZONA  LINE  to  EASTERN  JUNCTION  US  99; 

101  m.  US  60-70. 

Between  the  Colorado  River  and  Indio  US  60-70  sweeps  across 
the  desert  between  distant  mountain  ranges,  for  long  stretches  in  a 
virtually  straight  line. 

The  Arizona  line,  0  m.t  marked  by  the  COLORADO  (ruddy) 
RIVER,  is  crossed  19  miles  west  of  Quartzsite,  Ariz.  The  Colorado 
River  was  called  Ahan  Yava  Kothickwa  (all  the  water  there  is)  by 
the  Indians. 

At  2.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  State  195. 

Right  on  State  195  to  a  series  of  spectacular  INDIAN  INTAGLIOS, 
18  m.  On  the  mesa  extending  westward  from  the  bluffs  of  the  river  lie 
three  sets  of  colossal  figures  of  men  and  animals,  cut  into  the  white  rock 
substratum  by  Indians  in  the  remote  past.  The  great  size  of  these  figures 
— the  largest  man  is  167  feet  long  and  has  an  arm  spread  of  164  feet — 
prevented  their  character  from  being  recognized  until  they  were  first 
photographed  from  the  air  in  1932.  The  human  figures  are  well  propor- 
tioned, but  the  animals  excite  conjecture:  they  resemble  horses,  antelopes, 
or  deer,  but  their  identification  is  complicated  by  long  buffalo  tails.  These 
figures  are  centuries  old;  beyond  that  little  is  known  of  their  history  or 
meaning. 

BLYTHE,  4.5  m.  (1,020  pop.),  is  a  new  town.  Until  1910, 
all  the  settlers  in  the  region  were  clustered  on  the  Arizona  bank  of  the 
river.  In  1877  Thomas  Ely  the,  an  Englishman,  filed  claims  on  40,000 
acres  along  the  river  under  the  Swamp  and  Overflow  Act,  believing 
that  this  area  could  be  turned  into  a  new  Nile  Valley;  but  before  he 
could  develop  it,  he  died  of  a  paralytic  stroke.  His  estate,  in  litigation 
for  21  years,  was  finally  sold  to  the  syndicate  that  platted  the  town 
in  1910.  The  farmers  who  were  drawn  to  Blythe  by  the  lure  of  rich 
overflow  land  soon  had  to  contend  with  the  source  of  the  land's  fer- 
tility. The  powerful  Colorado  went  on  a  yearly  spree,  cutting  through 
the  levees.  Blythe  residents  fought  the  river,  sank  $4,500,000  in  the 


626        CALIFORNIA 

battle,  and  in  time  lost  90  percent  of  their  property  to  the  State  because 
of  inability  to  liquidate  the  immense  debt  the  river  had  forced  upon 
them.  The  building  of  Boulder  Dam  ended  the  unequal  struggle. 

Blythe  presents  the  first  California  superlative  on  this  route;  the 
fields  lining  the  highway  and  running  southward  into  the  Palo  Verde 
Valley  grow  long  staple  cotton,  modestly  proclaimed  to  be  the  best  in 
the  world.  The  highway  traverses  a  plain  checkered  with  snowy  white 
patches  and  rich  green  alfalfa  fields,  and  runs  between  flanking  feathery 
green  tamarisks. 

Over  a  low  ridge  suddenly  appears  the  COLORADO  DESERT. 
This  low  sink  was  formed  ages  ago  when  the  Coast  Range — then  twice 
its  present  height — cracked,  the  rear  slope  falling  flat  at  the  base  of 
the  western  half,  which  remained  erect.  In  time  the  scouring  of  wind 
and  rain  will  wear  down  the  ranges  and  plane  off  the  region  until  it 
has  the  drab  monotony  of  the  older  deserts.  In  the  meantime — a  two- 
million-year  meantime — travelers  may  enjoy  the  cruel  beauties  of  a 
desert  in  its  youth,  the  pale  pastels  of  its  encircling  mountains  blending 
with  the  delicate  grays  and  dusty  tans  of  its  rolling  floor. 

At  36.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  on  this  road,  which  strikes  off  through  the  brush  toward  the 
CHUCKWALLA  MOUNTAINS  to  CORN  SPRINGS,  8  m.,  an  ancient 
Indian  campsite,  still  strewn  with  shards  and  artifacts.  Indians  lived  on 
the  desert  at  unknown  periods,  spacing  their  camps  over  a  long  arc  that 
curves  to  the  northwest,  apparently  adhering  to  the  course  of  a  dried-up 
river. 

DESERT  CENTER,  49  m.  (905  alt.,  125  pop.),  is  a  way  station 
(all  accommodations)  where  travelers  mail,  over  a  7°~day  period,  an 
average  of  18,000  post  cards  purchased  on  the  spot. 

The  COLORADO  RIVER  AQUEDUCT,  49.4  m.,  veers  toward 
the  highway.  Although  at  that  point  it  runs  underground  and  can  be 
detected  only  by  the  long  scar  it  has  left  on  the  plain,  it  lies  within 
view,  a  great  silver  snake  ascending  the  backbone  of  a  ridge  (Eagle 
Mountain  Pumps  Lift)  to  the  northwest.  Constructed  at  a  cost  of 
$220,000,000,  the  aqueduct  carries  water  to  13  southern  California 
cities;  five  pumping  stations  lift  the  water  1,000  feet,  the  highest  point 
being  the  Hayfield  Lift  (R),  62.2  ra.,  and  syphons  draw  it  down  the 
western  slope  to  its  original  level.  The  pipe  keeps  pace  with  the  high- 
way, running  for  17  miles  under  the  COACHELLA  MOUNTAINS 
until  it  cuts  across  the  road  2  miles  east  of  Cabazon  and  dives  through 
the  towering  San  Jacintos. 

The  highway  passes  between  the  OROCOPIA  (abundance  of  gold) 
MOUNTAINS  and  the  EAGLE  RANGE,  named  for  a  rumored 
colony  of  eagles. 

At  101  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3e). 


TOUR     13        627 

Section    b.    JUNCTION    US   99    to    LOS   ANGELES;    180.7    m. 

US  60-70-99. 

Northwest  of  Indio  US  60-70  traverses  sand  plains,  rises  through 
San  Gorgonio  Pass  and  descends  into  the  fertile  valleys  and  populous 
areas  of  the  coast. 

US  99  (see  TOUR  3e)  unites  northward  with  US  60-70,  0  m.,  2 
miles  south  of  Indio. 

INDIO,  2  m.  ( — 22  alt.,  3,500  pop.),  named  for  the  large  number 
of  Indians  who  comprised  the  settlement  when  it  was  a  railroad  con- 
struction camp,  is  primarily  a  highway  service  town.  The  main  street 
is  lined  with  rows  of  gas  stations  and  garages.  Although  the  town  was 
established  in  1876  as  a  distribution  point  for  railroad  freight,  50  years 
of  rail  service  brought  more  vagrants  to  it  than  settlers.  It  was  not 
until  the  highways  drew  traffic  that  the  town  began  to  grow.  Then 
the  areas  around  the  town  began  to  fill,  and  Indio  now  serves  as  a 
shopping  center  for  producers  of  dates,  cotton,  and  alfalfa.  Twenty- 
ton  Diesel  trucks  rumble  through  the  streets  the  clock  around.  Tourist 
travel  has  modified  the  town's  spirit  somewhat;  once  known  as  a  tough 
spot,  it  now  has  such  urban  amenities  as  a  circulating  library,  a  theater, 
stores  with  windows  dressed  in  city  style,  Venetian  blinds,  and  similar 
frills. 

Left  from  Indio  on  State  in — the  Palm  Springs  Highway — which  crosses 
Coachella  Valley  through  date  orchards  and  orange  groves.  The  desert 
is  encircled  by  mountains  that  are  snow-covered  during  the  winter  and 
spring  months.  Long  rows  of  date  palms  flank  the  roadway  west  of 
Indio.  Far  to  the  west  the  San  Jacinto  (Sp.,  St.  Hyacinth)  Mountains 
fall  away  into  foothills  and  disappear. 

SAN  JACINTO  PEAK  (10,987  alt.)  is  visible  for  a  hundred  miles. 

The  highway  is  bordered  by  tamarisk  trees  (also  known  as  athel  trees), 
and  by  subtropical  date  palms  looking  like  planted  pompons,  mingling 
their  fronds  high  overhead.  Just  under  the  green  density  of  the  natural 
ceiling,  the  heavy  date  clusters  hang,  encased  in  paper  or  burlap  cones 
during  the  early  fall  months  when  the  fruit  is  ripening.  The  cones  them- 
selves, transparent  in  the  filtered  sunlight,  resemble  great  bell-like  blossoms, 
suspended  above  the  long,  still  alleys  of  the  groves.  In  spring  bloom,  the 
trees  display  whitish,  candelabra-like  spikes  under  the  dome  of  the  over- 
hanging foliage.  Principally  of  the  Deglet  Noor  variety,  these  trees  were 
imported  and  set  out  in  this  region  in  1904.  They  require  unusual  care, 
their  natural  thirst  necessitating  heavy  irrigation  at  least  twice  a  month. 
Dates  can  be  purchased  from  the  many  roadside  stands — along  this  route 
disguised  as  pyramids,  Bedouin  tents,  or  Persian  shrines. 

INDIAN  WELLS,  8  m.,  are  fresh-water  springs. 

Tamarisks,  tall  cottonwoods,  hung  with  bright  green  clusters  of  mistletoe 
in  winter,  border  the  highway  at  intervals.  Many  small  irrigation  canals, 
with  water  brought  from  deep  wells,  weave  back  and  forth  under  the  road. 
Gaudy  signboards  invite  a  visitor  to  the  ranches,  to  sample  the  fruit,  and 
to  view  the  exhibits  of  date  culture. 

At  13  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  74  (see  TOUR  6e).  West  of  this 
junction  the  whole  35-mile  range  of  the  Little  San  Bernardino  Mountains 
is  visible  (L).  Running  close  under  the  shadow  of  the  San  Jacinto 
Mountains  (R),  the  highway  is  in  darkness  during  late  afternoon  and  at 
such  times  offers  .an  excellent  place  from  which  to  observe  the  shifting 
colors  upon  the  desert  and  mountain  walls  as  the  sun  nears  the  horizon. 


628        CALIFORNIA 

The  ANCIENT  BEACH  LINE  is  plainly  visible  (R)  along  mountain 
slopes  and  canyon  walls  (see  TOUR  $e).  Along  the  beach  line,  fossils 
and  other  evidence  of  former  life  are  found. 

CATHEDRAL  CITY,  20.3  m.  (motor  courts),  is  a  small  trading  center 
at  the  mouth  of  Cathedral  Canyon. 

At  25.6  m  is  the  junction  with  a  poor  dirt  road;  L.  on  it  2.3  m.  through 
great  groves  of  palms,  to  the  mouth  of  ANDREAS  CANYON  (R),  and 
past  MURRAY  CANYON  (R),  2.7  m.,  to  PALM  CANYON  NATIONAL 
MONUMENT,  5  m.  At  the  head  of  Palm  Canyon  is  a  grove  of  5,000 
California  fan  palms,  the  only  palm  native  to  the  western  United  States, 
ranging  in  age  from  seedlings  to  trees  thousands  of  years  old.  Many  of 
the  giant  palms  show  traces  of  fire  on  their  lower  trunks.  Legend  has  it 
that  the  Cahuillas,  who  picked  the  clusters  of  berries  from  the  palms  for 
food,  always  burned  the  trees  that  belonged  to  a  single  family  when  the 
head  of  the  family  died,  to  enable  the  deceased  person  to  carry  his  berry 
clusters  with  him  on  his  journey. 

At  12  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  canyon  road;  L.  0.5  m.  on  this  road, 
which  winds  under  the  shadow  of  TAHQUITZ  PEAK  (8,826  alt.)  to  a 
parking  space,  from  which  a  trail  leads  into  TAHQUITZ  CANYON. 
At  the  entrance  to  the  canyon  is  TAHQUITZ  BOWL,  an  outdoor  amphitheater 
in  which  a  play  is  given  each  summer.  This  canyon,  like  Palm,  Murray, 
and  Andreas  Canyons,  is  in  the  Agua  Caliente  Reservation  and  the  Indians 
exact  minor  tariffs  from  the  tourists. 

A  creek  flows  down  through  deep  rock  gorges  and  splashes  over  an 
8o-foot  drop  into  a  pool,  creating,  during  summer  storms,  a  windy  roar 
that  the  Indians  called  the  voice  of  Tahquitz — a  spirit  who  feeds  on  human 
flesh.  There  are  many  excellent  trails  ascending  the  canyon  sides  and 
affording  good  views. 

PALM  SPRINGS,  27.2  m.  (430  alt.,  pop.  subject  to  seasonal  changes), 
one  of  the  newest  playgrounds  of  rich  America,  has  been  successively  the 
domain  of  Cahuilla  Indians,  a  stagecoach  stop,  and  a  desert  home  for  the 
convalescent  and  tubercular.  Today  this  ultrasmart  winter  resort  for 
movie  stars  and  for  people  who  like  and  can  afford  to  live  where  and  as 
movie  stars  live,  gleams  as  brightly  as  a  new  toy  village.  Its  buildings 
are  uniformly  of  California  pseudo-Spanish  architecture:  the  white,  lemon, 
or  buff-colored  dwellings,  entered  by  doors  painted  bright  red,  blue,  or 
yellow,  are  surmounted  by  red  tile  roofs  and  enclosed  by  wooden  fences, 
bordered  by  rows  of  pink  and  white  oleanders  or  the  green  feathery 
plumage  of  tamarisk  trees.  Here  are  branches  of  the  most  expensive  New 
York  and  Los  Angeles  shops;  golf  courses  and  hotels  that  range  from  the 
palatial  to  the  modestly  magnificent;  private  and  public  schools  and  no 
lack  of  masseurs  and  masseuses;  dude  cowhands  for  atmosphere  and 
branch  brokerage  offices  for  the  bigger  businessmen. 

First  known  as  Agua  Caliente  (hot  water) — so  named  by  De  Anza  in 
1774  because  of  its  hot  springs — the  settlement  dates  from  1876,  when  the 
Southern  Pacific  first  laid  down  its  tracks  through  Coachella  Valley.  Until 
1913  Palm  Springs  remained  a  sleepy  little  hamlet  with  a  single  store  and 
a  roadside  inn  on  a  poor  desert  road.  A  nearby  gold  mine,  the  Virginia 
Dale,  offered  the  only  attraction  to  people  in  search  of  a  living,  and  the 
warm  dry  climate  (average  noontime  temperature,  81°;  average  evening 
temperature,  45°)  made  it  an  excellent  but  little  known  health  resort.  Then 
Hollywood,  early  in  the  i93o's,  discovered  the  climatic  and  topographical 
charm  of  the  little  village  resting  on  a  shelf  of  the  San  Jacinto  Mountain 
base  at  the  edge  of  the  desert.  A  new  highway  was  cut  through,  Los 
Angeles  and  New  York  promoters  got  to  work,  and  the  modern  town 
sprang  up  almost  with  the  speed  of  a  movie  set. 

Here  one  finds  the  desert  safely  pushed  to  the  borders  of  a  transplanted 
section  of  Hollywood  Blvd.  Guests  sprint  about  town  on  bicycles,  sip 
cocktails,  play  table  tennis,  explore  the  nearby  desert  on  horseback,  or, 
relaxing  in  some  hotel  garden,  enjoy  the  lengthening  shadow  of  the  San 


TOUR     13        629 

Jacinto  and  the  quiet  of  the  land  stretching  out  to  the  eastern  hills.  After 
dark  they  visit  the  night  clubs,  casinos,  and  movies. 

The  town's  SULPHUR  SPRINGS  lie  just  east  of  the  business  district  on  the 
AGUA  CALIENTE  RESERVATION;  here  the  Indians  who  own  the 
property  maintain  a  bathhouse  on  the  spot  where  their  forefathers  camped 
for  hundreds  of  years.  The  commercial  competition  of  the  Indians  has 
aroused  the  bitter  antagonism  of  the  townspeople. 

Each  year  La  Fiesta  de  los  Monos  (the  feast  of  the  images)  is  held  on 
the  reservation — now  in  a  somewhat  corrupt  form  owing  to  the  presence 
of  prosperous  strangers  who  want  quaint  entertainment.  This  ancient 
Cahuilla  rite  is  designed  to  aid  the  spirit  in  departing  from  this  earth 
after  death.  When  the  number  of  deaths  in  a  family  reaches  eight,  the 
survivors  gather  to  dance,  wail,  and  chant.  They  make  effigies  of  the 
deceased  on  wooden  frames  five  feet  high;  dressing,  painting,  and  deco- 
rating them  is  an  elaborate  ceremony  lasting  several  days,  during  which 
the  family  is  obliged  to  entertain  a  great  crowd  of  tribal  visitors.  When 
the  images  have  been  completed,  the  tribe  has  an  all-night  dance;  money 
is  distributed  among  the  guests.  At  dawn,  when  Lucero,  the  morning 
star,  reaches  a  certain  height,  the  images  are  burned  in  a  pit,  and  their 
released  spirits  depart  to  the  upper  regions. 

Directly  west  of  Palm  Springs  is  TACHEVAN  (dry  rock)  CANYON; 
a  short  walk  leads  to  a  mountain  stream  trickling  among  brightly  painted 
rocks — an  ideal  picnic  site. 

Right  0.5  m.  from  Palm  Springs  on  a  county  road  to  the  PALM  SPRINGS 
AIRPORT. 

North  of  Palm  Springs  small  white  stucco  and  plaster  buildings,  housing 
the  offices  of  Los  Angeles  realtors  and  promoters,  border  State  in  more 
frequently  than  the  date  palms.  Mesquite-covered  desert  land  stretches 
northwest  to  the  brown  foothills  of  the  Little  San  Bernardino  Mountains. 

At  37.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  60-70-99   (see  below). 

Northwest  of  Indio  US  60-70-99  runs  over  gradually  rising  sand 
plains  past  whitish  billows  of  mesquite-spotted  sand  dunes  to  WHITE- 
WATER, 30.1  m.  (1,130  alt.,  loo  pop.),  a  service  stop  under  a  grove 
of  cottonwoods. 

At  33.6  772.  is  a  junction  with  State  in    (see  above). 

Near  the  road  just  north  of  this  junction  point  is  the  OLIVER  POWER 
GENERATOR,  a  curious  funnel-shaped  tube  looking  like  the  barrel  of  a 
giant  blunderbuss,  tiger-striped  with  an  orange-lettered  advertisement. 
It  was  designed  to  harness  the  wind  that  rushes  down  the  pass  and  to 
transform  it  into  electric  power  by  means  of  propellers.  The  device 
worked,  but  promoters  oversold  the  stock  and  discredited  the  scheme. 

The  highway  rises  westward  through  low  SAN  GORGONIO 
PASS,  between  the  peaks  of  SAN  JACINTO  and  SAN  GOR- 
GONIO, both  of  which  are  usually  snowcapped.  Indians  had  used  the 
pass  for  their  winter  trek  to  lower  levels,  but  hostile  tribes  at  top  and 
bottom  did  much  to  discourage  white  travel.  In  1862  the  stage  route 
to  Ehrenberg  started  down  the  grade,  but  later  shifted  its  terminus  to 
Yuma  and  selected  another  route  that  took  the  stages  through  more 
miles  of  mountainous  territory  before  dropping  them  to  the  hot  floor 
of  the  desert.  Passengers  had  protested  at  the  frequency  with  which 
they  had  to  clamber  out  and  help  the  stages  out  of  the  sand. 

Through  this  pass  winds  blow  ceaslessly  from  the  ocean  to  the 
desert.  East  winds  seldom  occur,  but  when  they  do  Los  Angeles  wilts 


630        CALIFORNIA 

under  blistering  "Santa  Anas,"  dry  wind  storms.  These  reversals 
usually  occur  on  the  rare  occasions  when  rain  strikes  the  desert.  Foggy 
days  on  the  coast  intensify  the  rush  of  air  toward  the  east,  causing  the 
harsh  desert  winds  of  April  and  May. 

Along  the  highway  long  freight  trains  are  frequently  seen,  two 
engines  herding  them  slowly  and  powerfully  up  the  grade.  The  South- 
ern Pacific  laid  its  tracks  through  here  in  1875,  after  first  winning  the 
friendliness  of  the  Cahuilla  by  promising  them  free  rides. 

CABAZON,  40.1  m.  (1,791  alt.,  100  pop.),  is  a  Southern  Pacific 
R.R.  town  with  a  roundhouse  for  the  auxiliary  engines  that  help  push 
passenger  and  freight  trains  over  the  pass.  The  name,  a  corruption 
of  the  Spanish  word  cabezon  (big  head),  was  given  by  Spaniards, 
according  to  legend,  for  a  local  Indian  chief  with  a  very  large  head. 
The  almost  continuous  winds  from  the  pass  have  given  the  town  a 
sandblasted  appearance. 

Upward  through  country  increasingly  green  as  the  summit  (2,559 
alt.)  is  approached,  the  highway  climbs  into  BANNING,  46.1  m. 
(2,350  alt.,  2,750  pop.),  laid  out  in  1883  by  Phineas  Banning,  stage- 
coach operator.  Banning  is  in  a  fruit-producing  area. 

Within  recent  years  a  camel  frisked  about  the  neighborhood  of 
Banning,  finally  making  such  a  nuisance  of  himself  that  he  was  hunted 
down  by  a  posse  and  shot.  This  was  undoubtedly  an  aged  survivor  of 
the  government  caravans  that  crossed  the  desert  prior  to  the  Civil  War. 
For  various  reasons — the  camels  terrified  horses,  their  feet  were  cut 
by  stones,  and  the  officers  in  charge  hated  the  slow  bad-tempered  beasts 
— the  experiment  was  closed;  but  the  participating  animals  remained  a 
problem  for  many  years  afterward.  Some  wild  camels  were  sighted  on 
the  desert  as  late  as  1890,  and  even  now  newcomers  are  solemnly 
assured  they  can  expect  to  run  into  them  at  any  moment. 

1.  Right   from   Banning  on    a    dirt   road   to   the   MORONGO    INDIAN 
RESERVATION,  5.5  m.   (appointments  to  visit  reservation  should  be  made 
with  Indian  Agent  at  Banning}.     On  this  reservation,  named  for  "Captain 
John"  Morongo,   a  great  Indian  leader,  live  294  Indians  of  the   Cahuilla 
tribe  and  Serrano  clan. 

2.  Right  from  Banning  on  a  good  dirt  road  through  Banning  Canyon, 
where    desert    and    mountain    meet    in    vivid    contrast,    to    HIGHLAND 
SPRINGS,   2   m.,   a   resort   among  mountains,   streams,   canyons,    and   pine 
forests.     On  the  hotel  grounds  is  an  INDIAN  GRINDING  STONE,  left  by  pre- 
historic tribes. 

At  INTERNATIONAL  PARK,  2.5  m.,  another  resort  area,  a  Japanese 
cherry  blossom  festival  is  held  each  spring. 

BOGART  BOWL,  a  natural  amphitheater  adjacent  to  International  Park, 
draws  picnickers  and  receives  wide  notice  as  the  focal  point  of  an  ambitious 
international  peace  program  and  as  the  setting  of  an  annual  Easter  sunrise 
service. 

BEAUMONT,  52.1  m.  (2,559  alt.,  1,331  pop.),  spreads  over  a 
plain  at  the  summit  of  the  pass.  The  region  was  opened  to  Yankees 
in  1853  by  a  herd  of  straying  cattle.  Fast  in  pursuit,  Dr.  I.  W.  Smith, 
a  Mormon,  followed  the  errant  beeves  from  San  Bernardino  to  their 
final  stopping  point,  directly  north  of  the  townsite.  Smith  at  once 


TOUR     13        631 

began  to  pioneer  in  the  region,  beating  off  grizzlies  and  fleeing  from 
Indians,  until  the  area  became  somewhat  sophisticated  by  the  addition 
of  a  stage  station  and  later  a  hotel  (1884).  Beaumont,  called  San 
Gorgonio  from  1884  to  1887,  did  not  grow  with  the  customary  Cali- 
fornia speed  until  a  development  company  shifted  the  townsite  and 
publicized  the  regional  potentialities  for  fruit-growing.  Apples  were 
planted  in  vain;  but  cherries  and  almonds  prospered;  each  spring 
thousands  drive  to  see  the  cherry  blossoms  that  cover  the  region  with 
a  sea  of  white  billows. 

At  Beaumont  is  the  junction  where  US  99-70  swings  R.  (see 
TOUR  3d),  forming  an  alternate  route  between  Beaumont  and  On- 
tario (see  TOUR  3d).  US  60  continued  westward. 

At  the  western  margin  of  Beaumont  the  stately  eucalyptus  tree 
appears.  These  trees,  imported  from  Australia  in  the  belief  that  they 
could  be  exploited  for  their  oil  and  hardwood,  were  set  out  in  great 
tracts  all  over  the  State.  But  the  trees  proved  practically  valueless  and 
they  are  now  merely  graceful  additions  to  the  coastal  scenery.  They 
grow  with  extreme  rapidity,  sometimes  reaching  a  height  of  175  feet 
in  25  years.  The  highway  begins  a  winding  passage  through  the 
MORENO  BADLANDS,  a  country  that  hardly  deserves  the  name. 
Through  gullies  and  canyons  appear  foothills  green  with  live-oaks.  In 
spring  these  hills  are  gay  with  blue  lupin,  yellow  wild  mustard,  and 
golden  California  poppies.  US  60  next  traverses  a  broad  expanse  of 
open  land;  great  tracts  of  the  reddish  soil  are  used  for  the  growing  of 
grain,  principally  wheat,  oats,  and  barley. 

At  71  m.  is  a  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6e)  ;  which  unites 
briefly  westward  with  US  60. 

RIVERSIDE,  76.5  m.  (851  alt.,  29,696  pop.),  with  wide  streets 
bordered  with  palm  trees  and  roses,  has  street  lights  shaped  like  the 
Indian  rain  cross — one  light  is  at  the  top  of  the  tall  pole,  two  others 
are  suspended  from  the  crossarm.  The  first  white  man  to  tramp  this 
soil  came  from  over  the  Sierra.  In  1774  Captain  Juan  de  Anza,  on 
his  way  from  Arizona  to  Monterey,  built  a  bridge  across  the  flowing 
Santa  Ana  River  here.  The  area  was  part  of  the  Jurupa  Rancho  of 
Don  Juan  Bandini,  mentioned  by  Dana  in  his  Two  Years  Before  the 
Mast.  The  discovery  of  gold  brought  in  the  Yankees,  who  soon  elbowed 
the  Mexicans  out  of  their  holdings.  A  flood  in  1862,  followed  by 
two  years  of  drought,  decimated  the  herds  and  forced  intensive  develop- 
ment of  water  resources  and  agriculture.  In  1870  the  Southern  Cali- 
fornia Colony  Association  purchased  the  ranchos  and  surveyed  the 
Riverside  townsite.  Soon  the  hacienda  gave  way  to  the  cottage. 

The  city's  showplace  is  the  block-square,  privately  owned  GLEN- 
WOOD  MISSION  INN,  bounded  by  Sixth,  Seventh,  Main,  and  Orange 
Sts.  Its  Patio  Dining  Court,  Spanish  Cloisters,  and  Courts  of  the  Birds 
and  the  Bells  are  proudly  displayed  to  visitors.  Within  the  inn  are 
collections  of  art  objects  and  of  pioneer  relics. 

Riverside  is  the  trade  center  of  the  citrus  ranches.  Here  in  the 
broad  valley  of  the  Santa  Ana  River,  the  popular  navel  orange  was 


632        CALIFORNIA 

developed.  In  1873  a  Riverside  woman  obtained  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  at  Washington  two  cuttings  of  a  "sport"  variety  of 
orange,  imported  from  Brazil.  This  orange  had  suddenly  appeared  on 
one  tree  in  Bahia,  secreting  more  juice  and  abandoning  its  ancient 
custom  of  reproducing  by  seed.  It  was  the  first  seedless'  orange. 
Abetted  in  its  waywardness  by  orchardists,  it  has  been  widely  propa- 
gated. When  the  first  trees  were  set  out  the  shoots  were  so  much  in 
demand  that  a  price  of  $i  a  dozen  was  set  upon  them.  Thieves  stole 
so  many  shoots  that  it  became  necessary  to  surround  the  trees  with  a 
high  barbed  wire  fence.  The  surviving  PARENT  NAVEL  ORANGE  TREE 
stands  at  the  corner  of  Magnolia  and  Arlington  Aves. 

When  John  W.  North,  founder  of  Riverside,  inaugurated  a  tree- 
planting  program  in  1876,  he  first  proposed  to  line  Magnolia  Avenue 
with  magnolia  trees.  He  changed  his  mind,  however,  when  he  learned 
that  magnolias  cost  $2  each,  whereas  eucalypti  and  peppers  cost  only 
5^  each;  he  planted  the  latter  but  kept  the  name. 

The  CITRUS  EXPERIMENT  STATION  (open  weekdays},  at  the  north- 
eastern end  of  the  city,  is  operated  by  the  University  of  California. 

In  Riverside  is  the  western  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6e). 

Left  from  Riverside  on  Magnolia  Ave.  (State  18)  to  the  SHERMAN 
INDIAN  INSTITUTE,  (L)  5.2  m.,  a  large  resident,  co-educational  school  for 
Indian  children  more  than  14  years  old;  it  occupies  a  4o-acre  tract. 
Academic  instruction  is  given  to  the  twelfth  grade,  with  special  emphasis 
on  vocational  training. 

CORONA,  13.9  m.  (700  alt.,  8,100  pop.),  formerly  called  South  Riverside, 
has  a  circular  boulevard.  In  1913,  when  the  automobile  was  still  new, 
Ralph  De  Palma,  Barney  Oldfield,  and  Earl  Cooper  participated  in  a 
300-mile,  free-for-all  race  on  the  boulevard;  Cooper,  the  winner,  averaged 
a  breath-taking  75  miles  per  hour. 

Corona  stands  on  the  former  Rancho  El  Temescal.  Both  the  ranch  and 
the  canyon  southwest  of  the  city  were  so  named  because  of  the  many  sweat- 
houses  in  the  region;  these  were  around  hot  springs,  which  were  popular 
with  the  red  men,  who  practiced  hydrotherapy. 

West  of  Riverside,  US  60  passes  under  a  graystone  archway,  above 
which  green  terraces  (L)  circle  the  lower  slopes  of  MOUNT  RUBI- 
DOUX  (1,337  alt.).  According  to  tradition,  this  hill  was  once  the 
altar  of  Cahuilla  and  Serrano  sun  worship.  Pagan  influence  has  been 
obliterated  by  the  erection  of  an  immense  cross  on  the  peak,  honoring 
Fra  Junipero  Serra,  founder  of  the  California  missions.  The  cross, 
visible  across  the  valleys,  is  the  focal  point  of  Easter  sunrise  services 
attended  by  thousands.  On  the  side  of  the  mountain  stands  the  WORLD 
PEACE  TOWER,  dedicated  by  the  people  of  Riverside  to  Frank  A.  Millar, 
proprietor  of  the  Mission  Inn,  active  in  the  promotion  of  international 
peace.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  is  the  ST.  FRANCIS  SHRINE,  with  a 
fountain  for  birds. 

The  highway  runs  between  a  long  lane  of  pepper  trees  with  finely 
cut  drooping  leaves  and  clusters  of  red  berries. 

MIRA  LOMA  (lookout  hill),  86  m.  (787  alt.,  250  pop.),  is  a 
little  settlement  surrounded  by  acres  of  vineyards.  Grapes  thrive  in 
the  sandy,  irrigated  soil. 


TOUR     13        633 

At  95.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  Central  Ave. 

Left  on  Central  Ave.  to  CHINO  (713  alt.,  3,118  pop.),  3  m.,  the  trade 
center  of  a  citrus  and  beet-sugar  growing  area.  It  was  founded  in  1887 
when  Richard  Gird  subdivided  half  of  his  47,ooo-acre  Rancho  Del  China 
into  lo-acre  farms  and  laid  out  a  mile  square  townsJte  in  the  center. 

The  CALIFORNIA  STATE  PRISON  FOR  FIRST  OFFENDERS  occupies  a  tract 
between  Edison,  Central,  Euclid,  and  N.  Robles  Aves.  The  capacity,  when 
completed  in  1939,  will  be  2,100  inmates.  In  the  $4,000,000  prison  will 
be  a  psychiatric  hospital  for  the  care  of  prisoners  who  have  pleaded  "not 
guilty  by  reason  of  insanity." 

POMONA,  100.2  m.  (861  alt.,  20,804  POP«)>  was  named  for  the 
Roman  goddess  of  fruits  at  its  founding  in  1875.  It  is  now  the  chief 
shipping  point  of  a  large  citrus-growing  region.  The  sheep  of  Mission 
San  Gabriel,  tended  by  Indian  herdsmen,  grazed  here  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  when  Rancho  San  Jose  was  part  of  the  mission's 
holdings.  In  1830  the  rancho's  2  square  leagues  were  granted  to 
Ygnacio  Palomares  and  Ricardo  Vejar,  but  there  were  few  settlers 
here  until  after  the  rails  of  the  Southern  Pacific  had  been  laid.  The 
boom  that  attended  the  city's  inception  was  followed  by  a  2-year 
drought,  which  left  nothing  but  a  cluster  of  houses  amid  sheep  ranges. 
Only  in  1882,  with  the  formation  of  the  Pomona  Land  and  Water 
Company,  did  steady  growth  begin. 

The  PALOMARES  ADOBE,  1569  N.  Park  Ave.,  back  from  the  street 
among  oleanders,  jasmines,  roses,  and  peach  and  orange  trees,  was  built 
soon  after  1837.  Its  l°w  ro°f  projects  over  a  broad  corrector  and 
its  outside  stairway  climbs  through  vines  and  creepers.  Nearby,  at 
1475  N.  Park  Ave.,  hidden  among  flowers  and  fruit  trees  is  the 
ALVARADO  ADOBE,  once  the  residence  of  Palomares'  close  friend, 
Ygnacio  Alvarado,  who  had  a  private  chapel  in  his  home.  Not  far 
away,  at  548  S.  Kenoak  Dr.,  is  the  CHRISTIAN  OAK,  under  which,  on 
Nov.  1 8,  1873,  Father  Zalvidea  of  Mission  San  Gabriel  conducted  a 
dedicatory  mass  for  Rancho  San  Jose,  and  pronounced  benediction  on 
the  Palomares  and  Vejar  families. 

GANESHA  PARK,  between  Walnut  and  Val  Vista  Sts.,  named  for 
a  Hindu  god,  and  planted  to  resemble  a  natural  woodland,  holds  a  large 
open-air  GREEK  THEATER  and  sport  facilities.  LOOKOUT  POINT  com- 
mands a  fine  panorama. 

Adjoining  Ganesha  Park  on  the  northwest  are  the  175-acre  Los 
ANGELES  COUNTY  FAIR  GROUNDS,  since  1922  the  scene  of  what  the 
exposition's  literature  calls  "the  biggest  county  fair  in  America."  Haif- 
a-million visitors  flock  in  annually  in  September  to  see  agricultural, 
horticultural,  livestock,  domestic  arts,  educational,  machinery,  and  arts 
and  crafts  exhibits,  as  well  as  poultry,  rabbits,  and  dairy  produce. 
Thousands  of  entries  compete  for  prizes  against  a  carnival  background. 
On  the  half-mile  track,  with  its  huge  grandstand,  is  pari-mutuel  racing. 

Pomona  is  at  the  junction  with  US  99-70  (see  TOUR  3d),  which 
unites  westward  with  US  60. 

Left  from  Pomona  on  Hamilton  Ave.  to  a  junction  with  Valley  Blvd. 
at  2.3  m, ;  R  to  SPADRA,  3.5  m.  (711  alt.,  275  pop.),  named  for  his  native 


634        CALIFORNIA 

home    in    Arkansas,    Spadra    Bluffs,    by    William    Rubottom,    first    Yankee 
settler  in  Pomona  Valley,  who  conducted  a  tavern. 

On  the  DIAMOND  BAR  RANCH  (L)  4.5  m.,  against  the  rugged  lower  slopes 
of  the  Rocky  Hills,  is  the  two-story  VEJAR  ADOBE,  second  ranch  house  of 
Ricardo  Vejar.  Built  in  1850,  just  two  years  before  Yankee  business 
methods  reduced  Vejar  to  poverty,  the  ranch  house  is  one  of  the  best 
examples  of  the  adobe  mansion  in  southern  California,  its  broad  corridores 
and  handmade  doors  unmarred  by  the  passage  of  time. 

At  103.8  m.  is  an  asphalt  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  the  grounds  of  the  W.  K.  KELLOGG  INSTITUTE  OF 
ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY,  1  m.  (open  daily  except  Mon.;  adm.  free],  sweeping 
down  from  the  hilltops  into  lush  green  hollows,  with  scattered  stucco 
buildings,  embowered  against  the  slopes.  In  the  tile-roofed  stables  are 
spacious  stalls  grouped  about  a  plot  of  green  turf,  in  which  are  quartered 
more  than  75  registered  Arabian  horses,  many  of  them  well  known  through 
their  motion  picture  appearances.  In  the  rear  is  a  ring  with  grandstands 
where  a  horse  show  is  presented  at  2:00  and  3:30  p.m.  on  Sundays.  The 
75o-acre  farm,  founded  in  1925  by  the  corn  flake  king,  was  in  1932  pre- 
sented to  the  University  of  California,  together  with  a  cash  endowment 
of  $600,000,  as  a  foundation  for  a  teaching  and  research  institution  of 
animal  husbandry. 

The  highway  runs  through  the  far-spreading  groves  of  the  valley 
floor  after  an  easy  descent  from  the  gently  sloping  SAN  JOSE  HILLS. 
At  108.5  m.  is  a  junction  with  Citrus  Ave. 

Right  on  Citrus  Ave.  is  CO  VINA,  1.2  m.  (555  alt.,  2,774  P°P-)>  a  typical 
San  Gabriel  Valley  community  centering  about  the  12  packing  nouses 
where  oranges,  lemons,  grapefruit,  and  tangerines  are  wrapped  and  boxed 
for  shipment.  Here,  white-walled,  red-tiled  homes,  schools,  and  churches 
stand  among  thick-leaved  citrus  trees,  clumps  of  ragged  eucalypti,  and  lacy 
pepper  trees. 

US  6070-99  strikes  westward  through  a  region  of  truck  gardens 
and  scattered  shacks,  and  thence  through  alternating  walnut  and  orange 
groves.  Under  the  low-spreading  branches  of  the  walnuts  a  foamy 
yellow-green  ocean  of  wild  mustard  rolls  away.  In  blossomtime,  the 
orange  trees  send  out  a  sweet,  heavy  scent. 

At  116.1  m.  is  a  junction  with  Valley  Blvd. 

Right  on  Valley  Blvd.  to  GAY'S  LION  FARM,  0.6  m.  (open  daily  except 
Mon.,  10-5;  adm.  50(J),  blazoned  on  signboards  as  the  "Internationally 
Famous  Gay's  Lion  Farm — the  Farm  Extraordinary."  Here  a  plaster  lion 
crouches  before  a  background  of  log  stockades,  palm-thatched  roofs,  banana 
plants,  and  bamboo.  Among  the  5  acres  of  flowers  and  shrubs  are  nine 
lion  houses  occupied  by  more  than  200  African  lions  (many  of  them 
credited  with  appearances  before  moving  picture  cameras)  which  the  farm 
raises  for  sale.  Chief  attractions  are  the  cubs,  fed  from  nursing  bottles. 

MONTEREY  PARK,  121.9  m.  (475  alt.,  6,406  pop.),  incorpo- 
rated in  1916,  is  in  the  low,  rolling  Monterey  hills.  The  community 
is  proud  of  its  many  old  trees,  which  include  the  pepper,  the  California 
live-oak,  pink-flowering  white  ironbark,  Australian  beech,  Torrey  pine, 
various  types  of  palm,  and  several  kinds  of  cork  oak. 

West  of  Monterey  Park,  US  60-70-99  runs  between  gas  stations, 


TOUR     14        635 

real    estate   offices,    and    roadstands    (offering    for   sale    anything   from 
eggs  and  puppies  to  firewood  and  chile  con  carne). 

LOS  ANGELES,  130.7  m.  (see  LOS  ANGELES). 


CCC««<«««««C<«««<C<«<«C^^ 


Tour  14 


(Yuma,  Ariz.) — El  Centre — Jacumba — La  Mesa — San  Diego,  US  80. 
Arizona  Line  to  San  Diego,  177.6  m. 

Caution:     For  side  trips  on  sandy  desert  roads,  car  and  equipment  should  be 

checked  carefully.     Extra  food,  fuel,  and  water  should  be  carried,  also  gunny 

sacks  to  provide  traction  in  loose  sand. 

San  Diego  &  Arizona  Eastern  R.R.  roughly  parallels  route. 

Accommodations  adequate  except  on  side  roads. 

Paved  roadbed  throughout,  open  all  seasons.    Excellent  route  for  trailers. 

US  80  runs  westward  across  the  thinly  populated  southernmost 
section  of  California.  In  altitude  the  route  varies  from  below  sea 
level  to  an  elevation  of  4,050  feet.  Spanish  explorers  first  called  this 
road  the  Jornada  de  la  Muerte  (journey  of  death)  and  El  Camino  del 
Diablo  (devil's  highway). 

The  first  Butterfield  stage,  carrying  mail  from  St.  Louis  to  San 
Francisco,  used  this  route  in  1858.  Twice  a  week  after  this  until  1861 
the  long  trip  was  made,  the  only  scheduled  service  from  East  to  West 
and  one  of  the  longest  stage  routes  in  history.  The  Butterfield  line 
used  100  Troy  and  Concord  coaches,  1,000  horses,  500  mules  and  800 
men.  The  eastern  part  of  the  route  was  menaced  by  Comanche,  the 
middle  part  by  Apache  and  the  western  section  by  Yuma  and  Mojave. 
Because  road  agents  regarded  the  stages  as  legitimate  prey,  the  coaches 
became  traveling  forts.  Advertisements  of  the  line  in  the  East  read, 
"Fare  $200  in  gold.  Passengers  are  advised  to  provide  themselves 
with  a  Sharp's  rifle  and  one  hundred  rounds  of  ammunition.  Through 
service  from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco  by  the  quickest  route.  Twenty- 
four  days  travel  in  our  luxurious  stages  and  you  will  arrive  in  'The 
Land  of  Gold' !"  The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  ended  the  Southern 
control  of  Congress,  which  had  forced  the  use  of  this  hard  and  round- 
about route. 

West  of  the  Colorado  River  lies  the  great  Colorado  Desert,  the 
dark  brown  Chocolate  Mountains  flanking  its  northern  and  eastern 
rims;  a  great  series  of  shifting  sand  dunes  lies  diagonally  across  it, 
intersecting  the  highway  between  Yuma  and  Holtville.  The  Imperial 
Valley  area,  much  of  which  is  below  sea  level,  lies  in  the  heart  of  the 
desert — irrigated  land  in  the  white  waste. 


636        CALIFORNIA 

West  of  the  desert,  the  highway  climbs  the  forested  mountains  of 
the  Peninsular  Range ;  as  the  road  winds  down  the  western  slope  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  orange,  lemon,  and  grapefruit  groves,  vineyards,  and 
avocado  orchards  appear. 

Section  a.    ARIZONA  LINE  to  EL  CENTRO;  56.6  m.  US  80. 

The  COLORADO  (Sp.,  ruddy)  RIVER,  0  m.,  separates  Arizona 
and  California.  It  is  crossed  by  a  steel  bridge,  one  end  of  whose  span 
is  in  Yuma,  Arizona. 

The  Colorado  River  was  discovered,  supposedly,  by  Hernando  de 
Alarcon  in  August  1540;  he  named  it  Rio  Grande  de  Buena  Esperanza 
(great  river  of  good  hope).  For  15  days  Alarcon  and  his  party  ex- 
plored the  river  in  small  boats.  Two  land  expeditions,  commanded 
by  Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado,  explored  this  territory  in  1540  and 
1541.  Melchior  Diaz,  chief  of  one  of  the  parties,  named  the  river 
Rio  del  Tizon  (river  of  the  firebrand)  for  the  sticks  of  burning  wood 
carried  by  the  native  Indians.  Father  Kino,  the  Jesuit  priest,  called 
it  Rio  de  los  Martires  (river  of  the  martyrs),  when  he  crossed  the 
desert  in  1701.  The  present  name  was  given  it  by  Governor  Juan  de 
Ofiate  of  New  Mexico  in  1905  and  was  suggested  by  the  reddish  color 
imparted  by  silt  suspended  in  the  water. 

When  bridges  were  built  across  the  Colorado  in  the  iSyo's  and 
l88o's,  an  adventurous  period  of  river  history  ended.  Early  explorers 
and  adventurers  crossed  the  river  by  fording  or  swimming  their  horses. 
In  1849,  when  men  were  crossing  the  continent  to  California  by  every 
possible  route,  two  ferries  were  in  operation.  One  was  run  by  Indians 
using  a  boat  abandoned  by  Gen.  Alex  Anderson  of  Tennessee;  the 
other  was  operated  by  a  Dr.  Lincoln,  in  partnership  with  an  outlaw, 
John  Glanton.  To  quell  competition,  Glanton  had  his  men  kill  Lincoln 
and  wreck  the  Indians'  boat.  The  Indians  in  turn  wiped  out  Glanton 
and  his  gang  and  had  the  river  to  themselves  until  1850.  In  that  year 
L.  J.  (Don  Diego)  laeger  led  a  group  across  the  desert  from  San 
Diego.  The  men  nearly  died  of  thirst  and  heat  before  reaching  the 
banks  of  the  Colorado  on  July  10,  1850.  Work  on  a  ferryboat  was 
started  as  soon  as  they  recovered.  Beams  were  hewed  from  cotton- 
woods,  and  fastened  with  wooden  pegs. 

West  of  the  bridge  the  road  traverses  small  Yuma  or  Bard  Valley. 
The  derivation  of  "Yuma"  is  uncertain,  but  was  first  mentioned  by 
Father  Kino.  It  may  come  from  the  word  Yahmayo  (Ind.,  sons  of  the 
captain,  or,  sons  of  the  river). 

The  YUMA  INDIAN  SCHOOL  and  INDIAN  AGENCY,  0.1  m.,  on 
a  hill  (R),  is  on  the  site  of  the  old  Fort  Yuma.  A  STATUE  OF  FATHER 
GARCES  stands  in  front  of  the  chapel.  In  1781  the  Mission  Purissima 
Concepcion,  which  had  been  built  on  this  spot,  was  destroyed  by  Indians 
who  objected  to  the  serflike  conditions  the  fathers  imposed.  In  1880 
an  Indian  school  was  opened  on  Don  Diego's  farm,  somewhat  north- 
west, but  in  1890  the  Catholic  Church  established  this  school  on  a 


TQUR     14        637 

Government  subsidy.  The  Indians  are  still  reluctant  to  send  their 
children  to  the  white  man's  school. 

The  YUMA  INDIAN  MISSION  (R),  0.2  m.,  is  on  the  Fort  Yuma 
Indian  Reservation. 

At  0.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  graveled  road. 

Right  on  this  road  through  the  FORT  YUMA  INDIAN  RESERVA- 
TION, covering  8,350  acres,  where  the  dwindling  members  of  the  Yuman 
tribe  have  been  living  and  farming  since  the  i88o's.  Scattered  on  each 
side  of  the  road  are  the  small  adobe  huts  of  the  Indians  with  thatched 
roofs  and  ramadas  (arbors)  where  the  owners  rest  after  work  and  hang 
their  vegetables,  skins,  and  utensils.  Although  the  reservation  is  irrigated 
by  a  canal  from  Laguna  Dam,  the  smaller  farms  are  not  well  kept  and 
look  parched.  It  is  noticeable  that  white  inhabitants  of  the  reservation 
outnumber  the  Indians. 

ROSS  CORNER,  5  m.,  is  a  small  trading  center;  L.  here  19  m.  on  a  sand 
road  to  the  old  PICACHO  (summit)  MINES.  Gold  was  found  here  in  1860 
by  an  Indian.  Twenty  years  later  Mexican  prospectors  struck  a  rich  lode, 
and  the  town  of  PICACHO,  21.5  m.,  sprang  up.  The  gold  brought  gay 
times  in  its  wake.  Bull  fights,  fandangos,  and  fiestas  were  frequent. 
Enterprising  Yankees  built  a  stamp  mill  and  a  small  railroad.  The 
"bankroll"  period  ended  when  the  mines  were  exhausted  early  in  the 
twentieth  century. 

On  the  main  side  road  is  the  UNITED  STATES  EXPERIMENTAL  FARM  (L), 
6.5  m.,  under  the  direction  of  the  Division  of  Plant  Introduction  in  Wash- 
ington. The  station,  in  operation  for  13  years,  has  developed  a  disease- 
resistant  alfalfa,  now  widely  used. 

BARD,  7m.  (87  alt.,  550  pop.),  is  a  settlement  of  the  Bard  Irrigation 
District. 

POT  HOLES,  10  m.,  named  for  the  pot  holes  in  the  river  at  this  point, 
is  little  more  than  a  group  of  houses  occupied  by  the  caretakers  of  the 
Laguna  Dam. 

The  LAGUNA  DAM,  12  m.,  formerly  called  the  Yuma  Dam,  is  a 
diversion  dam  for  irrigation  purposes,  the  first  undertaken  by  the  United 
States  Reclamation  Service  in  California.  The  weir  was  completed  in 
1909,  and  the  water  turned  into  the  canals  the  following  year. 

IMPERIAL  DAM,  17.5  m.,  is  the  headquarters  for  the  All-American 
Canal  (see  below),  part  of  the  Boulder  Dam  Project,  authorized  by  Con- 
gress in  1928.  The  dam,  of  the  floating,  or  Indian  weir  type,  has  raised 
the  surface  of  the  Colorado  River  22  feet. 

WINTERHAVEN,  0.9  m.  (85  alt.,  1,100  pop.),  a  bustling,  busi- 
nesslike spot,  was  headquarters  for  the  All-American  Canal  construc- 
tion work. 

ARAZ  STAGE  STATION,  5.8  m.,  once  a  way-station  for  freight 
wagons,  now  provides  gas  and  food  for  motorists. 

The  ALL-AMERICAN  CANAL  is  crossed  at  6.3  m.  This  irri- 
gation canal  is  80  miles  long,  200  feet  wide,  and  22  feet  deep  at  the 
water  level.  "Walking  dredges,"  with  booms  185  feet  long  and  buckets 
that  raised  14  cubic  yards  of  sand  at  a  scoop,  were  used  to  cut  through 
the  sand  dunes.  The  canal  can  deliver  15,000  cubic  feet  of  water 
per  second  to  the  Imperial  Valley. 

PILOT  KNOB  (1,000  alt.)  is  visible  (L)  along  this  stretch  of  the 
highway.  It  is  a  single,  dark  butte,  composed  of  granite  overlaid  by  vol- 
canic rock  and  lava  flows,  and  stands  just  north  of  the  Mexican  border. 

At  9.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 


638        CALIFORNIA 

Right  on  this  road  is  OGILBY,  3.9  m.  (365  alt.,  60  pop.),  once  a  booming 
mining  town  and  now  only  a  station  on  the  Southern  Pacific  R.R.  Gold 
was  mined  from  1879  to  1918  in  the  CARGO  MUCHACHO  (errand  boy) 
MOUNTAINS,  whose  twin  cones  (2,000  alt.)  rise  5  miles  northeast  of  the 
town. 

TUMCO,  10.5  m.,  named  for  the  initials  of  the  United  Mine  Company, 
is  another  ghost  of  a  mining  camp.  Early  in  the  igoo's,  Tumco  had  a 
population  of  3,000,  four  saloons  along  Stingaree  Gulch,  and  an  occasional 
gunfight.  The  Tumco  gold  deposits  were  discovered  by  a  Swedish 
track-walker,  who  apparently  deviated  from  his  line  of  duty. 

Desert  sand  hills  are  visible  on  both  sides  of  the  highway  at  14.2  m. 
Formed  by  the  wind,  the  shifting  dunes,  some  200  feet  high,  sometimes 
bury  the  road.  It  was  through  such  land  that  De  Anza  and  his  party 
struggled — the  first  white  men  known  to  have  crossed  the  Colorado 
Desert.  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza  was  captain  of  cavalry  of  the  Royal 
Presidio  of  Tubac,  Sonora,  Mexico.  Determined  to  find  an  overland 
route  to  the  Pacific,  he  assembled  his  first  expedition  at  Mission  San 
Xavier  del  Bac,  Mexico,  and  began  his  journey  in  1774.  He  set  up 
his  first  camp  near  the  present  Yuma.  Wtih  him  were  Father  Garces 
and  Capt.  Juan  Valdez,  who  has  been  called  the  Spanish  "Kit  Carson." 
Hostile  Apaches  stole  many  of  his  best  horses,  but  a  chief  of  another 
tribe  helped  the  party  immeasurably  with  food  and  guides.  In  1775 
De  Anza  organized  a  second  expedition  larger  and  better  equipped, 
which  crossed  the  desert  and  took  colonists  to  San  Francisco. 

Vestiges  of  the  Old  Plank  Road  (L),  parallel  the  highway  at  14.6 
m.  This  was  built  in  1914  and  followed  the  contours  of  the  sand 
hills  across  the  desert;  the  present  highway  skirts  their  tops.  Constant 
shifting  of  the  sand  made  this  narrow  plank  road  expensive  and  difficult 
to  maintain. 

LITTLE  VALLEY,  17  m.,  a  small  valley  amid  shifting  dunes, 
is  one  of  Hollywood's  favorite  desert  locations.  Many  a  sheik  picture 
and  epic  of  the  Foreign  Legion  has  been  shot  here. 

GRAY'S  WELL,  20.4  m.  (restaurant,  gasoline,  cabins),  was 
named  for  Newt  Gray  of  Holtville,  who  worked  hardest  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  desert  road  to  Yuma. 

West  of  Gray's  Well  is  an  arid  country,  part  of  the  SALTON 
SINK  (see  TOUR  3e),  typical  of  Imperial  Valley  before  it  was 
reclaimed  by  irrigation. 

MIDWAY  WELL,  29.6  m.  (service  station  and  cafe),  is  on  the 
edge  of  the  Imperial  Valley. 

At  40.6  m.  parts  of  the  ANCIENT  BEACH  LINE  of  Lake 
Cahuilla  are  visible.  The  beach  line  is  a  hard,  elliptic  ridge  of  sand 
around  the  Imperial  Valley. 

US  80  crosses  the  EAST  HIGHLAND  CANAL,  41.1  m.,  which 
extends  along  the  rim  of  the  valley  to  a  point  north  of  Niland,  and, 
with  the  Main  Central  Canal  and  the  West  Side  Main  Canal  supplies 
water  to  the  valley.  The  highway  drops  gradually  here. 

DATE  CITY,  42.5  m.  (15  alt.),  is  headquarters  of  a  date-growing 
district.  Fresh  dates  are  on  sale  at  stands  lining  the  road. 


TOUR     14        639 

HOLTVILLE,  48.7  m.  (—  10  alt.,  1,758  pop.),  is  the  chief  trading 
point  for  eastern  Imperial  Valley.  It  has  a  large  Swiss  colony  and  its 
major  interest  is  dairying.  The  town  was  named  for  W.  F.  Holt,  who 
bought  large  blocks  of  stock  in  the  Imperial  Water  Companies  from 
the  California  Development  Company.  The  town  has  a  strategic  posi- 
tion next  to  a  4O-foot  drop  in  the  Alamo  River,  where  it  was  possible 
to  build  a  hydroelectric  plant  and  generate  power. 

The  Alamo  River  was  greatly  enlarged  by  the  flood  of  1905,  which 
cut  a  channel  50  feet  deep  in  the  sandy  soil  in  places.  It  flows  into 
the  Salton  Sea  and  is  fed  mostly  by  waste  ditches  at  the  present 
time  (1939). 

At  MELOLAND,  52.7  m.  (21  alt.,  460  pop.),  is  the  EXPERI- 
MENTAL STATION  (open  to  qualified  persons)  of  the  University  of 
California's  College  of  Agriculture.  Here  experiments  are  made  in 
the  application  of  scientific  principles  to  the  cultivation  of  land,  espe- 
cially in  the  production  of  field  crops.  Meloland  is  also  a  packing  and 
shipping  point. 

EL  CENTRO,  56.6  m.  (—  52  alt.,  8,480  pop.),  is  one  of  the  chief 
trade,  storage  and  shipping  centers  of  Imperial  Valley.  It  is  also  the 
seat  of  Imperial  County,  and  second  largest  town  below  sea  level  in 
the  United  States.  The  town  is  in  the  heart  of  the  most  arid  area 
in  the  country — reclaimed  from  the  desert  by  irrigation. 

The  little  city,  with  its  shaded  patios  and  carefully  tended  flower 
gardens,  is  a  kind  of  miracle  to  those  who  knew  the  barren  waste 
before  irrigation  waters  arrived.  It  is  a  typical  southern  California 
town  with  a  difference,  having  accepted  its  role  as  a  tropical  city.  Here 
as  in  the  cities  much  nearer  the  equator  the  stores  have  arcaded  fronts 
over  the  sidewalks  and  many  of  the  houses  have  air  chambers  under 
their  roofs. 

The  valley  has  already  become  the  scene  of  literature;  the  first 
novel  celebrating  it  was  Harold  Bell  Wright's  Winning  of  Barbara 
Worth;  Jefferson  Worth's  prototype  was  W.  F.  Holt,  the  town's 
founder.  Its  first  sheriff,  Mobley  Meadows,  who  had  an  uncanny 
ability  in  tracking  down  horse-thieves,  has  been  memorialized,  indirectly, 
in  THE  PLAINSMAN,  a  statue  for  which  he  posed;  it  stands  in  the 
courthouse  square. 

A  government  scientist  in  1853  saw  the  agricultural  possibilities 
of  the  600  square  mile  depression,  which  was  called  "the  hollow  of 
God's  hand"  by  the  Indians,  but  little  attempt  was  made  to  irrigate 
it  until  1900  when  a  private  corporation  began  construction  of  a  canal 
from  the  Colorado  River.  The  first  settlers  appeared  in  the  valley 
in  1901  in  spite  of  the  imperfect  workings  of  the  canal  system.  Then  in 
1904  and  1905  the  Colorado,  with  its  spring  flood  (see  TOUR  3e), 
overflowed  into  the  basin. 

El  Centre  had  been  laid  out  in  1905  by  Holt,  but  the  population 
did  not  reach  5,000  until  1920.  In  the  meantime  extensive  pressure 
was  being  put  on  Congress  to  take  over  the  problem  of  irrigating  this 
natural  hotbed;  the  Boulder  Dam  project,  of  which  the  Imperial  Valley 


640        CALIFORNIA 

project  is  a  part,  was  authorized  in  1928.  This  started  a  boom  in  land 
values,  which  had  been  anticipated  by  certain  large  corporations.  In 
J935  almost  a  third  of  the  total  farm  acreage  was  in  ranches  containing 
more  than  500  acres,  31  of  them  more  than  1,000  acres.  In  1934, 
74  individuals  and  companies  controlled  approximately  47,70x3  acres  of 
crop  land.  The  first  water  from  the  All-American  Canal  is  expected 
in  1940.  Among  the  largest  crops  of  the  valley  are  melons,  alfalfa, 
grapefruit,  strawberries,  grapes,  lettuce,  barley,  and  dates.  Dairying 
also  plays  an  important  role. 

The  labor  problem  has  been  especially  acute  here.  The  Yankee 
field  hand  shied  away  from  an  area  where  a  summer  temperature  of 
125°  was  not  unusual.  The  Mexicans  who  came  in  were  accustomed 
to  the  peonage  system  and  had  a  very  low  standard  of  living;  at  first 
they  were  glad  to  get  any  kind  of  work  for  almost  any  rate  of  pay 
and  expected  nothing  in  the  way  of  living  accommodations.  They 
camped  along  the  irrigation  ditches,  and  cooked  with  and  drank  the 
mud-laden  irrigation  waters.  After  the  war  they  were  joined  by 
Filipinos,  Hindus,  Japanese,  and  Negroes.  The  great  Middle  Western 
drought  caused  an  influx  of  dust-bowl  farmers,  turned  nomads  with 
their  families;  they  had  been  blown  out  of  the  only  jobs  they  knew 
how  to  do  and  had  turned  to  the  new  agricultural  El  Dorado.  But 
there  were  no  farms  for  them  here  and  they  became  day  laborers  on 
the  factory-farms.  And  they  were  less  tractable  than  the  older  class 
of  Imperial  Valley  migrants.  Before  long  the  labor  unrest  that  was 
sweeping  the  country  went  below  sea  level  and  even  the  non-English 
speaking  peoples  were  infected.  Heat,  non-resident  ownership,  the 
economic  depression,  labor  organizers,  and  money-obligations  con- 
tracted in  pre-depression  days,  went  into  the  brew  that  was  soon 
bubbling  madly.  Practically  everyone  in  the  valley  was  personally 
concerned  in  agricultural  production — bankers,  town  officials,  store- 
keepers. The  demands  for  better  housing,  for  sanitary  facilities,  for 
better  pay,  made  in  1930  when  the  first  strike  was  called,  came  at  a 
time  when  the  farm  owners  were  least  able  to  meet  them.  The  farm- 
corporation  directors,  far  from  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  formed  the 
backbone  of  the  defense  against  any  concessions.  In  1934,  8,000  lettuce 
pickers  struck;  when  the  police  attempted  to  break  up  picket-lines,  the 
resultant  melee  in  which  blood  was  shed  made  headlines  from  coast  to 
coast.  State  and  Federal  conciliators,  including  Brig.  Gen.  Pelham  D. 
Glassford,  were  sent  in  to  the  valley  and  succeeded  after  much  difficulty 
in  gaining  some  concessions  for  the  field  laborers. 

El  Centro  is  at  the  junction  with  US  99  (see  TOUR  3e). 

Section  b.    EL  CENTRO  to  SAN  DIEGO;  121  m.  US  80. 

Westward,  this  route  traverses  typical  desert,  then  climbs  out  of 
Imperial  Valley  and  penetrates  the  dry,  brush-covered  mountains  that 
separate  the  depressed  interior  basin  of  southern  California  from  the 
coastal  slope.  The  verdure  of  parts  of  this  mountain  area  is  a  refreshing 
contrast  to  the  glaring  white  and  monotonous  brown  of  the  desert. 


TOUR     14        641 

The  route  is  attractive  at  night,  when  the  lights  of  villages  are 
visible  for  unbelievable  distances,  and  the  many  weird  rock  and  sand 
formations  so  strikingly  resemble  box  cars  that  the  stranger  thinks  he  is 
intoxicated.  In  the  summer,  the  night  drive — when  the  temperature 
has  dropped  far  below  the  peak  of  the  afternoon — :s  advisable. 

West  of  EL  CENTRO,  0  m.,  US  80  passes  many  cabins,  mostly 
uninhabited. 

SEELEY,  8.1  m.  (26  alt.,  158  pop.),  supplies  farmers  with  neces- 
sities. It  was  founded  in  1911,  near  the  site  of  Silsbee,  a  town  de- 
stroyed by  the  1905-07  flood. 

The  channel  of  NEW  RIVER,  8.5  m.,  was  eroded  by  swollen 
floodwaters  of  the  Colorado.  This  was  one  of  the  few  watering  spots 
on  the  old  desert  trail  between  Fort  Yuma  and  San  Diego.  Small 
humps  of  earth  by  the  road,  sculptured  by  the  flood  of  1905,  look  like 
the  homes  of  cave  dwellers. 

DIXIELAND,  13.1  m.  (sea  level,  34  pop.),  is  a  town  waiting 
for  the  coming  of  water.  It  was  established  in  1909  in  anticipation  of 
a  new  high-line  canal  west  of  the  present  ones. 

South  of  Dixieland,  stretching  into  Mexico,  is  the  YUHA  PLAIN, 
a  bleak  and  desolate  land  of  modified  sand  hills  and  outcroppings  of 
mica.  De  Anza  crossed  this  bare  stretch  in  1774  and  found  a  watering 
place  which  he  called  Pozo  de  Santa  Rosa  de  las  Lajas  (wells  of  St. 
Rose  of  the  flat  stones),  now  called  Yuha  Wells.  The  YUHA  BAD- 
LANDS are  a  three-mile  strip  along  the  Mexican  border.  In  them 
are  fossil  beds  of  oyster  shells,  fish  and  reptile  casts,  and  shapes  re- 
sembling great  sea  bass — all  deposited  when  this  region  was  part  of 
the  sea. 

The  summit  of  SIGNAL  MOUNTAIN  (2,262  alt.),  a  knob 
(L)  of  old  granite  and  schist  in  Mexico,  is  topped  by  an  aviation 
beacon. 

SUPERSTITION  MOUNTAIN  (750  alt.),  17.3  m.,  rises  (R) 
from  the  desert  floor.  It  is  probably  an  old  volcano;  the  Indians  say 
it  is  inhabited  by  evil  spirits  whose  voices  used  to  make  weird  rumblings. 

At  17.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  desert  road. 

Right  on  this  road,  called  the  Butterfield  Trail,  is  CARRIZO  (reed  grass), 
19  m.,  a  small  water  hole  fed  by  Carrizo  Creek,  which  is  usually  dry. 
The  SITE  OF  A  BUTTERFIELD  STAGE  STATION  is  marked  here  by  a  pile  of 
weathered  timber  and  crumbling  adobe.  Eighty  yards  west  is  the  grave 
of  an  alleged  cattle  rustler.  A  headstone  reads,  "Frank  Fox.  Killed  1882.'* 
He  was  shot  while  bathing  in  the  creek  and  thus  died  with  his  boots  off. 

VALLECITO  (little  valley),  38  m.  (water  and  campsite).  The  adobe 
BUTTERFIELD  STAGE  STATION  here  was  rebuilt  in  1934.  Two  men  killed  each 
other  on  this  spot,  according  to  the  San  Diego  Star  of  Nov.  2,  1870,  which 
wrote:  "Two  immigrants  had  an  altercation  on  Monday  last  at  Vallecito, 
resulting  in  the  death  of  both  .  .  .  they  took  two  shots  apiece,  both  of  the 
first  shots  missing  and  both  of  the  second  shots  taking  effect  .  .  .  one  in 
the  breast  and  the  other  in  the  abdomen  .  .  .  they  were  brothers-in-law 
and  their  families  were  present  at  the  time  of  the  difficulty." 

At  57  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  78    (see  TOUR  6e). 


642        CALIFORNIA 

PLASTER  CITY,  21.1  m.  (786  lat.,  80  pop.),  is  the  settlement 
and  loading  point  of  a  company  making  plaster  of  paris  from  gypsum 
extracted  25  miles  north,  in  Fish  Creek  Canyon. 

At  25.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  desert  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  PAINTED  GORGE,  7  m.,  a  cleft  in  the  COYOTE 
MOUNTAINS,  with  highly  colored  walls  in  reds,  pinks,  delicate  greens 
and  hybrid  hues.  Coral  deposits  and  beds  of  fossil  oystershells  are  at  the 
upper  end. 

COYOTE  WELLS,  26.1  m.  (service  station  and  cafe},  was  for 
many  years  a  watering  place  for  desert  travelers.  The  well  was  hidden 
in  a  mesquite  clump  and  so  named  because  the  coyote  can  smell  out 
water  around  the  roots  of  the  mesquite. 

Dry  washes  and  gullies  in  this  area  are  signs  of  the  infrequent  but 
heavy  summer  rains  that  batter  down  the  vegetation  and  erode  the 
sandy  cliffs.  As  the  road  gains  altitude,  such  desert  flora  as  the  ocotillo, 
ironwood,  cactus,  and  creosotebush  give  way  to  the  juniper,  the  yucca, 
manzanita,  and  oak. 

At  SHEPARD'S  BRIDGE,  31.6  m.  (2,784  alt.),  the  highway 
begins  the  ascent  of  the  Mountain  Springs  Grade  through  INCOPAH 
GORGE,  a  rocky  gap  at  the  southern  rim  of  Imperial  Valley.  The  grade 
which  takes  the  jump  from  the  desert  floor  to  the  uplands  was  regarded 
as  an  engineering  triumph  when  it  was  finished  in  April  1913.  It 
eliminates  the  hazards  of  the  old  Devil's  Canyon  route. 

Near  MOUNTAIN  SPRINGS  GAS  STATION,  37.5  m.  (2,886  alt.), 
some  fine  gems  have  been  found  in  the  essonite  garnet  deposits.  They 
are  sold  as  "California  hyacinth."  These  hills  also  contain  deposits  of 
marble,  feldspar,  magnesia,  and  silica. 

BOULDER  PARK,  39.2  m.,  the  summit  of  Mountain  Springs 
Grade,  offers  a  far  view  of  Imperial  Valley  and  the  desert. 

JACUMBA  (Ind.,  hut  by  the  water),  48  m.  (2,800  alt.,  400  pop.), 
is  a  resort  spa,  200  yards  from  the  Mexican  border,  with  mineral  springs 
and  baths.  Chief  patrons  of  this  resort  are  residents  of  Imperial  Valley, 
who  have  summer  cabins  on  the  mountain  slopes.  Jacumba  was  first  a 
mail  station  on  the  Yuma  route,  established  by  James  McCoy  in  1852. 
McCoy  built  a  fort  and  at  one  time  held  off  an  attack  by  500  Indians. 

About  3  miles  north  of  Jacumba  is  the  mouth  of  the  ii-mile  Carrizo 
Gorge,  one  of  the  most  spectacular  valleys  of  the  region.  The  light- 
colored  granite  walls  have  been  gullied  and  worn  into  deep  lateral  crev- 
ices and  contain  odd  formations.  High  up  on  the  precipitous  slopes  is  a 
narrow  contorted  shelf  bearing  the  tracks  of  a  branch  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad. 

ECKENER  PASS  HAMLET,  55.3  m.,  was  named  for  Dr.  Hugo 
Eckener,  who  passed  over  this  point  in  his  Zeppelin  flight  across  Amer- 
ica, Aug.  26,  1929. 

West  of  EL  RICO,  59.2  m.  (3,008  alt.),  the  highway  traverses  the 
CLEVELAND  NATIONAL  FOREST. 

At  LA  POSTA,  65.6  m.  (3,119  alt.),  a  service  station,  is  a  junction 
with  a  dirt  road. 


T  Q  U  R     14        643 

Right  on  this  road  to  LA  POSTA  INDIAN  RESERVATION,  0.8  m.,  an 
area  of  3,879  acres  peopled  by  only  three  Indians. 

BUCKMAN  SPRINGS,  71.1  m.  (3,225  alt.),  was  named  for  Col. 
Amos  Buckman,  who  hunted  for  gold  in  this  region  in  the  i86o's. 

Left  from  Buckman  Springs  on  a  dirt  road  to  MORENA  LAKE  and 
MORENA  RESORT,  8.5  m.  (boats  and  tackle  for  hire}.  The  lake  is  part 
of  the  San  Diego  water  system.  Its  dam,  171  feet  high,  is  of  the  rock-fill 
type,  cheaper  than  concrete  construction  and  more  resistant  to  earthquake. 
A  professional  rainmaker,  C.  M.  Hatfield,  used  this  site  for  his  precipita- 
tion plant  in  1915,  to  try  to  bring  rain  after  several  dry  seasons.  Dis- 
astrous floods  followed  his  experiments,  washed  away  a  dam,  and  filled 
Morena  Lake  to  within  18  inches  of  capacity.  Hatfield  threatened  to  sue 
tae  city  of  San  Diego  for  payment.  The  city  answered  with  a  threat  to 
sue  him  for  the  damage  done  by  the  floodwaters.  Both  suits  were  dropped. 

At  LACUNA  JUNCTION,  73.9  m.  (4,050  alt.),  is  a  service 
station  and  restaurant. 

Right  from  Laguna  Junction  on  an  oiled  road  to  the  LAGUNA  MOUN- 
TAINS in  Cleveland  National  Forest  (cabins,  public  campgrounds),  one 
of  the  best  recreational  districts  in  the  region.  The  forest  covers  815,000 
acres,  and  is  ?  game  refuge.  It  takes  in  two  parallel  ranges  of  mountains, 
many  lakes,  and  peaks.  The  road  winds  over  mountains  topped  with 
chaparral  and  through  valleys  thick  with  pines.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  pine  and  oak,  incense  cedar,  big  cone  willow,  and  alder.  The  water- 
shed brush  cover  is  mainly  chemical,  redshank,  lilac,  and  scrub  oak,  with 
some  chinquapin,  sumac,  California  laurel,  toyon,  wild  cherry,  and  moun- 
tain mahogany. 

At  8.8  m.  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here  1  m.  to  the  CUYA- 
PAIPE  INDIAN  RESERVATION.  Once  many  Indians  ran  away  from 
the  white  men  to  this  region,  but  today  this  reservation,  covering  5,000 
acres,  harbors  only  fife  Indians  and  these  intermittently. 

On  the  main  side  road  is  LAGUNA  POST  OFFICE,  10  m.,  headquarters 
for  the  resort  area. 

At  the  FOREST  RANGER  STATION,  10.4  m.  information  is  available  on  the 
forest.  The  road  skirts  rocky  slopes  on  the  edge  of  the  desert,  with  the 
wilderness  spread  out  like  a  relief  map  almost  a  mile  below.  At  12.4  m. 
is  a  junction  with  a  footpath;  R.  on  this  path  1.5  m.  to  MONUMENT 
PEAK  (6,321  alt.). 

PINE  VALLEY,  74.4  m.  (4,016  alt.),  is  a  resort  (hotel,  cabins, 
trails}.  Maj.  William  H.  Emory  who  settled  here  in  1869  is  said  to 
have  bought  the  land  from  an  old  Indian  for  a  saddle  horse  and  a  pack 
horse. 

GUATAY  (Ind.,  large  house),  77.1  m.  (gasoline,  restaurant}, 
was  named  for  GUATAY  MOUNTAIN  (5,300  alt.) ;  this  peak  (L) 
looked  like  an  enormous  wigwam. 

CUYAMACA  (Ind.,  rain  above)  JUNCTION,  78.7  m.,  is  at  the 
junction  with  State  79  (see  TOUR  6C). 

The  VIEJAS  INDIAN  RESERVATION  (R),  81.7  m.,  is  in  a 
small  valley  named  El  Valle  de  Las  Viejas  (the  valley  of  the  old 
women)  by  the  Spanish,  because  the  Indian  men  ran  away  to  the  hills 
and  left  the  women  and  children.  About  80  Indians  live  here  now  on 
modern  farms.  Before  the  reservation  was  set  aside,  the  valley  was 
used  for  breeding  and  pasturing  race  horses. 


644        CALIFORNIA 

ALPINE,  90.4  772.  (1,860  alt.,  350  pop.),  is  a  resort  (modern 
accommodations).  Above  the  coastal  fog  belt,  its  crisp  mountain  air 
attracts  people  with  bronchial  trouble. 

The  road  leaves  the  rough,  mountainous  district,  and  descends  rap- 
idly into  a  farming  and  horticultural  region  in  El  Cajon  Valley.  Wine 
and  table  grapes,  oranges  and  lemons  grow  well  in  the  fertile  soil  of  this 
valley,  where  Spaniards  pastured  their  stock. 

FLINN  SPRINGS,  97  m.  (1,300  alt.),  a  resort  (camping  and 
picnic  grounds),  is  just  east  of  the  old  Rancho  La  Canada  de  los  Coches 
(colloq.  Sp.,  valley  of  the  hogs  ranch),  the  smallest  grant  in  California. 
In  mission  days  the  padres  had  a  hog  ranch  here,  and,  until  recently,  it 
was  quite  common  to  see  hogs  running  wild. 

EL  CAJON,  104.1  m.  (450  alt.,  1,050  pop.),  occupies  part  of  the 
land  of  the  old  El  Cajon  Rancho,  opened  for  settlement  in  1869. 

At  106.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  on  this  road  to  MOUNT  HELIX  (Lat.,  spiral),  1  m.  (1,380  alt.), 
topped  by  a  cross  30  feet  high.  Sunrise  services  are  held  on  Easter  morn- 
ing in  the  amphitheater.  The  name  was  suggested  by  the  corkscrew  road 
that  winds  to  the  summit,  where  there  is  a  view  of  San  Diego  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

LA  MESA,  108.3  m.  (538  alt.,  2,513  pop.),  is  a  city  of  homes.  In 
the  surrounding  foothills  are  fine  estates.  In  the  1870*5  this  section, 
called  Allison's  Springs,  was  used  for  grazing  sheep.  Wild  game  was 
so  plentiful  that  a  woman  who  ran  a  boarding  house  in  the  vicinity  was 
able  to  supply  her  table  with  venison,  rabbits,  duck,  and  quail  killed  on 
her  daily  ramble  near  the  house.  La  Mesa  has  an  annual  fall  flower 
festival. 

At  La  Mesa  the  highway  enters  the  level  coastal  plain. 

At  108.5  77z.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  MURRAY  DAM  AND  LAKE,  1  m.  For  some 
time  after  the  flood  of  1916  this  reservoir  provided  San  Diego's  sole  water 
supply.  Outboard  motor  and  motorboat  races  are  often  held  here. 

At  112.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  College  Ave. 

Right  on  College  Ave.  to  SAN  DIEGO  STATE  COLLEGE,  1.1  m.  The  build- 
ings, of  modified  Moorish  design,  with  creamy  white  walls  and  red  tile 
roofs,  are  built  around  a  square.  In  one  corner  of  the  quadrangle  against 
the  vine-covered  arches  of  the  buildings  is  The  Aztec,  a  crouching  figure 
cut  from  native  diorite  by  Donal  Hord,  of  the  Federal  Art  Project.  The 
AZTEC  BOWL  (L)  is  a  football  stadium.  East  of  the  campus  is  BLACK 
MOUNTAIN  (1,590  alt.),  and  with  a  giant  "S"  on  its  side. 

SAN  DIEGO,  120.5  m.  (0-500  alt.,  170,000  pop.)  (see  SAN 
DIEGO),  is  at  the  junction  with  US  101  (see  TOUR  2d). 


Death  Valley  National  Monument 


Season:    October  to  May;  a  few  main  roads  open  all  year. 

Administrative  Offices:  National  Park  Service  Headquarters,  Death  Valley, 
California. 

Admission:  No  fee;  registration  of  license  number  of  automobile,  address  of 
owner,  number  of  passengers,  required. 

Transportation:      From   E.    (see    TOUR   Ha),    also   by   road    branching    from 
Nevada  5  at  Beatty;  by  Tonopah  and  Tidewater  R.R.   (connecting  with  Union 
Pacific)    to    Death    Valley   Jet.;    with    stage    fare    between    Death    Valley    and 
Death  Valley  Jet.,  approx.  $5;  from  W.  (see  TOUR  6c). 
Saddle  horses  at  Furnace  Creek  Camp,  $2.50  per  half  day. 

Tanner  all-expense  motor  tours:  From  Los  Angeles  to  Death  Valley  and  re- 
turn, 200  miles  within  Death  Valley;  2  passengers  minimum,  approx.  $65  a 
person. 

Airplane  Service:  Trips  between  Grand  Central  Airport,  Glendale,  Calif.,  and 
Death  Valley  Airport,  Death  Valley  (inquire  at  Death  Valley  Hotel  Co.,  Los 
Angeles).  Emergency  landing  fields  near  Stove  Pipe  Wells  Ho'tel  and  in 
Panamint  Valley  (unsafe  when  wet).  On  call  service  between  Death  Valley 
and  Las  Vegas,  Boulder  Dam,  Nev.  (Boulder  Dam  Tours,  Inc.,  Las  Vegas, 
Ney.) 

Private  Guide  Service:  Approx.  $2  an  hour  and  private  motor  tours  (approx. 
$4  an  hour)  available  at  Furnace  Creek  Camp  and  Inn. 

Accommodations:  Furnace  Creek  Camp  (Sept.  I  to  May  I;  emergency  accom- 
modations in  summer],  sleeping  and  housekeeping  cabins,  $2  a  day  and  up; 
restaurant,  store,  service  station.  Furnace  Creek  Inn  (Nov.  I  to  May  /), 
American  plan,  $9.75  a  day  and  up.  Stove  Pipe  Wells  Hotel  (Nov.  20  to 
May  I;  emergency  lodging  and  service  station  in  summer],  European  plan, 
$2  and  up  a  day.  Meals  slightly  more  expensive  than  in  cities. 
Climate,  Clothing,  Equipment:  Fall  and  spring,  days  warm  to  hot,  nights  cool ; 
winter,  days  cool,  nights  chilly  to  cold;  summer  extremely  hot,  days  110°  to 
130°,  nights  80°  to  100°,  low  humidity  at  all  times.  Both  cool  and  warm 
clothing  in  spring  and  fall,  warm  clothing  in  winter;  stout  shoes  for  walking. 
Field  glasses  desirable.  Campers  must  bring  own  wood. 

Medical  Service:  Physician  at  Furnace  Creek  Inn  two  days  weekly.  Consult 
park  headquarters  in  emergency. 

645 


646        CALIFORNIA 

Warnings  and  Regulations:  45-mile  speed  limit.  Register  at  ranger  stations; 
travel  only  on  roads  that  are  open  and  patrolled,  or  make  inquiries  of  rangers 
or  at  park  headquarters.  Carry  abundant  water  for  drinking  purposes  and 
radiator.  Check  gas  and  oil  before  all  trips  and  carry  additional  supplies  if 
long  itinerary  does  not  include  service  stations.  Do  not  attempt  to  walk  in 
valley  during  summer. 

Recreational  Facilities:  Nine-hole  golf  course  at  Furnace  Creek  Ranch  (greens 
fee  50^)  ;  free  Park  Service  lectures  several  evenings  a  week  at  Furnace  Creek 
Ranch,  at  Furnace  Creek  Camp,  and  at  Stove  Pipe  Wells  Hotel.  Swimming 
pool  and  tennis  courts  at  Furnace  Creek  Inn. 

Death  Valley  National  Monument,  established  in  1933,  covers 
2,981  square  miles,  500  of  which  are  below  sea  level.  The  narrow 
trough  of  the  valley  curves  for  140  miles  between  steep  mountains  of 
naked  rock  that  are  striped  and  patched  with  barbaric  colors.  The 
Panamint  Range,  rising  6,000  to  1 1 ,000  feet  above  sea  level,  gives  Death 
Valley  its  western  wall,  and  the  Grapevine,  the  Funeral,  and  the  Black 
Mountains,  rising  4,000  to  8,000  feet,  form  its  eastern  wall.  The  heavy 
rains  that  sometimes  fall  on  the  mountains  run  swiftly  off  the  steep 
barren  slopes  and  cascade  into  the  valley,  where  the  water  quickly  van- 
ishes. The  valley  floor,  once  the  bed  of  an  ancient  lake,  is  streaked  with 
white  salt,  gray  clay,  and  yellow  sand ;  in  the  glimmering  salt  beds  is  the 
lowest  spot  in  North  America.  From  June  to  September,  while  the  days 
are  a  blaze  of  light  and  the  rocks  radiate  stored  heat  at  night,  Death 
Valley  is  one  of  the  hottest  places  in  the  world.  The  Indian  name  for 
the  valley  was  Tomesha — ground  afire.  In  the  winter,  snow  lies  lightly 
on  the  ranges,  except  on  Telescope  Peak,  which  is  white  until  May,  and 
sunny  days  in  the  valley  are  delightful.  The  great  charm  of  the  area 
lies  in  its  magnificent  range  of  color,  which  varies  from  hour  to  hour. 

In  contrast  with  a  verdant  land  Death  Valley  seems  completely 
barren,  but  it  has  a  varied  vegetation.  In  a  wet  year,  when  from  two 
to  five  inches  of  rain  fall,  canyons,  washes,  and  even  the  valley  floor  are 
tinted  with  gray  desert  holly  and  green  creosote-bush,  with  cigarette 
plant,  paperbag-bush,  ephedras,  sprucebush,  saltbush,  brittle-bush,  and 
wetleaf.  Two  varieties  of  mesquite,  cottonwoods,  and  willows  are 
found.  High  on  the  Panamints  and  Grapevines  are  pinon,  juniper, 
mountain  mahogany,  Rocky  Mountain  maple,  and  bristlecone  and  limber 
pine. 

The  animals  include  the  Nelson  bighorn  sheep  in  the  mountains,  the 
desert  coyote  and  kit  fox,  and  the  wild  burro.  The  bushy-tailed  ante- 
lope, ground  squirrel,  and  the  trade  and  wood  rat  are  often  encoun- 
tered. Among  the  birds  that  live  in  the  valley  the  year  round  are  big 
black  ravens,  road  runners,  prairie  falcons,  the  beautiful  Le  Conte 
thrasher  and  busy  rock  wrens.  There  are  several  varieties  of  lizards: 
whip-tailed,  gridiron,  horned  toads,  and  chuckwallas.  Rattlesnakes  are 
rare.  An  inch-long  killifish,  found  at  Salt  Creek  and  Saratoga  Springs, 
is  a  leftover  from  the  days  when  Death  Valley  was  occupied  by  a  lake. 

Death  Valley  contains  rock  of  all  the  great  divisions  of  geologic 
time;  without  exaggeration  it  can  be  called  the  geologists'  paradise.  At 
one  time  this  was  probably  a  region  of  low  mountains  and  wide  valleys 


DEATH     VALLEY     NATIONAL     MONUMENT        647 


DEATH  VALLEY 
NATIOKAL  MONUMENT 


Main  Improved  Roads 
Graded  Roads 
State  Road  Number 
Tour  Numbers 
Tour  Ends 
Ranger  Station 


648        CALIFORNIA 

with  streams  and  lakes.  Then  followed  a  period  of  great  earth  dis- 
turbance accompanied  by  volcanic  actions ;  Death  Valley  was  formed  by 
faulting.  At  the  end  of  the  glacial  period  the  valley  was  a  lake,  but  the 
waters  gradually  evaporated,  and  the  land  became  a  desert. 

The  barrenness  and  furnace  heat  of  this  gash  in  the  earth's  crust 
took  grim  toll  of  life  from  prospectors  and  immigrants  seeking  short- 
cuts into  California  in  pioneer  days.  The  valley  got  its  name  when  an 
immigrant  train  turned  off  the  Los  Angeles-Salt  Lake  Trail  in 
1849  into  the  sandy  wastes.  As  they  went  on,  the  train  broke  up  into 
two  companies,  each  struggling  for  its  life.  The  first,  a  party  composed 
chiefly  of  unmarried  men  who  called  themselves  the  Jayhawkers,  went 
ahead,  leaving  the  men  with  women  and  children  to  struggle  along  as 
best  they  could.  As  they  toiled  across  the  valley,  they  too  broke  up  into 
smaller  groups.  Some  Jayhawkers  died  in  the  valley,  one  in  the  Mo- 
jave  Desert;  the  majority  survived. 

A  clergyman  named  Brier,  his  wife,  and  their  three  small  children, 
who  traveled  with  the  Jayhawkers  at  intervals,  struggled  safely  out  of 
the  area  after  harrowing  hardships.  As  Mrs.  Brier  afterward  told  the 
story:  "One  valley  ended  in  a  canyon  with  great  walls  rising  up  almost 
as  high  as  we  could  see.  There  seemed  no  way  out,  for  it  ended  almost 
in  a  straight  wall  ...  In  the  morning  the  men  returned  with  the  same 
story:  'No  water.'  Even  the  stoutest  heart  sank  then,  for  nothing  but 
sagebrush  and  dagger  trees  greeted  the  eye.  My  husband,  tied  little 
Kirk  to  his  back  and  staggered  ahead.  The  child  would  murmur  occa- 
sionally, 'Oh,  father,  where's  the  water?'  ...  I  staggered  and  strug- 
gled wearily  behind  with  our  other  two  boys  and  the  oxen.  The  little 
fellows  bore  up  bravely  and  hardly  complained,  though  they  could 
barely  talk,  so  dry  and  swollen  were  their  lips  and  tongues  .  .  .  Every 
step  I  expected  to  sink  down  and  die.  I  could  hardly  see." 

In  late  December  1849,  the  15  men  and  women  and  7  children 
left  behind  by  the  Jayhawkers,  known  as  the  Bennett-Arcane  Party, 
camped  at  Furnace  Creek — too  weary,  hungry,  and  thirsty  to  go  on. 
William  Lewis  Manly  and  John  Rogers,  volunteering  to  go  ahead 
for  aid  and  provisions,  got  across  the  valley  and  the  bare  mountains 
beyond  to  San  Fernando.  Returning  with  some  pack  animals,  they 
passed  a  member  of  the  party,  lying  dead  beside  his  empty  canteen. 
At  the  camp,  they  saw  no  sign  of  life.  Manly  fired  his  gun.  A  man 
climbed  from  under  a  wagon.  In  Manly's  words,  ".  .  .  he  threw  up 
his  arms  high  over  his  head  and  shouted — 'The  boys  have  come,  the 
boys  have  come!'  .  .  .  The  great  suspense  was  over  and  our  hearts  were 
first  in  our  mouths,  and  then  the  blood  all  went  away  and  left  us  almost 
fainting  .  .  .  Bennett  and  Arcane  caught  us  in  their  arms  and  embraced 
us  with  all  their  strength,  and  Mrs.  Bennett  .  .  .  fell  down  on  her 
knees  and  clung  to  me  like  a  maniac  in  the  great  emotion  that  came  to 
her,  and  not  a  word  was  spoken."  Escaping  from  the  valley,  the  party 
arrived  finally  at  San  Fernando  March  7,  1850. 

A  few  years  later  much  search  was  made  for  a  silver  mine  one  of 
these  immigrants  had  reported;  it  became  known  as  the  Lost  Gunsight. 


DEATH     VALLEY     NATIONAL     MONUMENT        649 

The  French  and  George  parties,  who  explored  the  valley  in  1860  in  an 
unsuccessful  search  for  the  mine,  bestowed  many  of  its  present  place 
names.  Later  prospectors  also  failed  to  find  the  Gunsight,  but  discov- 
ered deposits  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  other  minerals.  A  few  large 
deposits  were  found,  and  lusty  towns  flared  briefly.  A  building  or  two, 
bottles,  adobe  walls,  and  a  clutter  of  worthless  debris  mark  their  sites. 
Borax,  however,  provided  the  foundation  for  an  industry  that  thrived 
for  a  number  of  years  and  was  responsible  for  the  development  of  the 
region. 

PARK  TOUR  i 

Western  Entrance  at  Towne's  Pass  to  Eastern  Entrance  in  Furnace 
Creek  Wash;  56  m.}  State  190. 

Oiled  roadbed. 

State  190  descends  the  steep  eastern  face  of  the  Panamints  to  the 
pale,  brush-dotted  floor  of  Death  Valley,  runs  south  for  about  25  miles 
between  high  bordering  ranges  fantastically  streaked  with  vivid  colors, 
then  continues  east  through  the  low  pass  of  Furnace  Creek  Wash. 

East  of  the  monument  boundary,  at  the  summit  of  Towne's  Pass 
(5,500  alt.),  0  m.  (see  TOUR  6c) ,  State  190  crosses  the  rolling  sum- 
mits of  the  tawny  Panamint  Range  and  descends  Emigrant  Wash.  The 
rocky  wash,  speckled  with  desert  shrubs,  was  named  for  the  Jayhawkers, 
who  climbed  it  in  their  escape  from  Death  Valley. 

A  RANGER  STATION,  7.7  m.  (1,542  alt.),  which  registers  incoming 
cars,  is  at  the  junction  with  Emigrant  Canyon  Rd. 

Right  on  Emigrant  Canyon  Rd.,  traversing  Emigrant  Canyon,  1.8  m.f  a 
sandy  wash  between  rounded  hills,  to  EMIGRANT  SPRING  (R),  4.8  m. 
(4,045  alt.),  which  flows  from  a  little  cove  above  the  road.  For  many  years 
prospectors  camped  below  the  green  thicket  and  pastured  their  burros  on 
scanty  growth  in  the  wash.  Drinking  water  for  Stove  Pipe  Wells  Hotel 
comes  from  this  spring. 

The  road  winds  up  the  canyon  to  emerge  on  HARRISBURG  FLATS, 
9.5  m.  (4,500  alt.)  ;  the  cone-shaped  mountain  directly  ahead  is  Telescope 
Peak. 

At  10.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  road;  L.  here  8  m.  to  the  SITE  OF 
SKIDOO  (5,500  alt.),  a  camp  that  grew  up  after  a  discovery  of  1906  and 
produced  more  than  $3,000,000  in  gold.  At  its  peak,  500  persons  lived 
here,  and  it  had  a  telephone  line  across  Death  Valley  to  Rhyolite. 

At  11.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  road;  L.  here  6  m.  to  AUGUERRE- 
BERRY  POINT  (6,000  alt.;  view  best  in  afternoon).  Below  is  Death 
Valley,  cradled  in  colored,  wrinkled  mountains;  eastward,  beyond  tawny 
and  brown  desert  ranges  is  Charleston  Peak  (11,910  alt.),  80  miles  away 
in  Nevada. 

The  main  side  route  continues  across  the  brushy  Panamints  and  descends 
through  a  narrow  winding  defile  into  WILD  ROSE  CANYON,  to  the 
junction  with  a  dirt  road  20.4  m. ;  L.  here  to  SUMMER  PARK  HEADQUARTERS, 
0.3  m.  The  road  (impassable  when  snow- covered]  continues  to  the  stone 
CHARCOAL  KILNS,  7.3  m.,  built  in  the  iSyo's  by  George  Hearst.  MAHOGANY 
FLATS,  8.5  m.  (8,133  alt.),  on  a  saddle  of  the  wooded  Panamints,  is  at  the 
end  of  the  automobile  road.  A  foot  trail  (R)  leads  6  m.  to  TELESCOPE 
PEAK  (11,045  ah-)*  so  named  because  of  the  magnificent  widespreading 
view  it  affords. 


650       CALIFORNIA 

WILD  ROSE  SPRINGS,  21.7  m.  (3,617  alt.),  on  the  main  side  route  was 
named  for  the  roses  the  George  party  found  here  in  1860. 

South  of  WILD  ROSE  STATION,  22.3  m.  (service  station,  lunch-room, 
grocery  store),  the  road  descends  a  narrow  canyon,  and  passes  the  park 
boundary  at  25.1  m.  The  road  continues  to  TRONA,  60  m.,  and 
IN-YOKERN,  93  m.,  on  US  395  (see  TOUR  6d). 

Northeast  of  the  ranger  station  State  190  descends  steadily.  On  the 
eastern  side  of  the  white  valley  the  Grapevine  Mountains,  banded  in  red 
and  black,  rise  above  huge  gravel  fans,  deposits  of  alluvial  debris  swept 
from  canyon  mouths  high  above  the  valley  floor. 

At  16.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  road. 

Right  to  MOSAIC  CANYON,  3  m.,  whose  floor  of  vari-colored  pebbles 
embedded  in  gray  conglomerate  has  been  worn  to  a  mosaic-like  surface. 

STOVE  PIPE  WELLS  HOTEL  (sea  level),  17  m.,  is  a  simple  resort. 
The  OLD  WAGON  (L)  was  abandoned  in  the  rough,  sandy  country 
25  miles  north  by  employees  of  the  borax  company  in  1889. 

South  of  the  hotel,  some  25  square  miles  of  yellow  SAND  DUNES 
(L)  rise  in  sharply  sculptured  lines.  The  mesquite,  creosote,  and  four- 
winged  saltbrush  around  the  dunes  are  havens  for  small  animal  life.  The 
road  curves  east  across  the  SALT  MARSHES  and  passes  the  DEVIL'S 
CORNFIELD,  where  the  arrowweed  resembles  shocks  of  tied  corn.  This 
is  the  only  definitely  known  Death  Valley  camp  of  the  Jayhawkers  in 
1849- 

At  25  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  oil-surfaced  Ubehebe  Crater  Rd. 

Right  on  this  road  2.8  m.  to  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here 
0.4  m.  to  STOVEPIPE  WELLS  (—49  alt.),  now  a  rock  well.  The  water 
holes  in  this  sandy  waste  saved  many  lives.  Drifting  sand  often  filled  the 
holes,  so  the  spot  was  marked  by  a  stovepipe,  now  at  Stove  Pipe  Wells 
Hotel. 

The  Ubehebe  Crater  Rd.  parallels  the  Grapevines  and  climbs  gradu- 
ally; at  about  24  m.  the  brush-grown  alluvial  slopes  of  the  Grapevines  and 
Panamints  merge. 

At  33.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  here,  through  Grapevine 
Canyon,  3  m.,  to  SCOTTY'S  CASTLE  (open  8-6,  adm.  $1.00),  entered  by  a 
bridge.  The  handsome  Provincial  Spanish  style  buildings  are  believed  to 
have  cost  Scotty  and  his  wealthy  partner,  Albert  M.  Johnson,  $2,000,000. 
The  two  main  houses,  separated  by  a  patio,  are  flanked  by  a  clock  tower 
(L)  and  a  guest  house  (R).  The  excavation  in  front  of  the  main  house 
is  an  unfinished  swimming  pool.  Death  Valley  Scotty  has  lived  in  Death 
Valley  for  more  than  30  years.  His  spectacular  45-hour  trip  from  Los 
Angeles  to  Chicago  in  1905,  and  his  spending  sprees  in  Los  Angeles — 
where  he  was  lavish  with  $100  bills,  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  without 
known  resources — have  made  him  a  much-publicized  figure. 

At  35.8  m.  on  the  main  road  is  the  junction  with  a  short  one-way  loop 
road;  L.  here  through  low  mud  cliffs  and  up  cinder  hills  to  the  lip  of 
UBEHEBE  CRATER  (2,900  alt.).  The  east  wall  of  the  8oo-foot  deep 
crater  is  spectacularly  striped  in  brilliant  red  and  orange. 

The  highway  crosses  a  low  range  of  hills.  The  Funeral  Mountains 
(L)  and  the  Panamint  Range  (R)  hem  in  the  valley.  Snowcapped 
Telescope  Peak  (11,045  alt-)  is  the  highest  mountain  in  the  area.  The 
valley  is  stony  and  sparsely  covered  with  brush. 


DEATH     VALLEY     NATIONAL     MONUMENT        65! 

At  31  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  Daylight  Pass  Rd. 

Right  on  the  Daylight  Pass  Rd.,  over  oddly  colored  hills,  6  m.  to  the 
junction  with  a  rough  dirt  road;  R.  here  5.3  m.  to  ruins  of  the  property 
of  the  KEANE  WONDER  MINE  (3,000  alt.),  built  after  gold  was  found  here 
in  1903.  The  mine  was  up  the  canyon. 

HELL'S  GATE,  10.5  m.  (2,263  alt.),  on  the  Daylight  Pass  Rd.,  was 
named  by  teamsters  in  1905;  when  they  left  the  protecting  walls  of  the 
canyon,  the  tender  noses  of  their  horses  were  scorched  by  the  burning 
summer  winds  of  Death  Valley.  Toward  the  south  are  the  white  Salt  Beds; 
bright  colored  mountains  rise  steeply  on  either  side. 

East  of  Hell's  Gate,  Boundary  Canyon — between  the  Grapevine  and 
Funeral  Mountains— is  narrow  and  steep.  CORKSCREW  PEAK  (5,000 
alt.)  is  circled  by  broad  bands  of  gray  and  red. 

A  RANGER  STATION,  17  m.,  at  the  summit  (4,317  alt.)  of  Daylight  Pass, 
checks  incoming  cars.  The  monument  boundary,  17.5  m.,  is  at  the  Cali- 
fornia-Nevada Line,  10  miles  from  the  ghost  town  of  Rhyolite,  Nev. 

At  38.7  m.  on  State  190  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  0.6  m.  to  the  DEATH  VALLEY  NATIONAL  MONUMENT  HEADQUARTERS 
(information  and  maps). 

At  39.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road. 

Left  0.2  m.  to  a  parking  station,  from  which  a  short  footpath  descends 
to  the  GNOME'S  WORKSHOP;  here,  in  the  midst  of  acres  of  odd  alkaline 
formation,  is  a  tiny  bitter-tasting  stream  forming  miniature  waterfalls. 

The  RUINS  OF  THE  HARMONY  BORAX  WORKS  are  visible  on  a  low 
bluff  (R)  at  40.5  m.  Of  this  first  borax  works  in  Death  Valley  only 
some  rusty  machinery  and  a  few  adobe  walls  remain.  Borax  was  dis- 
covered here  by  Aaron  Winters,  a  prospector,  who  sold  his  claims  in 
1882  to  W.  T.  Coleman  and  F.  M.  "Borax"  Smith.  The  refined  borax 
was  hauled  by  the  famous  mule  teams  through  Wingate  Pass  to  Mojave, 
1 60  miles  away.  Each  outfit  consisted  of  a  lead  wagon  and  a  trailer 
carrying  2O  tons  of  borax,  which  were  drawn  by  teams  of  twelve  to 
twenty  mules,  guided  by  a  check  line  125  feet  long.  The  works  were 
closed  in  1887  when  the  price  of  borax  fell,  but  the  picturesque  mule 
teams  had  become  identified  with  the  product.  In  1890  colemanite,  an- 
other form  of  borax,  was  discovered  near  Furnace  Creek,  and  the  indus- 
try again  boomed.  The  largest  mine  at  Ryan  was  operated  until  1927, 
when  a  new  type  of  borax  that  could  be  produced  more  economically 
was  discovered  on  the  Mojave  Desert. 

The  green  oasis  of  FURNACE  CREEK  RANCH  (R),  42  m.,  is  irri- 
gated by  water  from  springs  in  Furnace  Creek  Wash.  In  early  days 
alfalfa  and  hay  for  the  borax  teams  were  grown  here,  and  date  palms 
and  long  rows  of  tamarisk  were  planted  to  break  the  hot  desert  winds. 
Today,  dates  from  these  palm  trees  are  sold  ($0$  a  lb.).  Bellerin  Teck, 
the  first  white  man  to  settle  in  Death  Valley,  began  farming  here  in 
1870.  Opposite  the  ranch  is  DEATH  VALLEY  AIRPORT  (hangar  for 
rent;  gas  and  service  at  Furnace  Creek  Camp}. 

FURNACE  CREEK  CAMP,  42.2  m.,  is  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
ranch.  Beside  the  road  are  a  borax  wagon,  trailer,  and  steam  tractor 
used  here  in  the  eighties. 


652        CALIFORNIA 

Right  from  Furnace  Creek  Camp  to  the  INDIAN  VILLAGE,  0.7  m., 
where  adobes  have  been  built  for  about  30  Shoshone  who  live  in  the  park. 
Before  the  whites  came,  the  Indians  wandered  over  the  country  in  search 
of  food.  Although  their  culture  was  primitive,  the  women  made  very 
good  baskets  from  materials  found  here. 

At  42.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  road. 

Left  here  0.5  m.  to  TEXAS  SPRINGS  PUBLIC  CAMPGROUND  ('water,  stone 
fireplaces,  sanitary  facilities),  on  a  bench  above  the  valley. 

Near  Furnace  Creek  Jc.,  43.3  m.,  the  meeting  place  with  oiled  East 
Highway  (see  PARK  TOUR  2},  is  FURNACE  CREEK  INN  (sea  level), 
43.4  m.,  with  its  garage,  service  station,  and  small  store.  This  is  a 
luxury  resort. 

At  46.5  772.  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Right  here  0.3  m.  to  Zabriskie  Point,  which  reveals  a  far-reaching  pano- 
rama of  stark  peaks  and  ridges.  MANLY  BEACON,  a  sharply  pointed  hill, 
is  surrounded  by  eroded  yellow  clay  hills. 

At  47.8  m.  is  the  exit  of  a  one-way  road  (see  below}.  Westward 
is  an  impressive  view  of  Death  Valley  and  the  rugged  mountains.  The 
road  continues  east  between  cleanly  sculptured  brown  and  yellow  hills. 

At  50.6  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  one-way  looping  road. 

Right  here  through  TWENTY-MULE  TEAM  CANYON.  The  road 
dips  and  winds  between  low  clay  hills,  scarred  from  mining  ventures.  The 
road  rejoins  State  190  at  4.4  m. 

State  190  continues  eastward,  past  the  hot  tan  and  rosy  brown 
Funeral  Mountains,  banded  with  somber  gray;  striped  PYRAMID 
PEAK  (6,725  alt.)  raises  its  blunt  tip  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  range. 
The  Black  Mountains  (R)  receive  their  name  from  the  lava  cap  that 
crowns  them. 

At  54.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  Dante's  View  Rd. 

Right  on  this  road  up  a  canyon  wash  where  the  flanks  of  the  Black 
Mountains  appear  brilliantly  streaked  with  rose,  fawn,  and  milky  green, 
2.6  m.,  to  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road;  L.  2  m.  to  RYAN  (2,500  alt.), 
a  model  company  town  while  the  Pacific  Coast  Borax  Co.  operated  mines 
here  from  1914  to  1928.  Sightseeing  trains  (fare  $l)  run  to  borax  mines, ' 
7  miles  distant. 

The  road  continues  up  GREEN  WATER  VALLEY  (4,000  alt.),  a  shal- 
low depression  in  the  mountains;  here  is  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road  7.9  m.', 
L.  here  3.8  m.  to  a  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  R.  1.9  m.  to  the  SITE  OF 
GREENWATER,  a  ghost  town  marked  by  widely  scattered  debris.  Greenwater 
boomed  in  1905  when  copper  was  discovered;  but  deposits  were  scanty, 
and  its  saloons,  its  banks,  and  newspaper  soon  had  no  community  to  serve. 

The  main  side  route  continues  R.  from  the  junction  to  DANTE'S  VIEW 
(light  effects  best  in  morning),  13.9  m.  (5,220  alt.),  overlooking  Death 
Valley  from  the  summit  of  the  Black  Mountains.  The  two  extremes  of 
altitude  in  the  48  States  are  visible  from  this  point.  More  than  a  mile 
below  is  Badwater  ( — 279.6  alt.),  and  westward  over  the  Panamints  in  the 
snowy  Sierra  Nevada  is  Mt.  Whitney  (14,495  alt.).  Snow-capped  Tele- 
scope Peak  just  opposite  in  the  Panamints  towers  more  than  two  miles 
above  the  bottom  of  Death  Valley  and  a  mile  above  this  spot.  White  salt 


DEATH     VALLEY     NATIONAL     MONUMENT        653 

areas  in  the  valley  are  sharply  outlined  against  the  gravel  slopes.  Mes- 
quite  thickets  make  green  patches  at  Mesquite  and  Bennett  Wells  (L)  and 
Furnace  Creek  Ranch  (R).  The  steep,  rugged  mountain  walls  that  baffled 
the  Death  Valley  party  of  1849  stretch  north  and  south,  and  the  Avawatz 
and  Owlshead  Mountains  block  the  valley  southward.  Eastward,  beyond 
the  twisted  slopes  of  the  Black  Mountains,  are  the  barren  desert  ranges 
of  southern  Nevada. 

A  RANGER  STATION,  55  m.,  registers  incoming  cars.  The  bound- 
ary of  the  monument  (2,000  alt.)  is  crossed  at  56  m.  (see  TOUR  12a). 

PARK  TOUR  2 

Furnace  Creek  Jet. — Badwater — Ashford  Jet. — Saratoga  Springs  Jet. ; 
63  m.,  East  Highway. 

Oiled  roadbed  between  Furnace  Creek  Jet.  and  Ashford  Jet.;  remainder  graded 
dirt  road. 

The  East  Highway  explores  the  eastern  side  and  extreme  southern 
end  of  Death  Valley,  passing  the  Salt  Beds  and  the  lowest  point  in 
North  America.  The  West  Highway  is  an  alternate  of  this  road. 

Branching  south  from  State  190  at  FURNACE  CREEK  JUNC- 
TION, 0  m.  (see  PARK  TOUR  1)  the  East  Highway  curves  along 
the  base  of  the  Black  Mountains. 

MUSHROOM  ROCK,  4.6  m.,  is  an  oddly  shaped  formation  carved  by 
wind  and  sand. 

At  5  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  unpaved  one-way  road,  looping  back 
to  the  main  road. 

Left  on  this  road  02  m.  to  VOLCANIC  DRIVE,  which  winds  upward 
through  hills  tinted  with  rose,  pale  green,  ocher,  and  sienna.  At  the 
summit  brilliantly  colored  strata  tilt  skyward.  Descending  through  yellow 
walls,  the  road  turns  sharply  at  3.3  m.,  becoming  Artist's  Drive,  and  climbs 
again.  At  the  second  summit  it  turns  south,  passes  brightly  tinted  hills, 
and  reaches  a  point  overlooking  Death  Valley,  whose  floor  is  seen  streaked 
with  white,  soft  purple,  and  brown.  The  route  rejoins  the  East  Highway 
at  9  m. 

The  DEVIL'S  GOLF  COURSE  lies  below  the  highway,  opposite 
the  entrance  to  Volcanic  Drive.  The  Salt  Beds  here  are  covered  with 
ridges  and  pinnacles  of  salt,  crystallized  into  a  hard  substance  that 
breaks  with  a  ringing  sound. 

At  6.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  the  graded  West  Highway. 

Right  here,  across  the  Salt  Beds,  13  m.  to  the  GRAVES  OF  SHORTY  HARRIS 
AND  JIM  DAYTON.  Harris,  a  well-known  Death  Valley  prospector,  asked  to 
be  buried  beside  Jim  Dayton,  a  borax  company  employee  who  died  here  in 
1898  and  was  buried  on  the  spot. 

At  13.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  dirt  road;  L.  here  0.2  m.  to  the  EAGLE 
BORAX  WORKS,  the  earliest  borax  extraction  plant  in  Death  Valley,  of 
which  nothing  remains  but  a  boiling  pan  which  was  hauled  140  miles  over 
the  desert. 

At  17  m.  on  the  West  Highway  is  the  junction  with  a  road;  L.  here 
0.3  m.  to  BENNETT'S  WELL,  a  watering  station  on  the  early  borax  route. 


654        CALIFORNIA 

The    Bennett-Arcane    party   camped    within    a    few    miles    of    this    spot    in 
1849-50. 

At  ASHFORD  JUNCTION,  39  m.,  the  West  Highway  rejoins  the  East 
Highway  (see  below). 

BAD  WATER,  16.8  m.  (—279.6  alt.),  is  the  lowest  point  in 
North  America;  a  marker  on  the  mountain  (L)  indicates  sea  level. 
The  salty  pools  (R)  are  fed  by  the  Amargosa  River,  a  small  stream 
that  flows  south  in  Nevada  and  California,  rounds  the  Black  Moun- 
tains, and  flows  north  in  Death  Valley. 

ASHFORD  JUNCTION,  45  m.,  received  its  name  from  a  mill 
built  nearby  in  1914  by  the  Ashford  brothers.  Here  is  the  junction 
with  the  West  Highway  (see  above).  The  route  continues  southeast- 
ward over  gently  rounded  mesas  and  a  dry  lake  bed,  or  playa. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS  JUNCTION  is  at  63  m. 

Left  on  a  rough  road  2  m.  to  SARATOGA  SPRINGS;  in  the  swampy 
marshes  are  a  few  pools,  the  home  of  the  Tiny  Death  Valley  fish.  Migrant 
waterfowl  rest  here  during  the  winter. 

The  East  Highway  continues  beyond  the  monument  27  miles  to  a 
junction  with  State  127  (see  TOUR  lla). 


Sequoia  and  General  Grant 
National  Parks 


Season:  Both  parks  open  all  year.  Sequoia's  western  entrance  at  Ash  Moun- 
tain open  all  year;  East  Fork  and  Lost  Grove  entrances  frequently  closed  by 
winter  snows.  General  Grant's  south  entrance  open  all  year. 
Administrative  Offices:  Sequoia  headquarters  inside  W.  entrance;  information 
office  at  Giant  Forest,  Sequoia  National  Park.  Sequoia  and  General  Grant 
National  Parks  Co.,  Giant  Forest.  Earl  McKee,  guide  and  packer,  Giant 
Forest  in  summer,  Three  Rivers  in  winter.  General  Grant  headquarters,  the 
Plaza,  General  Grant  National  Park. 

Admission:  Free;  yearly  automobile  permit  covering  both  parks  $i  except  at 
Sequoia  East  Fork  entrance,  which  is  free.  Ash  Mountain  and  Lost  Grove 
entrance  to  Sequoia  open  9-5  except  Saturdays  and  days  preceding  holidays, 
when  they  close  at  n  p.m.  South  entrance  to  General  Grant  always  open. 
Transportation:  Between  June  10  and  Sept.  10  busses  leave  Fresno  at  8  a.m. 
daily  for  Giant  Forest  by  way  of  Visalia  and  return  at  1:45  p.m.  daily  through 
General  Grant  National  Park;  for  service  from  Sept.  10  to  June  9  (between 
Visalia  and  Giant  Forest  only)  make  advance  reservation  with  Sequoia  and 
General  Grant  National  Parks  Co.,  Giant  Forest;  no  service  to  General  Grant 
during  this  period. 

Saddle  horses  at  Giant  Forest  and  near  Plaza.  Rates  for  short  trips:  two  hrs., 
$1.50;  half  day,  $3;  day,  $5.  Daily  rates  for  long  trips:  horses,  $1.50;  guides 
and  packers,  $5 ;  cooks,  $6.  Food,  supplies,  and  equipment  furnished  by  guests. 
Accommodations:  Sequoia — Giant  Forest  Lodge,  Camp  Kaweah,  and  Pinewood 
Shelter  Camp,  open  May  25  to  Sept.  7;  European,  American,  or  housekeeping 
plan.  Hospital  Rock  Camp,  open  all  year;  European  plan  and  housekeeping. 
Giant  Forest  Winter  Camp,  open  Sept.  7  to  May  25;  American  plan  and 
housekeeping;  partly  equipped  housekeeping  cabins,  $1.50  a  day  for  two  persons, 
50^  a  day  for  each  additional  person;  fully  equipped  housekeeping  cabins,  $3 
a  day  for  two  persons;  American  plan  cabins  from  $5  a  day  each  for  two 
persons  (without  bath)  to  $8  a  day  for  one  person  (private  bath).  Meals: 
breakfast,  75^;  luncheon  and  dinner,  $i,  and  $1.25.  Bearpaw  Meadow  Camp, 
on  High  Sierra  Trail,  overnight  tents,  $1.50  a  person;  meals,  $i.  More  than 

655 


656        CALIFORNIA 

600  free  campsites  for  automobile  travelers,  with  water,  stone  fireplace,  sanitary 
conveniences.  Largest  campgrounds  at  Giant  Forest,  Lodgepole,  and  Dorst 
Creek.  General  Grant — Grant  Park  and  Meadow  Shelter  Camps,  open  May  25 
to  Sept.  25 ;  European  or  housekeeping  plan.  Informal  winter  accommodations. 
Rates  as  at  Sequoia.  Many  free  campsites,  equipped  as  at  Sequoia. 
Climate:  Summers  warm  and  dry,  moderately  cool  nights.  Rain  seldom  falls 
between  May  and  Sept.  Thunder  showers  frequent  and  nights  cooler  in  high 
mountains. 

Medical  Service:     Physician  and  small  hospital  at  Giant  Forest  in  summer. 
Post    Offices:     Sequoia    mail    forwarded    to    Giant    Forest    Lodge    and    Camp 
Kaweah ;    otherwise  must  be  called   for   at   Giant   Forest  post   office.      General 
Grant  mail  forwarded  to  Grant  Park  Camp  and  Hume  Lake   (north  of  park)  ; 
otherwise  must  be  called  for  at  the  Plaza  post  office. 

Naturalist  Service:  Park  naturalists  at  Giant  Forest  Administration  Building 
and  the  Plaza  in  charge  of  guide  service.  Lectures  daily  and  campfire  pro- 
grams nightly  in  summer  at  Sequoia.  Lectures  and  campfire  programs  two  or 
three  times  weekly  and  concerts  three  times  weekly  in  summer  at  General 
Grant. 

Warnings  and  Regulations:  Camping,  smoking,  and  building  of  fires  permitted 
only  in  designated  areas.  Do  not  harm  or  frighten  animals.  Do  not  feed 
bears  or  leave  food  within  their  reach  or  where  they  can  break  into  containers. 
Fishing:  Rainbow,  Loch  Leven,  eastern  brook,  German  brown,  and  golden 
trout.  Persons  over  18  must  procure  license;  available  at  Giant  Forest.  Fee 
for  residents,  $2;  for  non-residents,  $3;  for  aliens,  $5.  Tackle  available  at 
Giant  Forest.  Bulletins  containing  regulations  for  current  year  supplied  by 
rangers.  Fishing  permitted  in  all  waters  of  parks  unless  prohibited  by  sign. 
Bathing:  Pools  at  Lodgepole  Camp,  Bridge  Camp,  Hospital  Rock  Camp,  and 
Heather  Lake,  Sequoia.  Swimming  in  Sequoia  Lake  near  southwestern  boun- 
dary of  General  Grant.  Bathing  permitted  only  in  designated  areas. 

Sequoia  and  General  Grant  National  Parks  cover  the  wildest  coun- 
try on  the  western  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Sequoia  stretches  from 
the  headwaters  of  the  Kings  River  on  the  north  to  the  headwaters  of  the 
Tule  River  on  the  south.  The  tallest  peaks  of  the  High  Sierra — 
barely  dominated  by  Mount  Whitney  (14,495  alt.),  highest  point  in  the 
48  States — bound  it  on  the  east  and  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  on  the 
west.  Bisecting  the  park  from  north  to  south  is  a  jagged  granite  ridge, 
the  Great  Western  Divide.  West  of  the  divide  are  the  park's  major 
accommodations  and  most  popular  attractions,  its  motor  roads,  and 
shorter  trails.  Here,  in  the  4,000-  to  8,ooo-feet  elevations,  are  the 
groves  and  forests  of  California  big  trees  (Sequoia  glgantea]  for  which 
Sequoia  is  best  known.  Paralleling  the  divide  for  25  miles,  about  half- 
way between  it  and  the  crest  of  the  Sierra,  are  the  3,ooo-foot  walls  of 
the  Kern  River  Canyon  (see  TOUR  3b).  In  the  eastern  section  of 
Sequoia  are  high  mountain  lakes — of  glacial  origin,  as  are  the  moun- 
tainsides of  exposed  rock  and  the  great,  irregular  granite  ridges,  cleared 
of  their  earth  and  vegetation  by  ice  thousands  of  years  ago.  The  Sierra 
— as  a  distinct  range — dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the  Jurassic  period, 
when  it  began  to  rise  from  the  receding  Logan  Sea;  it  is  approximately 
120,000,000  years  old  (see  NATURAL  SETTING). 

When  Hale  D.  Tharp,  a  farmer  from  Three  Rivers,  visited 
Sequoia  in  1856  in  search  of  pastures  and  a  ranch  site,  he  was  met  by 
peaceful  Yokut.  "The  Indians  liked  me,"  Tharp  said  later,  "because 
I  was  good  to  them.  I  liked  the  Indians,  too,  for  they  were  honest  and 


SEQUOIA     NATIONAL     PARK        657 

kind  to  each  other.  I  never  knew  of  a  theft  or  murder  among  them." 
In  1858  Tharp  discovered  Giant  Forest  and  first  saw  the  big  trees,  one 
of  which  already  had  been  described  to  him  by  the  Indians  as  being  so 
large  that  it  took  25  men,  with  hands  clasped  together,  to  encircle  it. 

The  settlers  who  followed  Tharp  to  the  Three  Rivers  region  were 
less  popular  with  the  Yokut;  by  1862  their  increasing  numbers  were 
forcing  the  Indians  to  retreat  into  the  canyons  of  the  lower  ranges.  At 
this  time  they  contracted  their  first  white  man's  diseases — smallpox, 
measles,  and  scarlet  fever — and  perished  by  the  hundreds,  crawling,  un- 
less restrained  by  force,  into  their  sweat  houses  to  die.  Very  simply, 
one  of  their  leaders,  Chief  Chappo,  had  Tharp  ask  the  white  men  to  go 
away.  When  told  by  his  friend  that  the  settlers  refused  to  leave,  Tharp 
said  that  the  chief  and  his  braves  "sat  down  and  cried."  By  1865  the 
last  of  the  tribe  had  retreated  into  the  mountains. 

An  abortive  gold  strike  in  the  fifties  opened  the  area's  first  trails, 
across  the  southern  panhandle  to  the  Kern  River.  The  first  official 
exploration  took  place  in  the  north,  in  the  Kings  River  country,  in  1861 ; 
it  was  led  by  William  H.  Brewer  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 
Three  years  later  Clarence  King,  who  accompanied  Brewer,  crossed  the 
Kings-Kern  Divide  and  climbed  Mount  Tyndal.  In  1873  Mount 
Whitney  was  climbed  for  the  first  time  by  A.  H.  Johnson,  C.  D.  Begole, 
and  John  Lucas.  Eager  miners  again  crossed  the  southern  panhandle — 
this  time  to  found  the  noisy,  fantastic  settlement  of  Beulah  on  the  advice 
of  a  spiritualist  "control"  (see  TOUR  3b) .  The  town  was  short-lived, 
but  it  left  the  park  with  its  first  wagon  road.  The  next  decade  passed 
quietly.  Cattlemen,  sheepherders,  and  hog  drovers  wandered  over  the 
mountains  in  summer,  trappers  followed  their  lines  in  winter,  and  the 
Indians  dwindled  away. 

Then,  in  1885,  a  stunned  registrar  in  Visalia  reported  to  Washing- 
ton the  application  in  one  day  of  55  claims  of  160  acres  each  to  timber 
lands  above  the  Marble  Fork  of  the  Kaweah.  Applicants  were  mem- 
bers of  a  socialistic  group  who  planned  a  Utopia  in  the  wilderness  (see 
TOUR  3b).  Immediately  after  filing,  they  organized  the  Tulare 
Valley  and  Giant  Forest  Railroad  Company  and  laid  plans  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  land  and  the  lumbering  of  sugar  and  yellow  pine. 
They  visited  Giant  Forest,  vowed  solemnly  never  to  cut  the  giant 
Sequoias,  and  named  the  outstanding  big  trees  after  the  heroes  of  the 
Paris  Commune  and  of  American  socialism.  When  the  government 
suspended  the  entire  district  from  entry  pending  investigation,  the  colon- 
ists launched  a  series  of  litigations  to  secure  title  to  their  land.  In  the 
following  year  they  reorganized  their  company  and  formed  the  Kaweah 
Co-operative  Commonwealth  Colony.  A  sawmill  in  the  mountains  was 
to  cut  fir  and  pine  lumber  which  would  be  hauled  out  over  a  community 
built  road  and  later  a  railroad.  The  road  was  started,  and  in  the  face  of 
incredible  difficulties — the  inexperience  of  the  workers,  the  lack  of  equip- 
ment, the  refractory  nature  of  the  terrain,  and  the  political  confusion 
which  developed  in  the  administration  of  the  colony — was  built  as  far  as 
Colony  Mill  in  less  than  four  years.  A  small  sawmill  was  installed. 


658        CALIFORNIA 


TO  GENERAL  GRANT  NAT'L  FOREST       ; 

^-^!i 


^    .311,  t    r-K--.  3T3<s  ir-m 

\   ,r:i:xfi...  ^pr^l^ 


SEQUOIA     NATIONAL     PARK        659 


SEQUOIA   NATIONAL  PARK 


-  —        National  Park  Boundary 
Main  Improved  Roads 
Graded  Roads 

^98 


660        CALIFORNIA 

There  were  commotions  and  feuds  in  the  Kaweah  Valley,  dissension 
within  the  colony,  debates  in  the  State  Legislature,  articles  in  the  news- 
papers all  over  the  State,  and  finally  over  the  country.  Then,  in  Sep- 
tember 1890,  Sequoia  National  Park  was  created  by  Congress  and  troops 
were  sent  to  expel  the  colonists  and  administer  the  new  park.  The 
colonists  retreated  with  what  grace  they  could  muster,  but  their  vocabu- 
lary was  adopted  by  their  neighbors.  The  Act  of  Congress  was  com- 
pletely unexpected  by  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity,  who  for  30  years  had 
hunted  and  grazed  over  the  area  at  will.  The  local  papers  blossomed 
with  phrases  like  "Cossack  Terrorism"  and  the  soldiers  were  booed  in 
the  streets  of  the  villages  and  shot  at  from  ambuscades  in  the  forests. 

Captain  Dorst,  the  first  military  administrator  of  Sequoia  and  Gen- 
eral Grant  National  Parks,  created  in  1890,  found  himself  faced  with 
a  formidable  array  of  problems.  The  sheep  and  cattlemen,  who  had 
come  to  look  on  the  high  country  as  their  own,  did  not  take  kindly  to 
the  invitation  of  Congress  to  give  up  their  privileges,  yet  no  penalties 
had  been  provided  for  infractions  of  the  rules.  Just  as  an  efficient 
administration  was  being  developed  the  Spanish-American  War  broke 
out  and  the  troops  left.  Sheep  and  cattle  roamed  at  will,  deer  were 
slaughtered  by  hundreds.  The  First  Utah  Volunteer  Company  was 
sent  to  restore  order,  which  they  did  by  killing  game  with  considerably 
more  system  and  efficiency  than  the  civilians.  After  a  month  they  were 
withdrawn  and  replaced  by  regular  troops. 

The  next  15  years  were  a  period  of  gradual  development.  The  hard- 
worked  administrators  built  roads  and  improved  services  with  the  lim- 
ited funds  at  their  disposal.  Slowly  the  park  began  to  take  on  its 
present  appearance.  Outstanding  among  the  military  administrators 
were  Lt.  Hugh  S.  Johnson  and  Capt.  Charles  Young,  commander  of  a 
troop  of  Negro  cavalry  known  as  the  "Black  Battalion."  The  natives 
still  tell  of  the  handsome  black  cavalrymen  dressed  in  dark  blue  and 
mounted  on  coal  black  horses.  On  their  first  trip  through  Visalia, 
bound  for  the  park,  they  were  refused  food  at  the  local  restaurants. 
When  the  troop  was  recalled  and  passed  through  the  town  again, 
Visalia's  terrified  restaurateurs  left  for  the  week  end,  and  Captain 
Young  and  his  soldiers  were  entertained  by  the  community. 

In  1914  a  civilian  administration  replaced  the  military,  and  Walter 
Fry,  who  had  been  reared  in  the  vicinity  and  had  worked  in  and  around 
the  park  since  his  youth,  was  appointed  Superintendent.  Fry  inaugu- 
rated the  policies  that  have  kept  Sequoia  comparatively  unspoiled.  In 
1920  he  was  appointed  U.  S.  Commissioner  for  Sequoia  and  General 
Grant  National  Parks  and  his  place  was  filled  by  Col.  John  R.  White. 
White  has  endeavored  to  make  Sequoia  a  model  recreational  and  con- 
servation area.  In  1926  the  Mt.  Whitney-Kern  River  district  was 
added  to  the  park  and  the  area  increased  from  252  to  604  square  miles. 

The  park's  outstanding  attraction — the  big  tree — was  present  mil- 
lions of  years  ago,  when  the  present  coal  deposits  were  marshes  crowded 
with  dense  and  luxuriant  vegetation.  In  time  the  Sequoia  came  to  be 
one  of  the  dominating  trees  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  Then,  because 


SEQUOIA     NATIONAL     PARK        66l 

of  the  Ice  Age  and  changes  in  topography,  its  range  became  more  and 
more  restricted.  The  first  known  white  men  to  discover  it  were  the 
Joseph  R.  Walker  party  in  1839.  After  considerable  controversy,  it 
was  named  Sequoia  gigantea,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  related  coast 
species,  the  Sequoia  sempervirens. 

The  size  of  the  big  tree  has  often  been  exaggerated.  The  greatest 
height  measured  is  about  330  feet.  Heights  of  350  feet  or  more  are 
theoretically  possible,  but  almost  all  the  largest  trees  have  been  broken 
off  at  the  top  by  lightning.  The  extreme  diameter  above  the  root  swell- 
ings averages  about  27  feet.  Similarly  exaggerated  stories  of  the  great 
age  of  the  trees  are  common.  Most  of  the  largest  living  specimens  are 
probably  from  1,500  to  3,000  years  old.  The  big  tree  is  scale-leafed 
and  somewhat  resembles  the  incense  cedar,  but  its  sprays  are  rounded 
rather  than  flattened,  a  light  green  in  color.  In  youth  the  branches  are 
slender,  the  tree  is  pyramidal  in  form,  and  the  leaves  are  needle-like 
and  of  a  bluish  cast.  After  about  200  years  the  lower  branches  begin 
to  drop  off,  the  leaves  flatten  to  scales  and  change  in  color,  and  the 
bark  begins  to  split  into  ridges  and  turn  from  a  purple  grey  to  a  cinna- 
mon red.  On  mature  trees  the  bark  is  from  one  to  two  feet  thick,  sepa- 
rated into  long  parallel  ridges  that  make  the  trunk  seem  like  an  immense 
fluted  Doric  column;  the  few  remaining  branches,  of  enormous  size, 
gnarled  and  twisted,  add  to  the  impression  of  massive  power.  The 
32  big  tree  groves  within  the  park  stand  at  the  edge  of  the  Transition 
Zone  (see  FLORA  AND  FAUNA}.  The  display  of  flowers,  particu- 
larly in  June  and  early  July  is  profuse  and  brilliant. 

General  Grant  Park  was  set  aside  principally  to  preserve  the  giant 
Sequoia  for  which  it  is  named,  which  stands  in  one  of  its  two  splendid 
big  tree  groves.  The  park  lies  lower  on  the  slopes  of  the  Sierra  than 
does  Sequoia,  at  an  average  altitude  of  6,500  feet.  Its  eastern  boundary 
is  the  ''hogback,"  Grant  Park  Ridge  (7,350-7,750  alt.). 

SEQUOIA  PARK  TOUR 

Ash  Mountain  Entrance — Hospital  Rock — Giant  Forest  Village — Lost 
Grove  Entrance — General  Grant  South  Entrance  Station;  45.8  m., 
Generals  Highway. 

Oil-surfaced  roadbed  throughout. 

The  Generals  Highway,  a  continuation  of  State  198  (see  TOUR 
3b)  crosses  the  boundary  of  Sequoia  National  Park,  0  m.,  and  con- 
tinues to  ASH  MOUNTAIN  PARK  HEADQUARTERS,  1  m., 
where  incoming  travelers  are  registered  and  automobile  fees  collected. 

Northeast  of  Ash  Mountain  the  highway  climbs  steadily,  winding 
above  the  KAWEAH  RIVER.  Western  sycamores  grow  along  the 
canyon  floor,  and  in  early  summer  the  grass  is  full  of  yellow  blazing 
stars,  crimson  godetia,  and  wild  hyacinth. 

Before  1865  CAMP  POTWISHA,  2.8  m.,  a  CCC  camp  in  1938,  was 
the  principal  village  of  the  Pot-wi-sha  tribe  of  the  Yokut.  The  mortar 


662        CALIFORNIA 

holes  in  which  they  ground  their  meal  of  acorns  or  buckeyes  are  still 
visible  in  the  flat  rocks  below  the  road,  and  several  well  preserved 
pictographs  are  on  the  cliffs  above.  The  Yokut,  who  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  tribes  that  left  the  prehistoric  paintings,  asked  Hale  Tharp  to 
explain  them. 

East  of  Potwisha  the  road  follows  the  twisting  course  of  the  Middle 
Fork  of  the  Kaweah.  The  nearby  mountains  are  characterized  by  un- 
usual rock  formations.  Long,  jagged  granite  scars  cut  the  sides  of 
some;  others  are  walled  by  smooth,  almost  polished  surfaces. 

HOSPITAL  ROCK  CAMP  (2,600  alt.),  5.2  m.  (all-year  cabins;  camp- 
sites}, is  popular  in  winter  with  those  who  prefer  to  sleep  in  a  warmer 
climate  and  drive  to  snow  for  the  day.  Opposite  the  camp  is  HOS- 
PITAL ROCK.  In  the  cave  beneath  this  huge  boulder  (reached  by  a  short 
path)  the  Indians  stored  their  food,  held  pow-wows,  and  ministered  to 
the  sick  and  injured.  Castle  Rocks  (R)  and  Moro  Rock  (L)  tower 
4,000  feet  above,  Hospital  Rock  like  an  altar  before  them.  The  place 
was  a  religious  sanctuary  for  several  tribes;  numerous  pictographs,  their 
exact  significance  unknown,  attest  to  the  importance  of  the  place  in  the 
lives  of  Indians. 

Right  from  Hospital  Rock  on  a  narrow  dirt  road  to  BUCKEYE  FLAT  CAMP- 
GROUND, 0.5  m.,  and  MORO  CREEK,  2  m. 

North  of  Hospital  Rock  the  Generals  Highway  begins  the  long 
climb  up  the  ridge  between  the  Marble  and  Middle  Forks  of  the 
Kaweah  in  a  series  of  hairpin  curves.  The  Yucca  give  way  to  buck- 
eyes, which  soon  dominate  the  chaparral.  The  road  cuts  again  and  again 
through  limestone,  honeycombed  with  caves  (not  safely  accessible).  As 
the  road  continues  to  climb  the  limestone  rocks  are  replaced  by  schists, 
the  tightly  pressed,  metamorphosed  stone  that  lies  along  the  surface 
of  the  Sierra. 

AMPHITHEATER  POINT  (4,450  alt.),  10  m.  (parking  space), 
overlooks  the  canyons  below  and  the  distant  San  Joaquin  Valley. 

At  13.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  Colony  Mill  Rd. 

Left  on  this  rough  dirt  road,  which  the  Kaweah  Colonists  (see  above} 
were  four  years  constructing,  to  the  SITE  OF  THE  KAWEAH  COLONY  SAWMILL, 
6  m.,  on  the  Marble  Fork.  A  RANGER  STATION  is  here  today. 

The  buildings  of  GIANT  FOREST  VILLAGE,  16.6  m.  (6,412 
alt.),  residential  and  recreational  center,  stretch  for  a  half  mile  along 
the  highway.  Trails  radiate  from  the  village  into  the  eastern  section 
of  the  park.  Giant  Forest  Lodge,  Camp  Kaweah,  Pinewood  Camp,  and 
several  campgrounds  are  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 

The  ADMINISTRATION  BUILDING  (open  8-12,  1-5)  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  village  (L)  houses  an  administrative  office,  a  TULARE 
COUNTY  LIBRARY  (open  1-4:30  summer  season),  and  a  MUSEUM.  In 
the  museum  are  a  few  Indian  artifacts  and  a  large  relief  map  of  the 
park  showing  all  major  roads  and  trails. 

In  front  of  the  building  is  a  SECTION  OF  A  SEQUOIA,  9  feet  8  inches 


SEQUOIA     NATIONAL     PARK        663 

in  diameter,  that  is  estimated  to  have  been  about  1,705  years  old  at  the 
time  of  its  death.  Markers  on  some  of  the  annual  rings  indicate  events 
that  occurred  during  the  life  of  the  tree,  beginning  with  the  invasion  of 
Rome  by  the  Goths  in  the  year  250  and  ending  with  the  start  of  the 
World  War  in  1914. 

Opposite  the  Administration  Building  is  the  CHURCH  OF  THE 
SEQUOIAS  on  a  gently  sloping  clearing;  here,  in  the  shadow  of  giant 
Sequoias,  are  the  log  benches  and  stump  pulpit  used  for  outdoor  re- 
ligious services. 

1.  Left  from  Giant  Forest  Village  on  a  footpath  to  BEETLE  ROCK,  0.2  m.t 
a  huge,  smooth-topped  granite  promontory  resembling  the  back  of  a  beetle, 
high  above  Marble  Canyon  and  overlooking  the  distant  San  Joaquin  Valley. 

2.  Right  from  Giant  Forest  Village  on  an  oil-surfaced  road  to  the  junc- 
tion with  a  paved  road,  0.1  m.;  L.  here  0.4  to  BEAR  HILL  (bears  fed  daily 
at  2:30  p.m.;  ranger  naturalist  talk  at  3),  a  large  enclosed  area  in  which 
are  the  park  incinerator  and  bear-feeding  platform. 

At  0.8  m.  on  the  main  side  road  is  the  AUTO  LOG  (L),  a  huge  fallen  big 
tree  with  a  flattened  top  onto  which  an  automobile  may  be  driven. 

At  TRINITY  CORNER,  12  m.,  the  main  route  goes  R.  Mono  ROCK, 
1.6  m.  (6,719  alt.),  is  climbed  by  a  winding  rock  and  concrete  stairway. 
The  view  from  its  summit  is  magnificent,  particularly  at  sunset.  A  sheer 
4,000  feet  below  is  the  Kaweah  River,  a  shining  thread.  In  the  east  the 
pale  moon  rises  above  the  slowly  darkening,  irregular  ridges  of  the  Great 
Western  Divide.  Westward  miles  of  hilltops  reach  toward  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  and  in  the  far  distance  the  red  sun  sinks  behind  the  Coast  Range. 

At  2.1  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road;  R.  here,  past  the  PARKER 
GROUP,  2.2  m.,  a  small  grove  of  giant  Sequoias. 

The  main  side  road  ends  in  a  parking  area  at  the  southern  end  of 
CRESCENT  MEADOW,  3.4  m.,  filled  with  flowers  and  rich  grass  and 
surrounded  by  Sequoias.  This  is  one  of  the  finest  meadows  of  the  middle 
altitudes  in  the  entire  Sierra. 

a.  Right  from  Crescent  Meadow  at  a  point  a   few  yards  north   of  the 
parking  area  on  a  trail  0.6  m.  to  THARP'S  CABIN,  a  large,  hollow  big  tree 
log  that  was  converted  into  living  quarters  by  Hale  Tharp,  who  pastured 
his  cattle  in  the  nearby  meadow.     The  log  house  is  preserved  in  its  early 
state,    and   the  carven   "Hale   Tharp,    1858"   is   protected   by   glass.     John 
Muir  spent  several  nights  here  in  1875  and  wrote  enthusiastically  of  the 
"noble  den." 

b.  Right  from  the  parking  area  on  the  High  Sierra  Trail   (here  a  pedes- 
trian path;   stock  should  leave  from  corral   and  join  trail  4  miles  east). 
This    requires    an    average    of    14   days    as    a    round    trip    hike,    and    leads 
through   wild,   spectacular  country,   through    deep   canyons,   past   mountain 
lakes  and  meadows,  to  the  Sierra's  highest  peaks.     Overnight  camps  are 
maintained  in  summer  at  approximate  lo-mile  intervals. 

BEARPAW  MEADOW  (7,900  alt.),  12  m.,  overlooks  the  Kaweah  River 
Valley.  Beautiful  HAMILTON  LAKE  (9,500  alt.)  is  at  16  m.,  and  the 
suspension  bridge  over  HAMILTON  GORGE  in  the  Great  Western  Divide  at 
18  m.  KAWEAH  GAP  (10,800  alt.),  20  m.,  offers  sweeping  views  of  the 
Kaweah  Peaks  Ridge  and  the  main  crest  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  East  of 
MORAINE  LAKE  (9,450  alt.),  30  m.,  is  the  KERN  RIVER  CANYON  at 
FUNSTON  MEADOWS  (6,700  alt.),  34.5  m.  The  trail  follows  the  canyon 
northward  from  Funston  Meadows,  past  KERN  HOT  SPRINGS  (6,900 
alt),  37  m.,  to  JUNCTION  MEADOW  (8,200  alt.).  From  here  it  swings 
east  for  about  3.5  miles,  then  southward  to  CRABTREE  MEADOW, 


664        CALIFORNIA 

54.5  m.,  Mount  Whitney  base  camp.  The  summit  of  MOUNT  WHITNEY 
(14,495  alt.)  is  at  62  m.  Right  from  the  summit  on  a  trail  13  m.  down  the 
eastern  slope  to  the  junction  with  an  automobile  road  (see  TOUR  6c). 

3.  Left  from  Giant  Forest  on  the  Alta  Trail  (for  pedestrians  and 
equestrians).  The  KEYHOLE  (L),  1.3  m.,  is  a  big  tree,  fire-hollowed  at  the 
base,  in  whose  sides  have  been  burned  openings  resembling  giant  "key- 
holes." 

At  1.6  m.  at  the  junction  with  the  Rim  Rock  Trail  (L)  stands  the 
LINCOLN  TREE  (R),  a  rugged  Sequoia  259  feet  high  with  a  diameter  of 
31  feet. 

At  1.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  short  trail;  R.  here  0.1  m,  to  CIRCLE 
MEADOW,  on  whose  northern  rim  are  the  FOUNDERS  GROVE,  the  CONGRESS 
GROUP,  and  the  2fo-foot  PRESIDENT  TREE. 

At  2.3  m.  on  the  Alta  Trail  is  the  junction  with  the  Wolverton  Corral 
Trail;  R.  here  4  m.  to  a  junction  with  the  High  Sierra  Trail  (see  above}. 

The  Alta  Trail  continues  northeastward,  past  lovely  MEHRTEN 
MEADOW  (shelter  cabin]  (9,000  alt.),  on  Mehrten  Creek.  ALTA 
MEADOWS  (good  camping  and  pasture],  7  m.,  lies  at  the  southern  base  of 
ALTA  PEAK,  9.2  m.  (11,211  alt.).  The  peak  is  the  nearest  point  to  Giant 
Forest  from  which  Mount  Whitney  is  visible.  The  view  is  exceptional. 

The  Generals  Highway  continues  eastward  to  a  junction  with  a 
graveled  road,  17.1  m. 

Right  0.1  m.  to  the  LOWER  CORRAL,  one  of  the  park's  two  stables  (horses 
available].  The  HAZELWOOD  PICNIC  AREA  is  at  0.3  m. 

At  17.5  m.  on  the  highway  is  the  junction  with  a  trail. 

1.  Left  on  this  trail  through  SUNSET  ROCK  CAMPGROUND,  0.5  m.,  to  SUNSET 
ROCK,  0.6  m.t  a  huge  granite  boulder  offering  the  same  view  as  Beetle  Rock 
{see  above}.    It  is  popular  for  sunset  picnics. 

2.  Right  0.9  m.  on  Rim  Rock  Trail,  along  a  granite  ridge,  to  the  junction 
with  the  Alta  Trail  (see  above}. 

At  18.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  an  oil-surfaced  road. 

Right  to  a  large  parking  area,  0.2  m.  Opposite  the  area,  in  a  park-like 
clearing  (L),  is  the  GENERAL  SHERMAN  TREE,  the  largest  living  thing.  It 
was  called  the  Karl  Marx  Tree  by  the  Kaweah  Colonists.  The  name  was 
changed  after  James  Wolverton,  trapper  and  hunter,  asserted  he  had 
discovered  it  in  1879,  several  years  before  the  advent  of  the  colonists. 
The  height  of  the  Sherman  Tree,  above  the  mean  base,  is  272.4  feet;  its 
base  circumference  is  101.6  feet.  Its  age  is  estimated  at  between  3,000  and 
4,000  years. 

At  1  m.  on  the  side  road  is  a  junction  with  an  oil-surfaced  road;  L. 
0.9  m.  to  a  junction  with  a  graded  road ;  L.  here  0.1  m.  to  the  GOVERNMENT 
CORRAL  (horses),  called  the  upper  corral. 

At  20.9  77z.  on  Generals   Highway  is  the  junction  with  a  graded 
road. 

Right  here  into  LODGEPOLE  CAMPGROUND  (swimming  pool),  0.2  m.,  on  the 
Marble  Fork  of  the  Kaweah.  The  special  campsites  for  trailers  are  at 
0.3  m. 

i.  Right  2.5  m.  from  Lodgep.ole  Camp  on  a  trail  (for  pedestrians  or 
equestrians)  to  TOKOPAH  FALLS.  The  trail  ascends  the  canyon  of  the 


SEQUOIA     NATIONAL     PARK        665 

Marble  Fork  of  the  Kaweah  River  through  forests  and  meadows.  The 
river  gorge  narrows  between  precipitous  slopes,  offering  an  example  of  the 
U-shaped  glaciated  valley  of  the  Yosemite  type. 

2.  Left  5  m.  from  Lodgepole  Camp  on  Twin  Lakes  Trail  (for  pedes- 
trians or  equestrians)  to  CLOVER  CREEK.  TWIN  LAKES  (fine  trout  fish- 
ing], 7  m.  (9,750  alt.),  are  at  the  base  of  SILLIMAN  SHOULDER  (10,500 
alt.),  which  offers  a  fine  mountain  panorama. 

At  27.4  m.  on  the  Generals  Highway  is  an  attractive  PICNIC  AREA 
at  the  edge  of  HALSTEAD  MEADOW. 

DORST  CREEK  CAMPGROUND  (L),  31.7  m.,  one  of  the 
most  pleasant  of  Sequoia's  camping  areas,  occupies  a  thick  forest  of  fir 
along  the  banks  of  Dorst  Creek. 

LOST  GROVE  RANGER  STATION,  32.3  m.,  marks  the  northwestern 
boundary  of  Sequoia  National  Park. 

The  Generals  Highway  continues  northwestward,  sweeping  around 
one  of  the  lateral  ridges  (6,500  average  alt.)  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  in 
long,  easy  curves.  (Road  frequently  closed  by  winter  snows.)  The 
views  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  are  numerous  and  impressive,  and 
the  road  is  lined  with  a  mixed  coniferous  forest  of .  great  splendor. 
White  fir,  incense  cedar,  sugar  pine,  and  western  yellow  pine  predomi- 
nate, and  there  are  occasional  Sequoias.  The  western  dogwood,  with 
large  white  blooms,  is  common  beneath  the  larger  trees  and  the  steep 
slopes  that  fall  away  to  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  are  densely  clothed  with 
wild  cherry,  ceanothus,  and  other  flowering  shrubs. 

At  45.8  m.  is  the  southern  boundary  of  General  Grant  National 
Park. 

GENERAL  GRANT  PARK  TOUR 

South  Entrance  Station — Northern  Junction  with  State  180;  2.5  m., 
Generals  Highway. 

The  Generals  Highway  crosses  the  boundary  of  General  Grant  Na- 
tional Park,  0  m.,  at  the  SOUTH  ENTRANCE  RANGER  STATION. 

At  0.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  State  180  (see  TOUR  3b). 

At  the  PLAZA,  1  m.,  near  the  center  of  the  park,  are  Grant's 
ADMINISTRATIVE  HEADQUARTERS.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  are 
cabins,  campgrounds,  a  store,  the  CORRAL,  and  the  CHURCH  OF  THE 
SEQUOIAS,  where  outdoor  religious  services  are  held. 

Right  from  the  Plaza  on  oiled  Rocking  Rock  Rd.,  2.5  m.  to  ROCKING  ROCK, 
a  48-ton  granite  slab  balanced  on  the  edge  of  PARK  RIDGE.  About  100 
yards  east  is  PANORAMIC  POINT  (7,500  alt.).  Both  vantages  offer  impressive 
views  of  KINGS  RIVER  CANYON,  20  miles  north. 

At  1.2  m.  on  Generals  Highway  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  on  this  road  0.1  m.  to  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road;  R.  here 
0.9  m.  to  the  GRANT  GROVE  of  big  trees,  largest  of  which  is  the  GENERAL 
GRANT  TREE,  under  which  services  are  held  at  high  noon  each  Christmas 
Day.  The  ancient  tree  is  267  feet  high  with  a  maximum  base  diameter 
of  40.3  feet  and  a  diameter  of  12  feet  200  feet  above  the  ground. 


666        CALIFORNIA 

The  park's  second  outstanding  group  of  Sequoias,  NORTH  GROVE  (R),  is 
passed  at  1.5  m.  From  here  the  route  swings  sharply  southward  to  the 
eastern  shore  of  SEQUOIA  LAKE  (trout  and  bass  fishing},  4  m.  (5,300 
alt.),  0.2  miles  outside  the  park's  western  boundary.  The  loo-acre  body 
of  water  is  owned  by  the  Y.M.C.A.,  which  maintains  several  boys'  camps 
on  its  shores. 

The  Generals  Highway  continues  northward  from  the  Plaza  and 
crosses  the  park's  northern  boundary,  2.5  m.,  where  it  becomes  the 
Kings  River  Canyon  Highway— State  180  (see  TOUR  3b). 


Yosemite  National  Park 


Season:  Summer  season  May  i  to  Oct.  i;  winter  sports  Dec.  15  to  late  April. 
Administrative  Offices:  Headquarters  at  Government  Center  in  park;  regional 
headquarters,  Sheldon  Bldg.,  461  Market  St.,  San  Francisco.  Yosemite  Park 
and  Curry  Co.:  Government  Center,  Yosemite  National  Park;  39  Geary  St., 
San  Francisco;  612  S.  Olive  &t.,  Los  Angeles. 

Admission:  Free;  yearly  automobile  permit  $2,  issued  any  entrance  station. 
Entrance  stations  on  All-Year  Highway  at  Arch  Rock  (open  5  a.m.-l2  p.m.]  ;  on 
Wawona  Rd.  (open  all  year  except  during  periods  of  heavy  snow)  at  South 
Entrance  Gate  (open  6  a.m.-!2  p.m.  May  30  to  Aug.  31,  6  a.m.-Q.'jo  p.m.  Sept. 
I  to  May  29)  ;  on  Big  Oak  Flat  Rd.  (open  about  May  I  to  Oct.  15}  at  Tuolumne 
Grove  Entrance  Station  and  Gentry  Checking  Station  (one-way  control:  in- 
bound 7-7:25  a.m.  and  at  odd  hours  thereafter  until  9-9:25  p.m.;  out-bound 
6-6:25  a.m.  and  at  even  hours  thereafter  until  8-8:25  p.m.)  ;  on  Tioga  Rd.  (open 
about  July  I  to  Oct.  i)  at  Aspen  Valley  (open  6  a.m.-p.-jo  p.m.)  and  Tioga 
Pass  (open  6  a.m.-Q.'jo  p.m.)  ;  and  on  road  to  O'Shaughnessy  Dam  at  Mather 
Entrance  Station  (open  6  a.m.-Q.-jo  p.m.}. 

Transportation:    Yosemite  Valley  Railroad  daily  from  Merced. 
Highways  from  E.  on  State  120  (TOUR  8b)   and  State  140  (TOUR  8b)  ;  from 
S.  on  State  41  (TOUR  3b)  ;  from  W.  on  State  120  (TOUR  6b). 
Busses  daily  from  Merced  to  Yosemite  Valley;  daily  from  Fresno  in  summer. 
Daily   summer    service    within    park    from    Yosemite    Valley   to    Mirror    Lake, 
Glacier  Point,  Tuolomne  Meadows,  Mariposa  Grove,  and  Hetch  Hetchy  Dam. 
Marked  trails   700  m.     Saddle   horses   available   near  Happy  Isles;    rates,   $3 
half  day,  $5  full  day;  guides   (necessary  for  long  trips  only),  $3.50  half  day, 
$6  full  day.     All-expense  trips  to  High  Sierra  3   days,  $23   a  person;   6  days, 
$46  a  person.     (See  TRAIL  TOURS.) 

Accommodations:  Five  hotels  (Yosemite  Valley,  Glacier  Point,  Mariposa 
Grove);  three  cabin  groups  (Yosemite  Valley,  Tuolomne  Meadows;  house- 
keeping tents  and  cabins  (Yosemite  Valley,  Tuolomne  Meadows)  ;  five  High 
Sierra  camps,  open  July  and  Aug.  (Merced  Lake,  Vogelsang,  Tuolomne 
Meadows,  Glen  Aulin,  May  Lake).  Daily  rates:  hotels,  $1.50  to  $5  European 
plan,  $5  to  $12  American  plan;  cabins,  $1.25  to  $5.00  European  plan,  $3.75 
to  $8  American  plan;  meals,  $i.  Housekeeping  tents  and  cabins  (one  day) 
from  $1.50  for  one  or  two  persons  to  $7  for  one  or  two  persons;  reduced  rates 

667 


668        CALIFORNIA  . 

for  longer  stays.  High  Sierra  camps  for  saddle  and  hiking  parties;  basic  rates 
$i  a  night,  $i  a  meal. 

Six  free  public  campgrounds  (sanitary  conveniences]  in  valley;  others  at 
Glacier  Point,  Mariposa  Grove,  Tuolomne  Meadows,  and  along  main  roads. 
Camping  permitted  in  spring,  summer,  and  fall. 

Winter  Accommodations:  Yosemite  Lodge  and  Ahwahnee  Hotel.  Badger  Pass 
Ski  House  in  skiing  area  (refreshments). 

Clothing  and  Equipment:  Special  clothing  and  equipment  can  be  rented  or 
purchased  at  general  store  in  Old  Village. 

Medical  Service:     Medical,   surgical,   and   dental   services   at  Lewis   Memorial 
Hospital,  Yosemite  Valley,  all  year;  X-ray  and  emergency  ambulance. 
Postal   Service:    Post   offices    at    Government    Center    and    Wawona    all    year; 
address   Yosemite   National   Park,   Calif.     Branch   offices   in   summer   at  Camp 
Curry,  Yosemite  Lodge,  Tuolumne  Meadows. 

Communication  and  Express  Service:  Telephone  and  telegraph  service  at 
Administration  Building  (Government  Center),  Ahwahnee  Hotel,  Yosemite 
Lodge,  Camp  Curry  (Yosemite  Valley).  Money  transfers  handled  at  Adminis- 
tration Building.  Express  service  at  general  store  in  Old  Village;  address 
"Care  of  Yosemite  National  Park,  Calif.,  via  El  Portal." 

Special  Regulations:  Dogs,  cats,  and  firearms  not  allowed  in  Park  overnight. 
Speed  limit  35m.  Drive  slowly  at  night,  when  bear  and  deer  often  cross  roads. 
Do  not  feed  bears  or  leave  food  within  their  reach;  put  food  in  very  strong, 
locked  containers  or  suspend  10  feet  above  ground  in  box  between  two  trees. 
Fawns  must  be  left  alone;  does  will  attack  if  young  are  disturbed.  Hunting 
and  trapping  prohibited.  Campers  must  register  at  camp  entrance,  keep  camps 
clean,  and  put  refuse  in  containers.  (Get  detailed  information  in  park.) 
Fishing:  Licenses  required.  State  laws  apply  (full  rules  at  park).  Closed 
waters  so  posted. 

Entertainment:  Regular  summer  schedule  of  entertainment,  lectures,  and  expe- 
ditions; programs  posted  on  bulletin  boards.  During  summer  ranger  naturalists 
conduct  daily  nature  walks  (except  Sundays)  ;  special  bird  walks  at  8  a.m. 
each  Wednesday;  daily  auto  caravans  to  points  of  interest  on  valley  floor  at 
9:30  a.m.  and  2  p.m.  (except  Sunday);  all-day  hikes  to  Glacier  Point,  Vernal 
and  Nevada  Falls,  and  Tenaya  Canyon  several  times  weekly;  y-day  hiking 
trips  through  the  spectacular  High  Country  regions.  Brief  educational  talks 
morning  and  afternoon  at  museum;  campfire  programs  in  evenings  at  camps 
and  lodges.  Bears  fed  under  spotlights  at  8  p.m.  (see  YOSEMITE  TOUR  /). 
Firefall  nightly  at  9  from  tip  of  Glacier  Point  (best  seen  from  meadows  E. 
of  Government  Center  or  at  Camp  Curry).  Dancing  weekday  evenings  at 
Camp  Curry.  Skiing,  skating,  tobogganing,  sleigh  and  dog  sled  riding,  ski 
festivals  and  sports  carnivals. 

Yosemite  National  Park,  a  spectacular  mountain  region,  lies  on  the 
western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Its  eastern  boundary,  40  miles 
from  the  Nevada  State  line,  is  on  the  crest  of  the  Sierra;  its  western 
edge  is  in  the  dry  foothills  where  the  mountains  merge  with  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  The  park  has  752,744  acres  of  mountains  and  forests,  429 
lakes,  a  chain  of  mountain  peaks  averaging  10,000  feet  and  more, 
granite  domes  and  monoliths,  many  trout  streams,  glaciers,  and  high 
mountain  meadows.  Five  great  waterfalls  and  many  lesser  ones  drop 
over  perpendicular  cliffs  as  high  as  1,612  feet. 

Two  main  canyons  bisect  the  park  from  east  to  west:  Yosemite 
Valley  to  the  south  and  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Tuolumne  to  the 
north — both  gouged  down  thousands  of  feet  into  solid  rock  by  streams 
and  glaciers. 

Yosemite  Valley   (3,985  alt.),  with  waterfalls,  Mirror  Lake,  Half 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK       669 


LEGEND 

—  _  __  .  National  Park  Boundary 

Main  Improved  Roads 
_  _  _  _  Graded  Roads 

State  Road  Number  • 

Tour  Numbers 


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YOSEMITE 
NATIONAL  PARK 

SCALE    IN    MILES 


670        CALIFORNIA 

Dome,  Glacier  Point,  and  El  Capitan,  was  the  first  area  opened  to 
travel ;  most  of  the  public  campgrounds  and  the  main  hotels  and  lodges 
are  here.  The  population  of  the  valley  during  the  summer  season  is 
often  15,000.  This  single  valley  is  so  well  known  through  books,  paint- 
ings, photographs,  motion  pictures,  and  calendar  illustrations  that  many 
consider  it  the  whole  of  Yosemite  National  Park.  It  is  only  a  small 
part — less  than  one-hundredth — of  the  total  area. 

Yosemite  Valley  is  a  U-shaped  trough,  7  miles  long  with  an  average 
width  of  one  mile,  sunk  3,000  feet  below  the  rim  of  the  park  and 
carved  out  of  the  granite  slab  of  the  Sierra  by  stream  erosion  and 
massive  glacial  action.  The  floor  is  level  and  parklike,  with  the  Merced 
River  meandering  through  its  meadows  and  forests,  dominated  by  im- 
mense domes  and  rock  masses,  which  form  a  sheer  wall  around  it. 
Dr.  Bunnell,  the  man  who  named  Yosemite,  was  so  moved  by  the  valley 
that  he  wrote  years  afterward,  "As  I  looked  at  the  grandeur  of  the 
scene  a  peculiar  exalted  sensation  seemed  to  fill  my  whole  being,  and  I 
found  my  eyes  in  tears  with  emotion." 

Varieties  of  birds,  mammals,  trees,  and  flowers  cover  a  wide  range 
in  the  park,  occupying  five  life  zones,  each  with  its  distinct  types  of  flora 
and  fauna  (see  FLORA  AND  FAUNA).  Over  230  varieties  of  birds 
have  been  catalogued,  about  100  mammals,  about  25  reptiles,  and  12 
amphibians.  Tree  squirrels  and  chipmunks  scamper  about  camps  look- 
ing for  food;  bear  and  deer  wander  over  the  valley  unafraid  of  man. 
The  Big  Trees  (Sequoia  gigantea)  of  the  Mariposa  Grove,  giants  left 
over  from  the  Age  of  Reptiles,  are  the  park's  outstanding  trees.  The 
valley  floors,  the  mountain  slopes,  the  ravines,  and  gorges  are  grown 
with  luxuriant  stands  of  pine,  fir,  hemlock,  cedar,  oak,  maple,  western 
yellow  pine,  Jeffrey  pine,  and  California  black  oak.  The  1,200  kinds 
of  flowering  plants  and  ferns  are  at  their  best  in  spring  and  early  sum- 
mer, when  meadows  are  alive  with  Indian  paintbrush,  lupin,  buttercups, 
wild  geranium,  leopard  lilies,  camas,  and  shooting  stars. 

During  the  Ice  Age  glaciers  jammed  Yosemite  Valley,  cut  the  river 
gorge  from  500  to  1,500  feet  deeper.  Great  rivers  of  ice,  2,000  feet 
thick,  advanced  through  the  Little  Yosemite  Valley  and  Tenaya  Canyon 
to  form  a  trunk  glacier  at  the  head  of  the  valley  3,000  feet  thick  that 
filled  the  chasm  with  a  slowly  grinding  mass  of  ice  reaching  to  El  Portal. 
Only  the  tops  of  the  highest  peaks  stuck  above  the  glaciers.  When  the 
Ice  Age  ended  about  20,000  years  ago,  the  glaciers  melted  and  left  a 
deep,  5-mile  lake  in  Yosemite  Valley,  dammed  by  a  terminal  moraine 
near  El  Capitan.  Streams  and  melting  glaciers  above  soon  filled  it  with 
debris  and  sand,  forming  the  present  valley  floor. 

For  centuries  before  white  men  arrived,  Indians  lived  in  the  valley, 
where  they  had  at  one  time  40  villages.  They  belonged  to  the  Miwok 
tribe,  superior  to  most  California  Indians  and  especially  skilled  in  basket 
making.  Their  name  for  the  valley  was  Ahwahnee  (deep  grassy  valley) . 
"Yosemite"  came  from  the  Miwok  word,  Uzumati  (grizzly  bear),  one 
of  the  tribal  divisions  or  totems. 

The  first  Americans  to  see  the  Yosemite  region  were  members  of 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK        67! 

Joseph  Walker's  California  expedition  of  1833,  who  failed  to  impress 
its  wonders  on  the  world,  although  they  told  of  "many  small  streams, 
which  would  shoot  out  from  under  high  snow  banks,  and  after  running 
a  short  distance  in  deep  chasms,  precipitate  themselves  from  one  lofty 
precipice  to  another."  The  discovery  of  Yosemite  Valley  was  accidental. 
Major  James  D.  Savage  and  Dr.  L.  H.  Bunnell,  leading  the  "Mariposa 
Battalion"  in  an  expedition  to  track  down  the  warlike  Miwok  Indians 
and  force  them  to  sign  a  treaty,  stumbled  out  of  the  forest  on  March  25, 
1851,  at  Inspiration  Point,  where  Yosemite  Valley  lay  spread  out  before 
them.  Bunnell  was  so  impressed  that  he  forgot  the  Indians.  At  the 
campfire  on  the  bank  of  the  Merced  River  that  night,  he  suggested  the 
name  Yosemite.  Afterward  he  spread  the  fame  of  the  valley  in  his 
book,  Discovery  of  the  Yosemite. 

In  1864  Congress  granted  Yosemite  Valley  and  Mariposa  Grove  to 
California  as  a  State  park;  in  1890  it  established  Yosemite  National 
Park  and  in  1906  Yosemite  State  Park  was  incorporated  in  it.  The 
park  was  guarded  in  summer  by  Federal  troops  and  in  winter  by  civilian 
rangers  until  the  creation  of  the  National  Park  Service  in  1916. 

YOSEMITE  TOUR  i 

Arch  Rock  Entrance  Station — Yosemite  Lodge — Government  Center — 
Indian  Caves — Happy  Isles — Old  Village;  17.2  m.,  All-Year  Highway, 
El  Capitan  Rd. 

Oil-treated  macadam  roadbed  throughout. 

The  All- Year  Highway  continues  northeast  from  State  140  (see 
TOUR  3b)  from  the  ARCH  ROCK  ENTRANCE  STATION,  0  m.  (2,855 
alt.). 

ARCH  ROCK,  0.1  m.,  at  the  western  end  of  forest-choked  Merced 
Canyon,  is  formed  by  two  great  granite  boulders.  The  cliff-bound 
route  runs  through  yellow  pines,  incense  cedars,  and  Douglas  firs. 
Across  riotous  Merced  River  (R),  innumerable  waterfalls  tumble  down 
the  canyonside  in  a  series  of  cascades.  CASCADE  FALLS,  visible  (L)  at 
3.1  m.,  shoot  from  the  rim  of  the  canyon  594  feet  above  the  road. 
INSPIRATION  POINT  (5,391  alt.)  juts  from  the  rim  of  the  gorge  high 
above  granite  PULPIT  ROCK  (4,195  alt.)  across  the  river  (R)  at  4.8  m. 

At  5.8  m.  is  the  junction  with  Pohono  Rd. 

Right  on  Pohono  Rd.,  crossing  the  Merced  River,  02  m.  to  FERN  SPRINGS 
(R),  bubbling  cold  and  clear  into  a  small  stream  where  a  unique  species 
of  salamander  is  found. 

The  road  winds  through  the  grassy  reaches  of  pine-  and  oak-dotted 
BRIDAL  VEIL  MEADOWS.  On  the  far  side  (L)  at  0.6  m.  a  plaque  in 
a  grove  of  trees  marks  the  GRAVES  OF  ROSE  AND  SHURBORN,  prospectors  from 
Coarse  Gold  Gulch  ambushed  here  by  Yosemite  Indians  May  26,  1852. 
The  United  States  Cavalry  expedition  that  buried  their  bodies  shot  five 
warriors  in  revenge  and  chased  the  rest  southwestward  into  the  Mono 
Lake  region. 

BRIDAL  VEIL  FALL  (R),  1.5  m.,  drops  620  feet  from  the  cliff  above  in  a 
delicate  lacy  pattern  clouded  with  fine,  rain-like  spray.  The  mist  that 


672        CALIFORNIA 

hangs  in  the  air  roundabout  is  tinged  by  the  sun  in  late  afternoon — the 
best  time  to  see  the  fall — with  changing  rainbows  of  rich  reds,  blues, 
purples,  and  yellows,  which  the  observer  can  reach  out  and  touch. 

The  twin  shafts  of  CATHEDRAL  ROCKS  (R),  2.4  m.,  towering  2,154 
feet  above  the  valley  floor,  challenged  mountain  climbers  until  1935,  when 
youthful  members  of  the  Sierra  Club  inched  up  them  with  ropes  and  spikes 
like  human  flies  under  the  lenses  of  motion  picture  cameras. 

A  concourse  of  shaggy  brown  or  black  Yosemite  bears — and  sometimes 
an  uninvited  coyote  or  skunk — usually  gather  at  the  concrete  troughs  of 
the  BEAR  FEEDING  PITS  (L),  3.3  m.  (feeding  time  8  p.m.]  in  the  glare  of 
floodlights  when  garbage  is  brought  in  from  hotels  and  lodges.  The  bears, 
whose  sense  of  smell  is  keener  than  their  eyesight,  come  tracking  down 
the  scent  of  sugar  or  honey,  set  out  to  attract  them.  Mother  bears  some- 
times bring  their  cubs  and  chase  them  up  a  tree  for  safety  while  they 
investigate  the  evening  menu.  The  bears  will  eat  almost  everything  but 
grapefruit  rinds. 

The  route  continues  along  the  southern  rim  of  the  valley,  past  a  meadow 
(R),  4.3  m,,  starting  point  for  the  4-mile  trail  to  Glacier  Point  (see 
Trail  3),  to  OLD  VILLAGE,  5.1  m.  (see  below). 

East  of  the  junction  with  Pohono  Rd.  the  route  continues  as  El 
Capitan  Rd.  through  the  Gates  of  the  Valley,  formed  by  the  sheer 
precipices  of  El  Capitan  (L)  and  Cathedral  Rocks  (R).  Beyond  these 
towering  granite  portals  lie  the  peaceful  forest-fringed  green  meadows 
of  the  valley  floor  beneath  the  colossal  upthrust  of  cliffs.  High  up  on 
the  north  wall  of  the  canyon  (L),  the  slim  stream  of  i,6o2-foot  RIBBON 
FALLS,  highest  in  Yosemite,  appears  when  snows  are  melting.  Across 
the  meadows,  behind  the  projecting  cliff  of  Glacier  Point  (R),  bald 
granite  Half  Dome  soars  aloft.  The  stony  peak  in  the  distance  is 
CLOUDS'  REST,  highest  point  on  Yosemite's  walls. 

At  EL  CAPITAN  CONTROL  STATION,  7.2  m.,  is  the  junction  with 
Big  Oak  Flat  Rd.  (see  YOSEMITE  TOURS). 

EL  CAPITAN  (L),  7.8  m.,  bulking  above  the  valley  floor  3,604  feet, 
is  the  world's  largest  monolith  of  exposed  granite.  In  volume  it  equals 
four  Gibraltars;  in  height,  three  Empire  State  Buildings. 

At  ROCKY  POINT  (L),  9.9  m.,  the  road  winds  beside  rough  boulders 
that  fell  from  the  cliff  above  in  February  1923,  during  one  of  the  biggest 
rock  slides  in  the  valley's  recent  history.  Just  above  the  tree  line,  the 
face  of  the  cliff  bears  evidence  of  glacial  polish  and  rock  striations  that 
give  it  the  appearance  of  rough  concrete.  Higher  than  Rocky  Point  are 
the  THREE  BROTHERS,  three  peaks  looking  like  steps  as  they  rise 
one  above  the  other. 

In  the  trim,  Government-supplied  modern  cottages  of  the  NEW 
INDIAN  VILLAGE  (L),  10.1  m.  (visitors  welcome),  live  about 
60  Indians,  descendants  of  the  original  Yosemite,  Paiute,  Mono,  and 
other  Indian  peoples.  The  Indians  sell  baskets,  beadwork,  and  other 
articles;  they  are  given  work  preference  in  the  valley. 

YOSEMITE  LODGE  is  at  10.6  m.  (cottages,  cabins,  swimming  pool, 
lounge}. 

At  10.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  0.2  m.  for  the  best  view  of  YOSEMITE  FALLS,  which 
plummet  downward  in  two  separate  falls — Upper  and  Lower  Yosemite — in 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK        673 

a  ponderous  2,425  foot  drop  from  the  rim  of  the  canyon  wall  to  the  floor. 
The  Upper  Yosemite  Fall,  highest  free  leaping  waterfall  in  the  world, 
drops  1,430  feet — nine  times  as  far  as  Niagara.  The  gio-foot  plunge  of 
Middle  Cascade  carries  it  to  3io-foot  Lower  Yosemite  Fall. 

From  the  end  of  the  road,  Lost  Arrow  Trail  winds  through  black  oaks, 
goldencup  oaks,  and  California  laurels  to  the  foot  of  the  lower  fall,  0.7  m. 

The  route  continues  through  a  fine  grove  of  glossy-leaved  California 
black  oaks  to  GOVERNMENT  CENTER,  11.2  m.  (4,045  alt.),  ad- 
ministrative headquarters  of  Yosemite  National  Park.  The  YOSEMITE 
MUSEUM  (open  daily  9-12,  1-5)  houses  a  library  and  exhibits  devoted 
to  all  the  park's  major  aspects;  geology,  flora  and  fauna,  Indians,  and 
history.  A  special  feature  is  the  relief  scale  models  of  Yosemite — with 
all  trails,  roads,  falls,  peaks,  and  glaciers  marked — where  riding  and 
hiking  trips  can  be  planned  in  detail.  Behind  the  museum  are  two 
Indian  bark  huts,  a  temescal  (Ind.,  sweat  house),  and  two  grain  storage 
stacks;  the  local  Indians  here  demonstrate  how  their  ancestors  pounded 
acorns,  harvested  wild  seeds,  made  baskets,  and  built  huts.  At  the  east- 
ern edge  of  Government  Center  is  modern  LEWIS  MEMORIAL  HOSPITAL. 

At  the  entrance  (L)  to  the  $1,000,000  AHWANEE  HOTEL,  11.7  m.> 
Yosemite's  luxury  hostelry,  built  in  rustic  style  of  concrete  blocks  and 
rough  timber  in  a.  forested  nook  of  the  valley,  the  route  turns  R.  to  a 
junction  at  12  m.  and  then  L.  across  two  bridges  over  the  Merced  River. 

The  flat  face  of  HALF  DOME  (8,927  alt.)  towers  straight  ahead 
nearly  a  mile  above  the  valley  floor.  Above  the  meadows  (R)  rises 
GLACIER  POINT  (7,214  alt.)  (see  YOSEMITE  TOUR  2}.  The 
ROYAL  ARCHES  appear  (L)  at  12.6  m.  on  the  perpendicular  valley 
wall — the  main  arch  measuring  1,000  feet  in  height  and  1,800  feet  in 
width — and  behind  them,  the  granite  mass  of  NORTH  DOME  (7,531 
alt.).  The  WASHINGTON  COLUMN  (5,912  alt.)  lifts  its  top 
almost  half  a  mile  above  the  road  right  of  the  Royal  Arches. 

INDIAN  CAVES  (L),  13.1  m.,  is  the  site  of  the  old  Indian  village 
Lah-koo-hah  (come  out).  Great  granite  boulders,  knocked  off  by  slides 
and  glaciers,  lie  in  a  jumble  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  forming  several  big 
caves  and  many  small  ones.  Indians  used  these  caves  for  storage,  for 
shelter  from  storms,  and  sometimes  for  hide-outs.  In  front  of  the  caves 
on  a  large  flat  rock  are  some  bark  huts  where  the  Indians  dance  and 
chant  in  summer  for  the  benefit  of  tourists. 

At  13.2  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  paved  road. 

Left  on  this  road  through  TENAYA  CANYON  to  MIRROR  LAKE, 
0.5  m.,  a  favorite  subject  of  painters  and  photographers.  The  lake  is  best 
before  9  a.m.,  when  its  glassy  surface  reflects  Half  Dome  and  CLOUDS 
REST  (9,924  alt.)  on  the  south  side  of  Tenaya  Canyon,  and  MOUNT 
WATKINS  (8,600  alt.)  and  BASKET  DOME  (7,602  alt.)  on  the  north 
side.  Mirror  Lake  was  formed  by  a  rockslide  from  the  walls  of  Tenaya 
Canyon  which  dammed  up  Tenaya  Creek.  Now  the  creek  is  slowly  filling 
the  lake  bottom  with  silt. 

At  13.5  m.  is  a  junction;  the  route  continues  L.  here,  to  cut  through 
boulder-piled  MEDIAL  MORAINE,  formed  by  glaciers  during  the 
Ice  Age. 


674        CALIFORNIA 

Around  the  rocKy  HAPPY  ISLES,  14.1  m.  (parkin?  space,  pic- 
nicking, hiking},  foams  the  Merced  River,  shooting  down  from  Vernal 
and  Nevada  Falls,  with  an  unceasing  roar.  The  STATE  FISH  HATCH- 
ERY (open  8-12;  7-5)  has  an  annual  output  of  nearly  a  million  and  a 
half  Loch  Levan  and  eastern  brook  trout.  Long  troughs  inside  the 
building  are  filled  with  growing  fish  that  will  stock  park  streams.  The 
Concrete  Footbridge  (L)  is  the  starting  point  for  many  short  trail  trips 
and  long  hikes. 

CAMP  14  (R),  14.8  m.,  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  park's  free 
campgrounds. 

The  OLD  APPLE  ORCHARD  (L),  14.9  m.,  was  planted  by  James 
Lamon,  first  homesteader  in  the  valley,  in  the  early  i86o's. 

CAMP  CURRY,  15.1  m.  (lodge,  cabins,  tent  houses),  is  open  during 
summer  only,  but  in  winter  operates  a  skating  rink,  ashcan  slide,  and 
beginners'  ski  slopes. 

JOSEPH  LECONTE  MEMORIAL  LODGE  (L),  15.5  m.,  is  a  stone  build- 
ing erected  by  the  Sierra  Club  and  friends  to  the  memory  of  the  geologist 
who  loved  Yosemite  so  much.  "Joe"  Le  Conte — as  his  students  called 
him — was  a  professor  at  the  University  of  California.  Inside  the  lodge 
are  a  lounge,  a  library  on  Yosemite  and  the  Sierra,  and  a  collection  of 
photographs. 

In  the  OLD  VILLAGE,  16.2  m.  (general  stores,  cafe),  formerly 
park  headquarters,  is  CEDAR  COTTAGE  (L),  built  in  1859  of  handsawn 
boards  and  shakes  split  from  local  pine.  Back  of  the  building  is  the 
BIG  TREE  ROOM,  built  around  a  large  incense  cedar  that  grows  up 
through  the  roof. 

YOSEMITE  PARK  TOUR  2 

South  Entrance  Gate — Mariposa  Big  Tree  Grove — Wawona — Glacier 
Point — Wawona  Tunnel — Jet.  with  Pohono  Bridge  Rd. ;  25.4  m. 

At  the  SOUTH  ENTRANCE  GATE,  0  m.  (see  TOUR  3b),  is  the  junc- 
tion with  a  paved  road. 

Right  on  this  road  to  the  MARIPOSA  GROVE  OF  BIG  TREES,  2  m. 
(lodge,  museum,  campground),  a  2-mile  tract  in  which  grow  617  giant 
Sequoias — some  200  of  them  measuring  10  feet  or  more  in  diameter  at 
breast  height.  The  grove  was  discovered  in  May  1857  by  Galen  Clark_, 
whose  cabin,  built  soon  after  the  discovery,  is  reproduced  in  the  BIG  TREE 
GROVE  MUSEUM. 

The  oldest  tree  in  the  grove  is  the  gnarled  GRIZZLY  GIANT,  estimated  to 
be  3,800  years  of  age,  which  has  a  girth  of  96.5  feet  and  a  height  of  209 
feet.  The  fallen  MASSACHUSETTS  TREE  near  the  museum,  280  feet  long 
and  28  feet  in  diameter,  which  broke  into  sections  when  it  was  blown  over 
in  1927,  affords  an  opportunity  to  study  the  growth  rings  of  the  Sequoia. 
The  FALLEN  MONARCH,  nearly  300  feet  long  and  26  feet  in  diameter,  is  of 
such  size  that  a  six-horse  stage,  a  row  of  automobiles — and  even  a  troop 
of  United  States  cavalry — have  been  photographed  on  its  trunk  at  various 
times.  The  TELESCOPE,  175  feet  high  and  18  feet  in  diameter,  is  still  bear- 
ing cones,  although  its  heart  was  burned  out  by  fire.  The  road  through 
the  grove  goes  through  a  tunnel  8  feet  high  and  n  feet  wide,  cut  through 
the  base  of  the  23i-foot  WAWONA  TREE  in  1881. 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK       675 

WAWONA  POINT  (6,980  alt.),  at  the  end  of  the  loop  road  through  the 
grove,  overlooks  the  panoramic  expanses  of  Wawona  Basin  and  South 
Fork  Canyon. 

WAWONA  (4,096  alt.),  4  m.  (hotel,  store,  campground,  garage; 
tennis  courts,  golf  course,  and  swimming  pools;  saddle  and  pack  ani- 
mals), stands  in  a  wide  mountain  meadow,  fringed  with  a  forest  of  pine 
and  fir.  The  surrounding  country,  known  as  the  Wawona  Basin,  was 
added  to  the  park  in  1932. 

At  CHINQUAPIN  JUNCTION  (6,050  alt.),  16  m.  (gas  pump 
and  lunch  counter),  is  a  ranger  station  (information). 

Right  from  Chinquapin  Junction  on  Glacier  Point  Rd.  52  m.  to  BADGER 
PASS  SKI  HOUSE  (fireplace,  restaurant,  ski  rental  rooms).  The  skiing  here, 
comparing  favorably  with  that  at  St.  Moritz,  ranges  from  easy  practice 
slopes  for  beginners  to  steep,  n-mile  downhill  runs  for  experts.  An 
"up-ski,"  or  lift,  tows  skiers  to  the  Ski  Top  (7,950  alt.),  starting  point  of 
seven  downhill  runs. 

GLACIER  POINT  (7,214  alt.),  16.1  m.  (hotel,  restaurant),  commands  the 
climax  of  all  Yosemite  views.  From  the  top  of  the  cliff  beside  OVERHANGING 
ROCK  (L),  Yosemite  Valley  lies,  3,254  feet  below.  The  Merced  River 
winds  in  a  thin  silver  course  through  the  deep  green  of  the  meadows  and 
forests,  which  startlingly  resemble  a  well-kept  park  in  the  midst  of  wild 
crags  and  mountains.  Automobiles  look  like  crawling  beetles,  and  human 
beings  are  hardly  visible.  From  the  rim  of  the  valley  the  High  Sierra 
stretches  out  and  up  with  all  the  domes,  snowy  peaks,  waterfalls,  cascades, 
and  gorges  distinct  in  the  clear  mountain  air.  Half  Dome  dominates  the 
landscape.  Vernal  and  Nevada  Falls  are  visible  (R). 

At  23.2  m.  the  Wawona  Road  enters  WAWONA  TUNNEL,  drilled 
and  blasted  through  solid  granite  to  avoid  scarring  the  outside  of  the 
cliff.  The  tunnel  was  finished  in  1933  at  a  cost  of  $837,000.  It  is 
4,230  feet  long,  28  feet  wide,  and  19  feet  high.  It  includes  the  latest 
types  of  automatic  ventilating  and  safety  devices. 

At  24  m.  is  the  EAST  PORTAL  (4,408  alt.)  of  Wawona  Tunnel.  A 
wide  parking  area  commands  a  sweeping  panorama  of  Yosemite  Valley, 
with  massive  El  Capitan  (L)  and  Half  Dome  looming  in  the  distance. 
Right  are  the  THREE  GRACES  and  Bridal  Veil  Fall.  A  photograph 
near  the  granite  curb  gives  the  names  and  altitudes  of  the  peaks  and  falls 
visible  from  this  point. 

At  25.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  Pohono  Rd.  (see  YOSEMITE 
TOUR  1). 

YOSEMITE  PARK  TOUR  3 

Junction  with  Big  Oak  Flat  Rd. — Aspen  Valley  Entrance  Station — 
Tenaya  Camp — Tuolumne  Meadows — Tioga  Pass  Entrance  Station — 
Jet.  with  US  395;  66.4  m.,  State  120. 

Oil-treated  macadam  roadbed  between  junction  with  Big  Oak  Flat  Road  and 
Aspen  Valley  Entrance  Station,  elsewhere  partly  dirt  and  partly  paved;  open 
from  about  July  i  to  October  i. 

The  Tioga  Pass  road  follows  the  divide  between  the  Merced  and 
Tuolumne  Rivers,  passing  chasms  truly  startling  in  size  and  reached  so 


676        CALIFORNIA 

abruptly  that  the  traveler  is  totally  unprepared  for  their  appearance; 
below,  the  rivers  shine  and  glint  in  their  gorges.  Along  this  divide  be- 
tween the  two  rivers  Captain  Joseph  Reddeford  Walker,  the  first  white 
man  in  the  Yosemite  region,  led  an  exploring  party  in  November  1833, 
coming  through  from  the  east.  This  route  penetrates  the  heart  of  the 
High  Sierra  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Tuolumne  River  in  the  northern 
sector  of  Yosemite  National  Park.  This  formerly  little-known  region 
includes,  as  John  Muir  wrote,  "snowy  mountains  soaring  into  the  sky 
twelve  and  thirteen  thousand  feet  .  .  .  separated  by  tremendous  can- 
yons and  amphitheaters;  gardens  on  their  sunny  brows,  avalanches 
thundering  down  their  long  white  slopes,  cataracts  roaring  gray  and 
foaming  in  the  crooked,  rugged  gorges,  and  glaciers  in  their  shadowy 
recesses  .  .  ." 

At  0  m.  is  the  junction  of  State   120   (see  TOUR  3b)    with  oil- 
surfaced  Big  Oak  Flat  Rd. 

Right  on  Big  Oak  Flat  Rd.  0.3  m.  to  CARL  INN  (fuel  and  refreshments}. 

The  TUOLUMNE  GROVE  ENTRANCE  STATION,  5.3  m.  (open  6-9)  is  in  the 
TUOLUMNE  GROVE  OF  BIG  TREES,  near  the  headwaters  of  Crane 
Creek.  The  grove  contains  many  of  the  best  specimens  left  standing  of 
the  Sequoia  gigantea,  or  Big  Tree.  The  DEAD  GIANT  is  one  of  the  grove's 
"tunnel  trees,"  originally  120  feet  and  still  more  than  100  feet  in  circum- 
ference, although  several  times  damaged  by  forest  fires.  Through  it 
passes  a  full-sized  road.  Also  in  this  grove  are  two  trees  that  have  become 
united  about  20  feet  from  the  ground,  named  the  SIAMESE  TWINS.  A  little 
below  the  Dead  Giant  in  a  small  ravine  are  the  remains  of  what  once  was 
a  titanic  tree,  estimated  to  be  perhaps  4,000  years  old. 

Big  Oak  Flat  Rd.  skirts  sweeping  vistas  of  Yosemite  Valley  as  it  passes 
through  fine  stands  of  fir  and  sugar  pine.  East  of  the  GENTRY  RANGER 
STATION,  15.3  m.  (telephone,  information},  the  road  is  under  one-way 
control  (in-bound  on  odd  hours  only,  out-bound  on  even  hours  only}. 

At  23.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  El  Capitan  Rd.  in  Yosemite  Valley 
(see  YOSEMITE  TOUR  1). 

At  2.1  m.  on  State  120  is  the  junction  with  an  oiled  road. 

Left  here  6  m.  to  the  MATHER  ENTRANCE  STATION  (open  6-9:30}  to 
Yosemite. 

The  highway  runs  along  the  rim  of  Poopenaut  Valley  to  the  great  con- 
crete expanse  of  O'SHAUGHNESSY  DAM,  12.2  m.,  20  years  in  the  build- 
ing, which  blocks  the  mouth  of  Hetch  Hetchy  Valley,  impounding  a  reser- 
voir that  supplies  water  and  power  to  San  Francisco.  It  is  about  3  miles 
long  and  from  a  quarter  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  carved  out 
by  a  huge  glacier.  For  2,000  feet  the  sheer  granite  walls  of  the  canyon 
rise  almost  perpendicularly;  the  crests  of  pinnacles  and  domes  in  the  range 
surrounding  it  rise  twice  that  high  above  the  lake.  HETCH  HETCHY  FALLS, 
or  the  Wapama,  on  the  north  side  below  North  Dome,  form  a  cascade, 
not  quite  perpendicular.  The  varied  battlements  of  rock  resemble  those 
of  Yosemite  Valley,  although  less  impressive  because  smaller  in  size.  A 
hunter  by  the  name  of  Joseph  Screech  discovered  this  valley  in  1850.  The 
spelling  of  the  name  customarily  used  at  the  time  was  Hatchatchie,  an 
Indian  word  for  a  kind  of  grass  used  for  food. 

At  8  m.  is  the  ASPEN  VALLEY  ENTRANCE  STATION  (open  6-9:30) 
to  Yosemite  National  Park. 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK        677 

From  Aspen  Valley,  populous  with  silvery  aspens,  the  Tioga  Pass 
Road  leads  eastward  across  the  Sierra  highlands  through  magnificent 
stands  of  fir  and  pine.  It  traverses  Long  Gulch  to  YOSEMITE  CREEK 
CAMPGROUND,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  torrent  which  plunges  5  miles 
downstream  into  Yosemite  Valley. 

Along  the  base  (L)  of  MOUNT  HOFFMAN  (10,836  alt.)  it 
proceeds,  crossing  Porcupine  and  Snow  Flats,  to  TENAYA  LAKE, 
28  ra.  Indians  called  it  Pyweack  (Lake  of  the  Shining  Rocks)  because 
of  the  glacier-burnished  granite  in  the  depths  of  the  lake  and  on  the 
shores.  Here  old  Chief  Tenaya  and  his  band  of  Yosemites  were  chased 
down  and  captured  in  May  1851. 

The  road  continues  northeast,  running  along  the  base  of  Polly 
Dome,  huge  and  massive,  devoid  of  vegetation  except  for  a  great  juniper 
tree  perched  jauntily  high  on  its  side.  It  passes  Fairview  Dome,  an- 
other typical  cupola  of  granite,  and  runs  on  into  TUOLUMNE 
MEADOWS  (8,594  alt.),  45.1  m.  (gas  station,  garage,  store,  post 
office,  lodge,  free  campground},  in  the  basin  of  an  ancient  lake,  a  grassy 
floor  of  shining  green  in  summer.  Before  the  basin  held  a  lake  it  was 
filled  by  a  glacier  from  which  poured  streams  of  melting  ice  through 
Tuolumne,  Hetch  Hetchy,  and  Tenaya  Canyons.  In  the  northern  sec- 
tion of  the  meadows  is  SODA  SPRINGS,  an  especially  popular  spot  for 
camping.  The  story  is  that  biscuits  made  with  the  spring  water  have 
no  equal  for  lightness;  the  carbon  dioxide  in  the  water  raises  them  as 
baking-powder. 

Tuolumne  Meadows  is  a  starting  place  for  trips  by  foot  or  horse- 
back down  the  Tuolumne  River  Gorge  by  way  of  Glen  Aulin  High 
Sierra  Camp  to  Waterwheel  Falls,  where  the  river,  John  Muir  wrote, 
"is  one  wild,  exulting,  onrushing  mass  of  snowy  purple  bloom  .  .  . 
gliding  in  magnificent  silver  plumes,  dashing  and  foaming  against  huge 
boulder  dams,  leaping  high  in  the  air  in  wheel-like  whirls.  .  .  ."  Far- 
ther down  the  canyon  of  the  Tuolumne  are  half-mile-deep  Muir  Gorge 
and  meadowed  Pate  Valley  with  its  overhanging  rocky  walls  where  are 
Indian  pictographs.  Other  trails  from  Tuolumne  Meadows  lead  to 
Mount  Conness  and  to  glacier-shrouded,  i3,O9O-foot  Mount  Lyell, 
dominating  the  upper  Tuolumne  Region  from  the  east. 

The  road  continues  northeastward  from  Tuolumne  Meadows. 
MOUNT  CONNESS  (12,560  alt.)  rises  ahead,  named  for  the  Sena- 
tor who  in  1864  secured  legislation  making  the  Yosemite  region  a  public 
reserve. 

TIOGA  PASS  (9,941  alt.),  52.1  m.,  the  highest  elevation  of  the 
route,  marks  the  crest  of  the  Sierra.  Here  the  road  leaves  Yosemite 
National  Park  at  the  TIOGA  PASS  ENTRANCE  STATION  (open  6-9:30). 

The  rugged  snow-mottled  flanks  of  red  MOUNT  DANA  (13,055 
alt.),  named  for  James  Dwight  Dana,  American  mineralogist  and 
geologist,  tower  high  to  the  southeast.  On  its  slope  lies  TIOGA  LAKE 
(R).  Northeast  of  the  lake  is  the  old  Tioga  Mine,  whose  owners  hired 
Chinese  laborers  to  build  the  Tioga  Road  in  the  early  '8o's.  ELLERY 
LAKE  (R)  lies  at  the  head  of  Leevining  Canyon,  through  which  the 


678        CALIFORNIA 

road  swoops  do*wnward  in  breath-taking  curves.  The  descent  is  abrupt, 
twisting  on  narrow  ledges  carved  on  the  edge  of  mountain  slopes — and 
even  from  bare  granite  cliffs. 

At  66.4  m.  is  the  junction  with  US  395  (see  TOUR  6b). 

YOSEMITE  PARK  TRAILS 

(Information  on  trails,  fishing,  and  camping,  and  park  maps  available  at 
Government  Center  and  ranger  stations.  Hikers  should  avoid  short  cuts  from 
designated  trails,  should  start  early  on  long  hikes  and  return  before  dark, 
should  register  at  chief  ranger's  office  before  starting  on  trips  to  isolated 
sections.  Taxi  service  at  25^  a  person  available  to  and  from  start  of  trails 
in  upper  half  of  valley;  telephones  available  at  base  of  all  trails.  Inquire  at 
hotels  or  stables  about  daily  saddle  trips  to  trail  points) 

TRAIL  i:  Happy  Isles— Sierra  Point— Vernal  Fall— Nevada  Fall; 
3.5  m.  (Horses  not  allowed  off  valley  floor  without  guide.}  The 
easiest  of  the  trails  off  the  valley  floor,  wide  and  paved,  affording  fine 
views  of  trees,  rocks  and  waterfalls.  From  the  footbridge  in  HAPPY 
ISLES,  0  m.,  the  trail  winds  along  the  cascading  Merced  River. 
At  0.3  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  trail. 

Left  here  0.5  m.  over  a  series  of  switchbacks  on  the  flank  of  Grizzly 
Peak  to  SIERRA  POINT,  where  five  great  waterfalls — Upper  and  Lower 
Yosemite,  Vernal,  Nevada,  and  Illilouette — can  be  seen  at  one  time. 

As  the  main  trail  rounds  the  base  of  GRIZZLY  PEAK,  the  mouth 
of  ILLILOUETTE  CANYON  and  37o-foot  ILLILOUETTE  FALL 
appear  at  its  head  (R). 

VERNAL  BRIDGE,  1.5  m.,  offers  a  good  view  of  Vernal  Fall  (see 
below). 

At  1.7  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  horse  trail,  an  alternate  route. 

Right  here  2.4  m.,  to  NEVADA  FALL,  GLACIER  POINT,  7.3  m.,  and  MERCED 
LAKE,  12.9  m. 

The  main  route,  known  for  a  short  distance  as  the  Mist  Trail, 
where  a  fine  rain  descends  from  Vernal  Fall,  continues  up  the  right  side 
of  the  canyon  in  a  series  of  steps  across  the  steep  cliffs  and  across  the 
face  of  a  perpendicular  cliff  on  a  narrow  ledge  (iron  handrails). 

The  waters  of  317-100!  VERNAL  FALL,  2.3  m.,  one  of  the  great 
falls  of  Yosemite,  thunder  from  the  top  of  the  granite  cliff  in  a  wide 
sheet. 

From  Vernal  Fall  the  trail  sometimes  zigzags  up  rocky  slopes  and 
then  plunges  into  cool  pine  woods. 

At  2.5  m.  is  the  junction  with  a  horse  trail;  the  route  continues  L., 
crosses  the  river  at  DIAMOND  CASCADES,  climbs  to  SNOW  FLAT,  below 
LIBERTY  CAP  (7,072  alt.),  and  continues  its  ascent  (L)  another  500 
feet,  by  the  NEVADA  FALL  ZIGZAGS. 

NEVADA  FALL,  3.5  m.  (5,910  alt.),  drops  594  feet  with  a  curious 
twist,  breaking  off  at  the  edges  to  separate  in  what  are  known  as  spray 
rockets. 


YOSEMITE     NATIONAL     PARK        679 

TRAIL  2 :  Happy  Isles— Nevada  Fall— Panorama  Cliff— Glacier  Point 
(7,214  alt.)  ;  8.3  m.  One  of  the  easiest  of  the  longer  hikes,  requiring 
about  6  hours. 

TRAIL  3:  Bridal  Veil  Rd.— Union  Point— Glacier  Point;  4.6  m. 
One  of  the  most  popular  Yosemite  trails,  rewarding  the  climber  with 
superb  views;  it  rises  rapidly  in  switchbacks  up  the  valley  rim  through 
forests  of  Douglas  fir  and  sugar  pine. 

TRAIL  4:  Happy  Isles— Vernal  Fall— Nevada  Fall— Half  Dome 
(8,852  alt.)  ;  8.3  m.  A  difficult  climb,  safe  but  requiring  caution;  can- 
teens should  be  carried.  Half  Dome  Summit,  4,892  feet  above  the 
valley  floor,  affords  a  view  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  and  the  Coast 
Range  on  clear  days. 

TRAIL  5 :  Happy  Isles— Vernal  Fall— Nevada  Fall— Little  Yosemite 
Valley — Clouds  Rest;  10.5  m.  A  one-day  climb  to  and  from  Clouds 
Rest  (9,930  alt.),  highest  of  the  peaks  enclosing  Yosemite  Valley. 

TRAIL  6:  Yosemite  Valley — Columbia  Point — Yosemite  Point  and 
Falls;  3.16  m.  John  Muir,  a  man  "almost  beside  himself  with  the  glory 
of  the  Sierras,"  described  the  view  from  Yosemite  Point  as  one  of  the 
most  impressive  phenomena  in  the  area. 

TRAIL  7:  Mirror  Lake  to  North  Dome,  8  m.  This  trail  is  very 
steep,  and  an  early  start  should  be  made.  Splendid  views  from  North 
Dome,  especially  west  to  the  Gates  of  the  Valley  and  to  the  east  where 
the  colossal  bulk  of  Half  Dome  dominates  the  scene. 

TRAIL  8 :  Yosemite  Valley — Happy  Isles — Merced  Lake — Vogelsang 
Pass  and  Camp — Tuolumne  Meadows — Glen  Aulin — Waterwheel 
Falls — May  Lake — Mirror  Lake;  70  m.  This  hike,  led  by  a  ranger 
naturalist  every  Monday  morning  during  July  and  August  (reserva- 
tions at  Yosemite  Museum;  no  charge),  covers  the  route  in  easy  stages 
with  a  stop  each  night  at  a  High  Sierra  camp  (cots  and  bedding  $i ; 
meals  $i).  Provision  is  made  for  fishing,  swimming,  and  walks  to 
scenic  point  of  interest  along  the  route. 


Golden  Gate  International  Exposition 


Season:  February  18,  1939  to  December  2,  1939,  288  days;  open  daily  from 
10  a.m. 

Transportation:  By  Key  System  ferries  from  San  Francisco  and  Oakland,  one- 
way fare  10^.  By  automobile  from  San  Francisco:  take  upper  deck  of  San 
Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  to  east  end  of  Yerba  Buena  Island  Tunnel  and 
turn  R.  on  Treasure  Island  Road;  returning,  follow  extreme  right  lanes  on 
causeway  from  island  and  turn  R.  on  bridge.  By  automobile  from  East  Bay 
points:  take  upper  deck  of  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  to  west  end  of 
Yerba  Buena  Island  Tunnel  and  turn  R.  on  Treasure  Island  Road;  returning, 
follow  causeway,  and  turn  L.  on  ramp  over  bridge,  and  R.  on  bridge.  Bridge 
toll  from  San  Francisco  and  Oakland:  50^  round-trip  for  car  and  five  occu- 
pants, 5^  for  each  additional  passenger;  round-trip  tolls  collected  at  toll  plaza 
on  Yerba  Buena  Island  from  motorists  from  San  Francisco;  at  main  toll  plaza 
near  east  end  of  bridge,  from  motorists  from  East  Bay  points.  Parking  space 
(cars  parked  by  attendants)  for  14,000  vehicles  on  Treasure  Island. 
Admission  to  Exposition  Grounds:  50^  for  adults,  25^  for  children. 

Accommodations:  Transportation  on  island  by  motor  caravan,  rickshaw,  and 
wheel-chair,  small  charge;  nursery  for  children,  small  charge;  restaurants,  all 
prices. 

Special  Events:  Among  the  special  events  scheduled  for  most  of  the  Exposi- 
tion's 288  days  are  celebrations  in  commemoration  of  the  holidays  of  the 
United  States  and  foreign  nations,  of  visiting  organizations  and  conventions, 
of  cities,  counties,  and  States.  Scheduled  events  include  the  All-World  Beef 
Cattle  Show,  Feb.  18-28;  Japanese  Doll  Festival,  March  3;  Army  Day,  Apr.  6; 
Pan-American  Day,  Apr.  14;  San  Francisco  Day,  Apr.  18;  Northern  California 
Friendly  Indian  Pow-Wow,  Apr.  22;  Wild  West  Show  and  Rodeo,  May  13-22; 
British  Empire  Day,  May  27;  Night  Horse  Show,  June  3o-July  9;  Bastille  Day, 
July  14;  American  Kennel  Club  All-Breed  Dog  Show,  July  15-16;  Alaska 
Day,  Aug.  17;  Welsh  Eisteddfod,  Sept.  2-3;  Admission  Day,  Sept.  9;  Central 
American  Day,  Sept.  15;  China  Day,  Oct.  10;  National  Dairy  Show,  Oct.  21-30; 
Navy  Day,  Oct.  27;  California  Night  Horse  Show,  Nov.  25-Dec.  2. 

680 


GOLDEN     GATE      EXPOSITION         68 1 

THE  GOLDEN  GATE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION, 

situated  on  man-made  Treasure  Island,  north  of  Yerba  Buena  Island 
in  San  Francisco  Bay,  is  America's  official  World's  Fair  of  the  West — 
"A  Pageant  of  the  Pacific."  With  eleven  western  States  as  its  sponsors 
and  the  San  Francisco  Bay  cities  as  its  host  communities,  the  exposition 
includes  exhibits  of  30  foreign  nations  and  more  than  350  industries. 
It  is,  in  essence,  a  "travel  fair,"  assembling  the  vast  recreational  re- 
sources of  the  Pacific  Basin  and  displaying  them  as  spectacular  back- 
ground for  industrial  progress. 

The  exposition  is  the  third  held  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region. 
The  California  Mid-Winter  Exposition  of  1894  was  staged  in  Golden 
Gate  Park;  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  of  1915,  in  San  Francisco's 
Marina  district,  celebrated  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal;  the  1939 
exposition  commemorates  completion  of  the  Golden  Gate  and  San  Fran- 
cisco-Oakland Bay  Bridges. 

The  exposition's  island  site  rises  from  the  solid  foundation  of  rocky 
shoals,  once  a  menace  to  mariners,  that  stretch  north  of  Yerba  Buena 
Island  26  feet  under  water.  The  first  step  in  reclaiming  this  watery 
waste  was  to  build  great  embankments  out  of  287,000  tons  of  quarried 
rock,  outlining  the  island's  boundaries.  A  fleet  of  dredgers  next  went 
to  work  dredging  20,000,000  cubic  yards  of  mud  and  sand  from  the 
bottom  of  the  Bay  and  piling  it  within  the  embankments  to  a  height 
13  feet  above  sea  level.  Over  the  mud  and  sand,  "unsalted"  by  a  leach- 
ing process,  was  spread  a  top  dressing  of  loam  brought  by  barges  from 
the  mainland.  When  the  island-builders  had  finished  their  work,  a 
40O-acre  island  appeared  in  the  Bay,  a  mile  long  and  two-thirds  of  a 
mile  wide.  A  9OO-foot  paved  causeway  joined  it  to  Yerba  Buena  Island 
and  the  San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge.  Ferry  slips  and  landings 
for  small  craft  and  flying  boats  were  constructed  at  the  island's  edges. 
A  3,ooo,ooo-gallon  reservoir  was  blasted  in  the  rock  of  Yerba  Buena 
Island  and  water  piped  to  it  from  San  Francisco  over  the  bridge. 

From  the  island,  silhouetted  against  the  Bay,  rises  the  temporary 
$50,000,000  city  built  to  house  the  exposition.  Its  ground  plan  and  the 
architecture  of  its  buildings  are  the  work  of  an  architects'  commission 
consisting  of  Arthur  Brown,  Jr.,  Lewis  P.  Hobart,  William  G.  Mer- 
chant, E.  Weihe,  and  Timothy  L.  Pflueger.  The  exposition  plan  is 
compact  and  highly  centralized,  with  broad  avenues  branching  from  a 
great  circular  Court  of  Honor  near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  island. 
The  architectural  theme,  based  on  an  ancient  walled  city  of  the  East, 
is  a  blend  of  traditional  Oriental  forms,  employing  the  long  horizontal 
lines,  set-back  pyramids,  and  exotic  finials  characteristic  of  Malayan, 
Incan,  and  Cambodian  architecture. 

The  illusion  of  magnitude  and  splendor  planned  by  the  exposition's 
designers  is  heightened  by  the  use  of  flaming  banners,  huge  cylindrical 
lanterns,  translucent  glass  fabric  pillars,  pylons  with  torchieres  stream- 
ing flames  of  vapor.  The  buildings  are  finished  in  cement  stucco  mixed 
w~ith  vermiculite,  a  mica-like  substance  which,  when  applied  to  the  wet 
stucco,  gives  the  wall  surfaces  a  radiant  color,  antique  in  texture,  yet 


682        CALIFORNIA 

sparkling  with  a  new  brilliance.  The  colors  used  throughout  are  soft. 
An  effective  system  of  indirect  lighting  with  thousands  of  floodlights 
accentuates  the  stepped  set-backs  and  sculptures  of  the  exhibition  build- 
ings, creating  the  illusion  at  night  of  a  "magic  city"  in  amber  white 
and  pastel  shades  of  shimmering  light,  floating  in  the  Bay.  By  daylight 
the  grounds  are  colorful  with  green  lawns,  flowering  bulbs  and  plants, 
lush  tropical  foliage  bordering  the  fountains,  radial  walks,  and  broad 
avenues.  Most  colorful  of  all  is  the  25-acre  "Persian  Prayer  Rug"  of 
1,500,000  cuttings  of  ice  plant  (mesembryanthemum}  in  pink,  red,  yel- 
low, and  orange  shades  laid  out  along  the  western  waterfront. 

The  main  entrance  to  the  exposition  is  through  the  Portals  of  the 
Pacific,  flanked  by  pyramidal  entrance  towers  rising  to  the  height  of 
12-story  buildings  and  crowned  with  the  colossal  elephant  heads  which 
are  a  dominant  decorative  form. 

The  entrance  leads  into  the  central  Court  of  Honor,  where  the  400- 
foot  Tower  of  the  Sun  lifts  its  pinnacled  spire,  topped  with  a  golden 
phoenix  (O.  C.  Malmquist,  sculptor)  symbolizing  the  rise  of  San 
Francisco  after  the  fire  of  1906.  From  the  Court  of  Honor  radiate 
formally  landscaped  concourses,  bordered  by  the  main  exhibit  pa- 
vilions. 

Northward  an  avenue  flanked  (R)  by  the  Vacationland  pavilion 
and  (L)  by  the  Hall  of  Electricity  and  Communication  and  the  Hall  of 
Science,  leads  to  the  Court  of  Pacifica.  Facing  the  court  on  the  north 
is  the  Recreation  Building  with  its  theater,  exhibit  rooms,  play  areas, 
and  adjoining  athletic  stadium.  On  one  side  (L)  is  the  entrance  to 
the  exposition  from  the  San  Francisco  ferry  slips  and  on  the  other  (R), 
the  entrance  to  the  exposition's  4O-acre  amusement  zone,  the  Gayway. 
Among  the  Gayway's  features  are  a  three-quarter-mile  miniature  rail- 
road; the  open-air  pageantry  of  the  Cavalcade  of  the  Golden  West; 
reproductions  of  Hollywood  Boulevard,  Barbary  Coast,  and  Streets  of 
the  World;  and  a  Chinese  City  with  temples,  tea  gardens,  huts  and 
pagodas,  markets,  shops,  and  theaters. 

Southward  from  the  Court  of  Honor  an  avenue  flanked  (R)  by  the 
Hall  of  Mines,  Metals,  and  Machinery  and  (L)  by  the  Hall  of  Homes 
and  Gardens  leads  into  the  Court  of  the  Moon.  At  its  south  end  is 
the  Port  of  the  Trade  Winds  between  Treasure  and  Yerba  Buena 
Islands,  where  junks,  squareriggers,  yachts,  and  flying  clippers  anchor. 
On  one  side  (R)  is  the  horseshoe-shaped  Administration  Building.  An 
avenue  leading  (L)  from  the  Court  of  the  Moon  is  bordered  by  the 
Palace  of  Fine  and  Liberal  Arts  and  the  Hall  of  Air  Transportation. 
The  Palace  of  Fine  and  Liberal  Arts  houses  outstanding  collections  of 
modern  American  paintings  and  ancient  masterpieces  loaned  by  foreign 
governments,  including  Raphael's  Madonna  of  the  Chair  and  Botti- 
celli's Birth  of  Venus. 

The  avenue  leading  eastward  from  the  central  Court  of  Honor  is 
bordered  (R)  by  the  International  Exhibits  and  California  Agriculture 
pavilions  and  (L)  by  the  Foods  and  Beverages  pavilion.  It  leads  into 
the  Court  of  Flowers  and  beyond,  into  the  Court  of  Reflections,  which 


GOLDEN     GATE     EXPOSITION        683 

surrounds  a  great  lagoon,  the  Lake  of  All  Nations.  Bordering  the 
lagoon  on  the  south  are  the  California  Building  Group,  housing  ex- 
hibits of  the  State  and  counties  of  California;  on  the  east,  the  United 
States  Government  Building  and  State  exhibit  pavilions;  and  on  the 
north,  the  Pacific  House  and  the  various  structures  of  the  Pacific  Na- 
tions Exhibit  Area,  displaying  the  industries,  arts,  foods,  and  entertain- 
ments of  foreign  nations. 

The  courts  and  buildings  of  the  major  group  are  adorned  with 
sculpture  and  mural  paintings  executed  by  some  of  the  most  noted 
Western  artists.  Among  these  is  Ralph  Stackpole's  colossal  statue 
Pacifica,  symbolizing  the  unity  of  the  Pacific  nations,  standing  80  feet 
high  in  the  Court  of  the  same  name.  Other  notable  sculptures  include 
Ettore  Cadorin's  Evening  Star,  a  figure  of  Venus  in  the  Court  of  the 
Moon ;  a  bold  relief  mural,  The  Peacemakers,  by  Margaret,  Helen,  and 
Esther  Bruton,  crowning  the  entrance  towers  of  the  Portals  of  the 
Pacific;  the  balancing  bas-reliefs,  finished  in  gold,  Dance  of  Life  by 
Jacques  Schnier,  and  Path  of  Darkness  by  Lulu  Hawkins  Braghetta; 
the  winged  figures  surmounting  the  pylons  in  the  Court  of  the  Seven 
Seas  representing  the  Spirit  of  Adventure,  by  P.  O.  Tognelli ;  the 
fountain  groups  in  the  Court  of  Pacifica,  by  Jacques  Schnier,  Brents 
Carlton,  Adeline  Kent,  Sargent  Johnson,  Carl  George,  Ruth  Wake- 
field,  Cecilia  Graham,  and  Helen  Phillips.  Another  group  in  this 
court  is  Haig  Patigian's  Creation.  In  each  of  the  four  main  exhibit 
buildings  are  sculptures  by  Raymond  Puccinelli,  Ettore  Cadorin,  and 
Carlo  Taliabue.  In  the  towers  flanking  the  South  Gardens  are  sym- 
bolic murals  by  Helen  Forbes,  Franz  Bergmaun,  and  Nelson  Poole;  in 
the  Pacific  Building  are  eight  great  relief  maps  by  Miguel  Covarubias; 
and  on  the  walls  fronting  the  Court  of  the  Flowers  are  six  murals  by 
Millard  Sheets. 

Treasure  Island,  once  the  exposition  has  closed  and  its  temporary 
structures  have  been  removed,  will  serve  as  a  terminal  for  trans-Pacific 
flying  clipper  ships,  which  will  take  off  and  land  in  the  sheltered  lagoon 
between  its  southern  edge  and  Yerba  Buena  Island.  The  three  perma- 
nent structures  built  with  Federal  aid — the  $800,000  administration 
building  and  the  two  $400,000  steel  and  concrete  hangars,  each  335  feet 
long  and  78  feet  high — will  remain  to  serve  the  airport. 


X3&3&<&^^^ 


PART  IF 
Appendices 


&&&^^^^^ 


(KI^SSIKSS^^ 


Chronolojtjr 


1533  Pilot  Fortune  Ximenes  discovers  an  "island"  (Lower  California) 
west  of  Mexico.  Killed  while  trying  to  land. 

1535  May  5.  Cortes  lands  where  Ximenes  was  killed.  Calls  place  Santa 
Cruz  (possibly  the  later  La  Paz).  Names  the  country  Cali- 
fornia. 

1539  Francisco  de  Ulloa  surveys  both  shores  of  "Sea  of  Cortes"    (later 
Gulf  of  California)  ;  misses  mouth  of  Colorado  River,  but  discovers 
that  Baja  (Lower)  California  is  a  peninsula. 

1540  Hernando  de  Alarcon  ascends  gulf;  discovers  Colorado  River.     To 
contact  him,  Melchor  Diaz  traverses  Arizona,  and  crosses  Colorado 
River,  near  Yuma.     He,  or  de  Alarcon,  first  white  man  to  set  foot 
in  Alta  (Upper)  California. 

1542     Sept.  28.     Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo  sails  into  San  Diego  Bay,  which 

he  names  "San  Miguel." 
!579     June    15.     Francis    Drake    enters    Drake's    Bay;    holds    California's 

first  Christian  service,   and  claims  "Nova  Albion"  in  the  name  of 

Her  Majesty,  Queen  Elizabeth. 
1602     Nov.    10.     Sebastian  Vizcaino   enters   San  Miguel   Bay;   renames  it 

San  Diego  de  Alcala.     On  Dec.  16  he  anchors  in  Monterey  Bay. 
1697     Jesuits,    under    Father   Juan    Maria    Salvatierra,    begin    mission    at 

Loreta — first  permanent  colony  in  Baja  California. 
1701     Nov.  21.     Father  Eusebio  Francisco  Kino,  Jesuit  missionary,  crosses 

southeastern  corner  of  California,  working  among  Indians  of  Pimeria 

Alta. 

1767  Carlos  III,  of  Spain,  issues  decree  banishing  Jesuits  from  all  Spanish 
colonies. 

1768  Father   Junipero    Serra,    "patron    saint    of    California,"    arrives    at 
Loredo,  with  16  Franciscan  monks.     Jesuit  missions  in  Lower  Cali- 
fornia surrendered. 

1769  April.     Two  vessels  arrive  San  Diego  Bay,  with  supplies,  to  equip 
colony. 

May-June.     Settlers   and   soldiers   under   Gov.    Caspar   de    Portola, 
Capt.  Fernando  de  Rivera  y  Moncada  and  Father  Junipero  Serra 
come  overland  from  Lower  California,  with  cattle. 
July  16.     Father  Serra  blesses  site  of  Mision  San  Diego  de  Alcala, 
first  of  21  missions  established  in  California  within  54  years. 
Aug.   2.     Portola  camps   at  site   of   Los  Angeles ;   continues   north- 
ward in  search  of  Monterey  Bay,  but,  unaware,  passes  it,  Oct.  2. 
Jose  Artego,  of  advance  guard,  sights  San  Francisco  Bay  (Nov.  2), 
but  expedition  turns  back,  reaching  San  Diego  Jan.  24,  1770. 

687 


688        CALIFORNIA 

1770  June    3.     Father    Serra    founds    Mision    San    Carlos    de    Monterey 
(renamed    San    Carlos    Borromeo   de    Carmelo   in    1771,    when    re- 
moved).    Governor    Portola    establishes    Monterey    presidio    (fort) 
and  takes  formal  possession  of  country,  in  name  of  Carlos  III. 

1771  Two  missions   founded:     San  Antonio   de    Padua   and   San   Gabriel 
Arcangel. 

1772  March  20.     Captain  Pedro  Fages  leads  expedition  from  Monterey 
to  explore  San  Francisco  Bay.     First  white  men  to  see  San  Joaquin 
and  Sacramento  Valleys. 

Sept.  i.     Father  Serra  founds  Mision  San  Luis  Obispo  de  Tolosa. 

1773  Aug.  19.     Thirty  miles  S.  of  present  Mexican  border,  Father  Fran- 
cisco Palou  sets  cross  to  mark  Baja  and  Alta  California  boundary. 

1774  March  22.     Juan   Bautista  de  Anza  reaches   San  Gabriel   Mission 
from  Sonora  by  overland  route. 

1775  Aug.  i.     First  white  man  to  enter  San  Francisco  Bay:   Juan  Manuel 
de  Ayala,  in  ship  San  Carlos. 

Aug.  1 6.  By  royal  decree  Monterey  becomes  capital  of  California. 
Nov.  4.  800  Indians  attack  San  Diego  mission,  kill  Father  Luis 
Jaume  and  burn  buildings. 

Dec.  24.  Woman  of  Anza's  party  of  colonists,  en  route  from  Sonora 
to  San  Francisco,  gives  birth  to  son,  Salvator  Ignacio  Linares,  first 
white  child  born  in  California. 

1776  March  28.     Anza,  with  247  colonists,  reaches  site  of  San  Francisco. 
The  presidio  of  San  Francisco  founded  Sept.  17.    Two  missions,  San 
Francisco  de  Asis  (Dolores)   and  San  Juan  Capistrano,  founded. 

J777     Jan-  12.     Mision  Santa  Clara  founded. 

Nov.  29.     San  Jose  de  Guadalupe,  first  pueblo  in  California,  founded. 

I779  June  I.  Governor  Felipe  de  Neve  drafts  regulations  for  govern- 
ment of  California. 

1781  Sept.  4.     Los  Angeles  founded. 

1782  March  31.     Mision  San  Buenaventura  founded. 

1784  Aug.  28.  Father  Serra  dies  and  is  buried  at  San  Carlos  Borromeo 
Mission. 

1786  Sept.  14.  Jean  Frangois  Galaup  de  la  Perouse  brings  French  scien- 
tific expedition  into  Monterey.  Severely  condemns  mission  system. 

1786-91  Father  Fermin  Francisco  de  Lasuen,  who  succeeds  Serra,  founds 
four  missions:  Santa  Barbara,  La  Purisma  Concepcion,  Santa  Cruz, 
and  La  Soledad. 

1791  Sept.  13.     John  Groeham   (Graham),  first  American  in  California, 
reaches  Monterey,  ill ;  dies  same  day. 

1792  Nov.    14.     Captain   George  Vancouver,  in   British   sloop  Discovery, 
reaches  San  Francisco — first  of  his  three  visits  to  California. 

*793     Pueblo  of  Branciforte  founded  on  site  of  Santa  Cruz. 

1796     Oct.  29.     Yankee  skipper,  Ebenezer  Dorr,  brings  his  ship,  the  Otter, 

into  Monterey  Bay — first  American  ship  in  California  waters. 
1 797~98     Five  missions  founded:    San  Jose,  San  Juan  Bautista,  San  Miguel 

Arcangel,    San    Fernando    Rey    de    Espana,    and    San    Luis    Rey    de 

Francia. 


APPENDICES        689 

1803  June  26.     Father  de  Lasuen  dies  at  Mision  San  Carlos. 

1804  Baja  and  Alta  California  separated.     Monterey  is  made  capital  of 
Alta  California.     Santa  Ines   (Ynez)   Mission  founded. 

1806  April  5.  Nikolai  Petrovich  Rezanof  comes  to  San  Francisco  to  buy 
supplies  for  Russian  trading  post  at  Sitka.  Presidio  commander 
reluctantly  permits  sale. 

1810  Mexicans  revolt  against  Spain. 

1811  Oct.    15.     San   Joaquin    and    Sacramento   rivers   explored    for   first 
time  by  water. 

1812  Fort  Ross,  Russian  trading  post,  is  built  less  than  100  miles  north 
of  San  Francisco. 

1816  Jan.  15.     Thomas  Doak  lands  from  Albatross,  near  Santa  Barbara; 
becomes  California's  first  American  settler. 

1817  Dec,  14.     Mision  San  Rafael  Arcangel  founded. 

1818  Nov.   20.     Hippolyte    de    Bouchard   brings    two   ships    of   war   into 
Monterey  Bay.     Captures  city  Nov.  22,  sacks  it;  later  attacks  other 
coast  towns,  is  resisted  at  San  Diego ;  sails  away. 

1820  Population   of   Upper   California   3,270.     Neophyte    (Indian   slave) 
population  of  missions  20,500. 

1821  Feb.     Augustin   Iturbide   leads   rebel   army  into  Mexico  City.     Be- 
comes  ruler. 

Oct.     Luis  Arguello  makes  first  extensive  exploration  of  Sacramento 
Valley. 

1822  April.     Monterey  and  other  California  garrisons  lower  Spanish  flag; 
recognize  Iturbide  regency. 

Sept.   26.     California    formally   proclaimed   province   of   Empire   of 
Mexico. 

Nov.  9.     First  provincial  legislature  elected;  meets  in  Monterey. 
Nov.  22.     Luis  Antonio  Arguello,  first  native-born  California  gov- 
ernor, elected. 

1823  July   4.     San   Francisco   Solano,   2ist   and   last   of  Alta   California 
missions,  founded. 

1824  Jan.  7.     News  of  abdication  of  Emperor  and  of  establishment  of 
the  Republic  of  Mexico  is  received  in  Monterey. 

1825  March  26.     California  formally  becomes  a  territory  of  the  Mexican 
Republic. 

1826  Nov.  6.     Captain  Frederick  William  Beechey,  of  British  Navy,  maps 
San  Francisco  Bay. 

Nov.  27.     Jedediah  S.  Smith,  with  trappers,  arrives  at  Mision  San 
Gabriel;  first  Americans  to  make  overland  trip  to  California. 

1830  Population  of  California  4,256. 

1831  Nov.  29.     Pio  Pico,  Juan  Bandini,  and  Jose  Antonio  Carrillo  lead 
revolt    against    Governor    Manuel    Victoria,    forcing    his    resigna- 
tion. 

1833  Aug.    17.     Mexican    Congress    decrees    secularization    of    missions. 
(Completed  in  1837.) 

1834  Sept.  i.     Two  hundred  Mexican  colonists  arrive  at  San  Diego  from 
San  Bias. 


690        CALIFORNIA 

1835  May  23.     Los  Angeles  is  raised  from  pueblo  to  city  status. 

June  24.     Algerez  Mariano  G.  Vallejo  founds  presidio  and  pueblo 
at  Mision  San  Francisco  Solano.     Names  settlement  Sonoma. 
-United  States  offers  to  buy  California. 

1836  Nov.  3.     Don  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado  and  Jose  Castro  lead  revolt. 
Castro  becomes  governor. 

Nov.  8.  California  diputacion  issues  declaration  of  independence. 
California  remains  free  State  for  eight  months. 

*$39  July  I.  John  Augustus  Sutter,  Swiss,  lands  in  San  Francisco.  In 
1840  acquires  n  sq.  leagues  of  land,  comprising  New  Helvetia,  and 
builds  Suiter's  Fort.  In  1841  acquires  Russian  property,  Fort  Ross, 
ending  Russian  encroachment  in  California. 

1840  March   10.     First   Supreme   Court  of  California,    Tribunal  de  Jus- 
ticia,  is  formed. 

April  7.  Arrest  of  Isaac  Graham,  American  trapper  settled  in 
California,  is  followed  by  imprisonment  of  all  "foreigners"  (47)  not 
married  to  California  women.  Graham  acquitted  of  treason  and 
released  June  1841. 

1841  Aug.  14.     Wilkes  expedition  (first  U.  S.  scientific  expedition)  arrives 
in  San  Francisco.     James  A.  Dana,  of  party,  writes  of  gold  found 
in  American  River,  confirming  earlier  reports. 

Nov.  4.  First  overland  immigrant  train  (Bidwell-Bartleson  party), 
from  midwestern  U.  S.,  arrives  in  California. 

1842  March  9.     Francisco  Lopez,  sheep-herder,  discovers  placer  gold  in 
Santa  Feliciana  (Placercita)   Canyon.     Twenty  ounces  of  gold  dust 
sent   (Nov.  22)    to  Philadelphia  mint,  by  Abel  Stearns  and  Alfred 
Robinson,  is  first  gold  sent  out  of  California. 

Oct.  19.  Believing  U.  S.  and  Mexico  are  at  war,  Commodore 
Thomas  Catesby  Jones,  U.  S.  N.,  seizes  Monterey  and  raises  Ameri- 
can flag.  Two  days  later  he  apologizes  and  departs.  • 

1843  May  i.     Thomas  Larkin,  first  and  only  U.  S.  consul  to  California 
(1843-46),  appointed. 

1844  March  8.     Capt.  John   Charles   Fremont,   U.   S.  Army,   arrives   at 
Sutter's  Fort. 

Nov.  14.  Californians  start  revolt  which  forces  Governor  Michel- 
torena's  abdication.  . 

Dec.  13.  First  wagon  train  over  Truckee  and  Donner  Lake  route 
reaches  Sutter's  Fort. 

1845  July   10.     Further  immigration  of  Americans  to  California  forbid- 
den by  Mexican  Government. 

First  wedding  of  Americans  in  California:  Mary  Peterson  and 
James  Williams,  both  from  Missouri. 

1846  March   6.     Fremont   raises  American   flag   on   Gabilan    Peak,   near 
Monterey.     Ordered  to  leave  California,  he  retreats  on  third  night 
to  Sutter's  Fort. 

May  13.     War  between  U.  S.  and  Mexico  declared. 

June  3.     Col.  Stephen  W.  Kearny  is  ordered  to  march  to  California 

from  Santa  Fe  and  take  command  of  U.  S.  forces  there. 


APPENDICES        691 

June  14.  The  Bear  Flag  of  "California  Republic"  is  raised  at 
Sonoma.  Fremont  takes  command  of  Bear  Flag  revolt  on  July  5, 
declaring  California's  independence. 

July  7.     Commander  John  D.  Sloat  raises  American  flag  at  Mon- 
terey; California  formally  declared  a  possession  of  U.  S. 
July  9.     American  flag  replaces  Bear  Flag  at  Sonoma. 
Aug.    15.     Calif  ornian,   first    California   newspaper,    is    published   in 
Monterey. 

Sept.  23.     American  garrison  at  Los  Angeles  attacked  by  rebellious 
Californians.     General  uprising,  led  by  Captain  Jose  Maria  Flores, 
follows.     In  first  battle,  at  Chino  Rancho,  Americans  are  routed. 
Oct.   31.     Donner  party   of  immigrants   halted  by  heavy   snows    at 
Donner  Lake.     Before  rescue  party  arrives  39  of  87  members  die. 

1847  Jan.  9.     At  La  Mesa  last  battle  of  rebellion  won  by  U.  S.  forces; 
articles  of  capitulation  signed  at  Rancho  Cahuenga  4  days  later. 
Jan.    19.     John   C.   Fremont   becomes   first   American    Governor   of 
California,  appointed  by  Com.  Robert  F.  Stockton.     Forty  days  later 
he  is  removed  by  Kearny;  in  August,  is  arrested  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  Kans.,  court-martialed  and  sentenced  to  dismissal  from  Army. 
Sentence  later  remitted  but  Fremont  declines  clemency  and  resigns. 

1848  Jan.  24.     James  Wilson  Marshall,  building  sawmill  for  Sutter  on 
the    American    River,    discovers    the    gold    which    starts    California 
"gold-rush." 

Feb.  2.     Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  ending  war  with  Mexico,  is 

signed.     United  States   acquires   California,   New  Mexico,   Nevada, 

Utah,  most  of  Arizona  and  part  of  Colorado. 

Oct.  14.     Town  of  Sacramento  is  founded  by  Sutler's  son. 

Nov.  9.     First  U.  S.  post  office  in  California  opened  in  San  Francisco. 

White  population  of  California  about  15,000. 

1849  Feb.  28.     California,  first  steamer  to  bring  "Gold  Rush"  passengers, 
comes  into  San  Francisco  with  365  passengers. 

Aug.  17.  Regular  service  between  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento 
begun,  with  George  Washington. 

Sept.  I.  Forty-eight  delegates  convene  in  Colton  Hall,  Monterey, 
to  draft  State  Constitution  (adopted  Oct.  10,  signed  Oct.  13,  ratified 
Nov.  13). 

Oct.   25.     Democratic   Party   organized.     Peter    H.    Burnett   nomi- 
nated for  Governor;  elected  Nov.  13. 
Dec.  24.     San  Francisco's  first  great  fire  destroys  50  houses. 

1850  Feb.  4.     Jayhawkers,   an  immigrant  party,   reach  San   Francisquito 
Ranch,  after  great  suffering  in  Death  Valley. 

Feb.  1 8.     Legislature  creates  original  27  counties. 
April  22.     Legislature  passes  law  to  protect  rights  of  Indians. 
Aug.  14.     Armed  squatters  riot  in  Sacramento  in  dispute  over  validity 
of  Sutler's  grant. 

Sept.  9.     President  Fillmore  signs  act  of  Congress  admitting  Cali- 
fornia as  a  State  into  the  Union. 
Population  92,597   (U.  S.  Census). 


692        CALIFORNIA 

1851     March  3.     Land   commission   appointed. 

March  25.  Chasing  band  of  raiding  Indians,  Major  James  D. 
Savage  discovers  Yosemite  Valley. 

June  9.  Vigilantes  organize  in  San  Francisco  under  Sam  Brannan. 
Aug.  31.  Flying  Cloud,  famous  Yankee  clipper,  arrives  in  San 
Francisco  81  days,  21  hours,  after  leaving  New  York. 

1853  March    3.     Congress    authorizes    survey    of    railroad    route    from 
Mississippi  River  to  Pacific. 

1854  Feb.  25.     Sacramento  made  capital  of  State. 

April  3.  United  States  opens  branch  mint  at  San  Francisco  ending 
private  coinage  of  gold. 

1855  Feb.    22.     Run    on    bank    of    Page,    Bacon    and    Co.    begins    panic. 
Stringency  becomes  State-wide  and  lasts  for  two  years. 

Aug.  7.  "Know  Nothing"  or  "American"  party  hold  State  conven- 
tion in  Sacramento. 

1856  Feb.  22.     California's  first  railroad,  Sacramento  to  Folsom,  opened. 
May  15.     San  Francisco  Vigilantes  reorganize  on  day  after  James 
King,   crusading   newspaper    editor,    is    murdered    by   James    Casey, 
politician;  they  hang  Casey  and  drive  corrupt  city  officials  from  office. 
Aug.  23.     First  wagon  road  across  Sierra  Nevada  is  opened. 

1857  Aug.  31.     First  overland  stage  reaches  San  Diego  from  San  Antonio. 

1859  Sept.  13.     Senator  David  C.  Broderick  and  Judge  David  S.  Terry 
fight  duel.     Broderick  is  killed. 

1860  April    14.     San    Franciscans    get    their    first    Pony    Express    mail. 
Postage  $5  a  half  ounce. 

1861  April    i.     Vines  of   1,400  different  varieties,   shipped   from   Europe, 
become  nucleus  of  State's  vineyards. 

May  17.  News  of  Fort  Sumter's  surrender  received;  California 
pledges  its  loyalty  to  the  Union. 

June  28.     Central  Pacific  R.R.  Co.  of  California  is  organized. 
Oct.  24.     First  transcontinental  telegraph  line  completed,  ending  need 
for  Pony  Express. 

1867  May   13.     San   Francisco  workers   demand   eight-hour  day.     Estab- 
lished for  skilled  labor  in   1868. 

1868  March  23.     University  of  California  is  founded. 

1869  May  10.     First  transcontinental  railroad  system,  the  Central  Pacific 
and  Union  Pacific,  completed;  final  spike,  connecting  the  two  rail- 
roads, is  driven  at  Promontory,  Utah. 

1871     Oct.  24.     "Chinese  Massacre"  in  Los  Angeles.     Results  in  Chinese 

exclusion  act  of  1882. 

!^73     Jan.  to  June.     Modoc  War,  California's  last  Indian  trouble. 
1877     Sept.  12.     Workingmen's  Party  of  California  organized  under  Dennis 

Kearney. 
1880     University  of  Southern  California  founded. 

1885  Oct.  24.     Orange  Growers  Protective  Union  of  Southern  California 
organized. 

1886  Feb.    14.     First   trainload   of   oranges   leave    Los   Angeles    for   the 
East. 


APPENDICES        693 

1891  Oct.  I.     Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University  opened,  David  Starr  Jordan 
president. 

1892  Dec.  31.     Transmission  of  hydroelectric  power  from  San  Antonio 
Canyon  to  Pomona,  14  miles. 

1896  Jan.  10.  First  water  shipment  of  crude  oil  from  Ventura  to  Rodeo. 
1900  April  3.  Work  on  reclamation  of  Imperial  Valley  by  irrigation  begins. 
1903  Feb.  16.  The  golden  poppy  (Eschscholtzia}  becomes  official  State 

flower. 
1906     April  18.     Great  Fire,  resulting  from  earthquake,  of  San  Francisco. 

1909  March  24.     Direct  Primary  Law. 

1910  Oct.  I.     Los  Angeles  Times  building  dynamited.     Later,  two  labor 
leaders,  J.  B.  and  J.  J.  McNamara,  are  convicted. 

1911  Jan.  3.     Hiram  W.  Johnson  becomes  Governor;  serves  two  terms. 
(U.  S.  Senator  for  four  successive  terms  from  1917.) 

April  3.     Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall  Act  is  approved. 

April  8.     Workmen's  Compensation  Act  passed. 

Nov.    14.     First    woman    voter    in    California    appears    at    polls    in 

Stockton. 

1913  May   19.     California  Land  Act  prohibiting  Japanese  ownership  of 
agricultural  land  is  signed. 

1914  Aug.  15.     Panama  Canal  opened. 

1915  Panama-California    Exposition    at    San    Diego    and    Panama-Pacific 
International  Exposition  at  San  Francisco. 

1916  July  22.     Bomb  kills  spectators  of  Preparedness  Day  parade  in  San 
Francisco.     Warren  K.  Billings  and  Thomas  Mooney  are  convicted. 
(Mooney  is  pardoned  by  Governor  Olson  on  January  7,  1939.) 

1926     Oct.  25.     Site  of  University  of  California  at  Los  Angeles  is  dedi- 
cated. 

1929  Herbert  Clark  Hoover,  of  Palo  Alto,  Secretary  of  Commerce  under 
Harding  and  Coolidge,  becomes  3ist  President  of  the  United  States. 

1930  Population  5,677,251. 

1932  July.     Tenth  Olympiad  opened  at  Los  Angeles  with  athletes  of  37 
nations. 

1933  Feb..  ii.     President    Herbert    Hoover,    by   proclamation,   sets    aside 
1,601,800  acres  in  Inyo  County,  as  Death  Valley  National  Monu- 
ment. 

June.     California   adopts   2ist   Amendment   to   U.   S.   Constitution, 
repealing  Prohibition  amendment. 

1934  Dec.   16.     Work  on  All-American  Canal,  from  Colorado  River  to 
W.  of  Calexico,  begun. 

1935  Feb.  i.     Storage  of  Colorado  River  water,  for  California  use,  begun 
by  closing  gates  at  Boulder  Dam. 

1936  Nov.     San  Francisco-Oakland  Bay  Bridge  opened. 

1937  May.     Golden  Gate  Bridge  opened. 

1938  Nov.  8.     Culbert  J.  Olson   (Democrat)   elected  Governor,  succeed- 
ing Frank  P.  Merriam  (Republican). 

1939  Feb.   1 8.     Golden  Gate  International  Exposition  on  San  Francisco 
Bay  is  opened. 


ttK«a«GOm«Cmra^ 

A  Select  Reading  List  of  California 

Books 


Asbury,  Herbert.     The  Barbary  Coast.     New  York,  1933. 
Atherton,  Gertrude.     Adventures  of  a  Novelist.     New  York,  1932. 

California,  an  Intimate  History.     New  York,  1914  (rev.  ed.  1927). 

Audubon,    John    Woodhouse.     Audubons    Western    Journal:    1849-1850. 

Cleveland,  1906. 
Austin,  Mary.     The  Land  of  Little  Rain.     Boston,   1903.     Describes  the 

Mojave  desert  and  adjoining  regions. 
Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe.     History  of  California.     7  vols.     San  Francisco, 

1884-90. 
Popular  Tribunals.     San  Francisco,   1890.     Describes  the  vigilance 

committees  of  early  California. 
Banning,  Capt.  William,  and  George  H.     Six  Horses.     New  York,   1930. 

Describes  a  coaching  trip. 

Bell,  Major  Horace.     On  the  Old  West  Coast.     New  York,  1930. 
Reminiscences    of  a  Ranger.     Los   Angeles,    1881     (later    ed.    1935, 

indexed). 

Bolton,  Herbert  Eugene.     Anza's  California  Expeditions.     5  vols.     Berke- 
ley, 1930. 

Spanish  Exploration  in  the  Southwest,  1542-1706.     New  York,  1925. 

Burbank,  Luther,  with  Wilbur  Hall.     The  Harvest  of  the  Years.     Boston, 

1927.     Burbank's  own   account  of  his  experiments  in  plant  breeding. 
California.     Works    Progress   Administration.     Federal   Writers'    Project. 

Death  Valley.     New  York,  1939. 

Los  Angeles.     New  York  (1939). 

San  Diego,  a  California  City.     San  Diego,  1937. 

San  Francisco  and  the  Bay  Area.     New  York  (1939). 

Carr,  Harry.     Los  Angeles,  City  of  Dreams.     New  York,  1935. 
Chalfant,  Willie  A.     The  Story  of  Inyo.     Chicago,   1922    (rev.  ed.   1933). 

A  record  of  Death  Valley  days. 
Chapman,  Charles  E.     A  History  of  California:  the  Spanish  Period.     New 

York,  1921   (rev.  ed.  1928). 

Chase,  J.  Smeaton.     California  Desert  Trails.     Boston,  1919. 
Chittenden,  Hiram  Martin.     The  American  Fur  Trade  of  the  Far  West. 

3  vols.     New  York,  1902   (later  ed.  1935). 
Cleland,   Robert   Glass.     A   History   of   California:   the  American  Period. 

New  York,  1922. 
Cleland,    Robert    Glass,    and    Osgood    Hardy.     March    of   Industry.     Los 

Angeles,  1929. 

694 


APPENDICES        695 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.  (Mark  Twain).     Autobiography.     2  vols.     New  York, 

1924. 
Roughing    It.     New    York,    1872     (later    ed.    1934).     Describes    a 

journey  from  St.  Louis  across  the  plains  through  Nevada,  Utah,  and 

California  in  the  early  i86o's. 

Coblentz,  Stanton  A.     Villains  and  Vigilantes.     New  York,    1936. 
Colton,  Walter.     Three  Years  in  California.     New  York,  1850. 
Coolidge,  Mary  Roberts.     Chinese  Immigration.     New  York,   1909. 
Cowan,    Robert    Ernest.     Forgotten    Characters    of    Old    San    Francisco. 

Los  Angeles,  1938. 
Cowan,  Robert  Ernest,  and  Robert  Granniss  Cowan.     A  Bibliography   of 

the  History  of  California.     3  vols.     San  Francisco,   1933. 
Coyner,  David  H.     The  Lost  Trappers.     New  York,   1892.     Purports  to 

be  a  description  of  adventures  in  the  western  country  in  the  early  igth 

century. 

Cross,  Ira.  B.     A  History  of  the  Labor  Movement  in  California.     Berke- 
ley, 1935. 

Dana,  Julian.     Sutter.     New  York,  1934. 
Dana,  Richard  Henry.     Two  Years  Before  the  Mast.     Boston,  1840  (later 

ed.  1936). 
Davis,  William  Heath.     Seventy-five  Years  in  California.     San  Francisco, 

1929. 
Dawson,    William    Leon.     The   Birds    of    California.     Los    Angeles,    1921 

(later   ed.   in  4  vols.    1923). 

Denis,  Alberta  Johnston.     Spanish  Alta  California.     New  York,  1927. 
Derby,  George  H.     Phoenixiana.     San  Francisco,  1856  (later  ed.  1937). 
Dobie,  Charles  Caldwell.     San  Francisco,  a  Pageant.     New  York,  1933. 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  and  others.     The  World  Encompassed.     A  history  of 

Sir  Francis  Drake's  voyage  by  his  nephew  of  the  same  name.     London, 

1628  (later  ed.  1926). 

Drury,  Aubrey.     California,  an  Intimate  Guide.     New  York,  1935. 
Eakle,  Arthur  Starr.     Minerals  of  California.     Sacramento,   1923. 
Eldredge,  Zoeth  Skinner,  ed.  History  of  California.     5  vols.     New  York, 

1915- 
Englehardt,  Fr.  Zephyrin.     The  Missions  and  Missionaries  of  California. 

4  vols.  and  index.     San  Francisco,   1908-16    (2d  ed.  in  2  vols.   1929— 

30). 
Ferrier,    William    Warren.     Ninety    Years    of    Education    in    California, 

1846-1936.     Berkeley,  1937. 
Forbes,  Alexander.     A  History  of  Upper  and  Lower  California.     London, 

1839  (later  ed.  San  Francisco,  1937). 
Forbes,    Mrs.    Harrie    R.    Piper.     California    Missions    and    Landmarks. 

Los  Angeles,  1903   (8th  ed.  1925). 
Fremont,   Mrs.  Jessie  Benton.     The  Story  of  the  Guard:  a  Chronicle  of 

the  War.     Boston,  1863. 

Fremont,  John  Charles.     Memoirs  of  My  Life.     Chicago,  1887. 
Garrison,   Myrtle.     Romance  and  History   of   California.     San   Francisco, 

1933. 


696        CALIFORNIA 

Genthe,  Arnold.     As  I  Remember.     New  York,   1936. 

Graves,   Jackson   A.     My   Seventy    Years   in    California,   1857-1927.     Los 

Angeles,  1927. 

Gray,  A.  A.     History  of  California  from  1542.     Boston,  1934. 
Greenhow,    Robert.     History    of    Oregon    and    California.     Boston,    1844 

(4th  ed.  1847). 
Grinnell,  Joseph,  Joseph   S.   Dixon,   and  Jean   M.   Linsdale.     Fur-bearing 

Mammals  of  California.     2  vols.     Berkeley,  1937. 
Gudde,  Erwin  G.     Suiter's  Own  Story.     New  York,  1936. 
Hampton,    Benjamin    Bowles.     A    History    of    the    Movies.     New    York, 

1928. 
Hanna,  Phil  Townsend.     California  through  Four  Centuries.     New  York, 

1935- 
Libros    Calif ornianos,    or,    Five    Feet    of    California    Books.     Los 

Angeles,  1931. 

Hannaford,  Donald  R.     Spanish  Colonial  or  Adobe  Architecture  of  Cali- 
fornia, 1800-1850.     New  York,  1931. 
Harlan,  Jacob  Wright.     California  '46  to  '48.     San  Francisco,  1888  (later 

ed.   1896).     The  writer  crossed  the  plains  in   1846,  part  of  the  way 

with  the  Donner  party. 

Harte,  Bret.     The  Letters  of  Bret  Harte.     Boston,  1926. 
Hittell,    Theodore    H.     History    of    California.     4    vols.     San    Francisco, 

1885-97- 
Holder,    Charles    Frederick.     Life    in    the    Open;   Sport   with   Rod,    Gun, 

Horse,  and  Hound  in  Southern   California.     New  York,    1906. 
Hoover,  Mildred  Brooke.     Historic  Spots  in  California.     Vol.  Ill:    Coun- 
ties of  the  Coast  Range.     Stanford  University,  1937. 
Hopkins,   Ernest  Jerome.     What  Happened  in   the  Mooney   Case.     New 

York,  1932. 
Hunt,  Rockwell  D.,  and  Nellie  van  de  Grift  Sanchez.     A  Short  History  of 

California.     New  York,  1929. 

Irwin,  Will.     Herbert  Hoover.     New  York,  1928. 
Jackson,    Mrs.    Helen    Hunt.     A    Century    of  Dishonor;  a  Sketch    of   the 

United  States  Government's  Dealings  with  Some  of  the  Indian  Tribes. 

Boston,  1 88 1   (later  ed.  1905). 
Jaeger,  Edmund  Carroll.     The  California  Deserts.     Stanford  University, 

1933- 
James,  George  Wharton.     In  and  out  of  the  Old  Missions  of  California. 

Boston,  1905   (rev.  ed.  1927). 
Jepson,  Willis  Linn.     A  Manual  of  the  Flowering  Plants   of  California. 

Berkeley,  1925. 

The  Trees  of  California.     San  Francisco,  1909  (2d  ed.  1923). 

Jordan,  David  Starr,  and  Vernon  L.  Kellogg.     The  Scientific  Aspects   of 

Luther  Burbank's  Work.     San  Francisco,  1909. 
Kemble,  Edward  C.     A  History   of  California  Newspapers.     New  York, 

1927. 
Kroeber,  Alfred  L.     Handbook  of  the  Indians  of  California.     Washington, 

D.  C.,  1925.     (Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.     Bulletin  No.  78.) 


APPENDICES        697 

Lewis,  Oscar.  The  Big  Four.  New  York,  1938.  Describes  Huntington, 
Stanford,  Hopkins,  and  Crocker,  and  the  building  of  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad. 

London,  Mrs.  Charmian.  The  Book  of  Jack  London.  2  vols.  New  York, 
1921. 

Lyman,  George  D.  Ralston  s  Ring;  California  Plunders  the  Comstock 
Lode.  New  York,  1937. 

Manly,  William  Lewis.  Death  Valley  in  '49.  San  Jose,  1894  (rev. 
ed.  1929). 

Mayo,  Morrow.     Los  Angeles.     New  York,  1933. 

Mitchell,  Sydney  B.     Gardening  in  California.     Garden  City,  N.  Y.,  1923. 

Morley,  Prof.  S.  Griswold.  The  Covered  Bridges  of  California.  Berke- 
ley, 1928. 

Muir,  John.  John  of  the  Mountains;  the  Unpublished  Journals  of  John 
Muir.  Boston,  1938. 

The  Mountains  of  California.     New  York,  1894   (later  ed.   1911). 

The  Yosemite.     New  York,    1912. 

Neville,  Amelia.      The  Fantastic  City  San  Francisco.     Boston,  1932. 

Nevins,  Allan.  Fremont,  the  World's  Greatest  Adventurer.  New  York, 
1928. 

Newmark,  Harris.  Sixty  Years  in  Southern  California,  1853-1913.  New 
York,  1916  (3d  ed.  1930). 

Older,  Fremont.  My  Own  Story.  New  York,  1919  (3d  ed.  1926).  The 
author  was  editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Call-Bulletin. 

Paine,  Albert  Bigelow.  Mark  Twain,  a  Biography.  3  vols.  New  York, 
1912. 

Palou,  Francisco.  Historical  Memoirs  of  New  California.  4  vols. 
Berkeley,  1926.  First  printed  in  1857  m  the  Diario  oficial  of  Mexico. 

Life  and  Apostolic  Labors  of  the  Venerable  Father  Junipero  Serra, 

Founder  of  the  Franciscan  Missions  of  California.  Pasadena,  1913. 
First  printed  in  1787  in  Mexico. 

Parsons,  Mary  Elizabeth.  The  Wild  Flowers  of  California.  San  Fran- 
cisco, 1902  (later  ed.  1914). 

Pattie,  James  O.  Personal  Narrative.  Cincinnati,  1831  (later  ed.  1930). 
Purports  to  be  an  account  of  six  years'  hazardous  travel  from  St.  Louis 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  back  through  Mexico. 

Powell,  L.  C.     An  Introduction  to  Robinson  Jeffers.     Dijon,  France,  1932. 

Reed,  Ralph  Daniel.     Geology  of  California.     Tulsa,  Okla.,   1933. 

Rensch,  H.  E.,  E.  G.  Rensch,  and  Mildred  Brooke  Hoover.  Historic 
Spots  in  California.  Vol.  I:  The  Southern  Counties.  Vol.  II:  Val- 
ley and  Sierra  Counties.  Stanford  University,  1932  and  1933. 

Richman,  Irving  Berdine.  California  under  Spain  and  Mexico,  1535-1847. 
Boston,  1911. 

Rider,  Fremont,  ed.  Rider's  California;  a  Guidebook  for  Travelers. 
New  York,  1925. 

Ritchie,  Robert  Welles.     The  Hell-roarin   Forty-niners.     New  York,  1928. 

Robinson,  Alfred.  Life  in  California  before  the  Conquest.  New  York, 
1846  (later  ed.  1925). 


698        CALIFORNIA 

Rourke,  Constance  M.  Troupers  of  the  Gold  Coast;  or,  The  Rise  of 
Lotta  Crabtree.  New  York,  1928. 

Royce,  Josiah.  California  from  the  Conquest  in  1846  to  the  Second  Vigi- 
lance Committee  in  San  Francisco  (1856).  Boston,  1886  (later  ed. 
1892). 

Sanchez,  Nellie  van  de  Grift.  Spanish  and  Indian  Place  Names  of  Cali- 
fornia, Their  Meaning  and  Their  Romance.  San  Francisco,  1914. 

Saunders,  Charles  Francis.  Finding  the  Worth  While  in  California. 
New  York,  1916  (5th  ed.  1937). 

Scherer,  James  A.  B.     The  Japanese  Crisis.     New  York,  1916. 

Shinn,  C.  H.  Mining-camps.  A  Study  in  American  Frontier  Government. 
New  York,  1885. 

Sinclair,  Upton.  American  Outpost;  a  Book  of  Reminiscences.  New 
York,  1932. 

-  The  EPIC  Plan  for  California.     New  York,   1934.     EPIC  stands 
for  "End  Poverty  in  California." 

Soule,  Frank,  John  H.  Gihon,  and  James  Nisbet.  The  Annals  of  San 
Francisco.  New  York,  1855. 

Starrett,  Vincent.     Ambrose  Bierce.     Chicago,  1920. 

Stewart,  George  Rippey.  Ordeal  by  Hunger;  the  Story  of  the  Donner 
Party.  New  York,  1936. 

Bret  Harte,  Argonaut  and  Exile.     Boston,   1931. 

Stewart,  J.  A.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  His  Work  and  His  Personality. 
2  vols.  New  York,  1924. 

Stoddard,  Charles  Warren.  In  the  Footprints  of  the  Padres.  San  Fran- 
cisco, 1902  (rev.  ed.  1912). 

Stone,  Irving.  Sailor  on  Horseback:  the  Biography  of  Jack  London.  Bos- 
ton, 1938. 

Talbot,  Clare.     Historic  California  in  Book-plates.     Los  Angeles,  1936. 

Taylor,  Bayard.  Eldorado;  or,  Adventures  in  the  Path  of  Empire.  New 
York,  1850  (rev.  ed.  1882). 

Thomas,  William  H.  On  Land  and  Sea;  or,  California  in  the  Years  1843, 
'44,  and  '45.  Chicago,  1892. 

Vancouver,  George.  A  Voyage  of  Discovery  to  the  North  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  Round  the  World  .  .  .  in  the  Years  1790-95.  3  vols.  London, 
1798- 

Walker,  Franklin.     Frank  N orris.     Garden  City,  N.  Y.,  1932. 

White,  Stewart  Edward.  The  Forty-niners;  a  Chronicle  of  the  California 
Trail  and  El  Dorado.  New  Haven,  1918. 

The   Story    of    California.     Garden    City,    N.    Y.,    1932    (later    ed. 

1937). 
Woon,  Basil.     Incredible  Land:  a  Jaunty  Baedeker  to  Hollywood  and  the 

Great  Southwest.     New  York,  1933. 

San  Francisco  and  the  Golden  Empire.     New  York,  1935. 

Young,  John  P.     History  of  San  Francisco.     2  vols.     Chicago,   1913. 
Journalism  in  California.     San  Francisco,  1915. 


Index 


{Where  more  than  one  page  number  is  given,  the  first  number  is  the 
Principal  reference.} 


Abalone,  231 

Aberdeen,   518 

Academy,  445 

Adelanto,  522 

Adin,  550 

Agriculture,  66-78 ;  apricots,  301 ;  as- 
paragus, 77,  582;  avocados,  399;  cel- 
ery, 409;  cherries,  599;  cooperatives, 
77-8;  cotton,  76,  626;  dates,  443,  627, 
638;  figs,  189,  190;  flower-seed 
growing,  347;  grapes,  190,  411,  412, 
455,  526;  hops,  358;  lemons,  402;  let- 
tuce, 76 ;  muscats,  446  ;  oranges,  400- 
2,  73-4;  oranges,  navel,  631-2; 
peaches,  75;  prunes,  301,  378;  rais- 
ins, 188,  190,  191;  rice,  467;  wheat, 
72 

Agua  Calien^e,  361 

Aguanga,  539-40 

Ahwanee  Hotel,  673 

Alameda,  601 

Alamo,  586 

Albany,  579 

Albany  Flat,  494 

Albion,  320 

Alcatraz  Island,  296-7 

All  American  Canal,  637,  640 

Alleghany,  478 

Alpine,  644 

Alta,  568 

Al  Tahoe,  589 

Altamont,  596 

Altaville,  492 

Alturas,  548-9 

Alvarado,  Juan  Bautista,  49,  132,  232, 
235,  393-4,  578,  599-6oo 

Alviso,  600 

Amador  City,  488 

Amboy,  611 

Amboy  Crater,  611 

Anaheim,  400 

Anderson,  437 

Anderson's  Canyon,  344-5 

Angel  Island,  297 

Angelotti  House,  365 

Angels  Camp,  492-3 

Angelus  Temple,  223 

Anti-Debris  Act,  480 


Antioch,  583-4 

Anza,  Juan  Bautista  de,  638,  46,  270, 

576,  578,  631,  641 
Applegate  Cut-off,  509 
Aptos,  337 

Araz  Stage  Station,  637 
Arbuckle,  440 
Arcadia,  619 
Arcata,  352 
Arch  Rock,  671 
Arguello,  Don  Luis,  292 
Arkansas  Dam,  557 
Armistice  Oak,  380 
Armona,  446 
Armour,  Philip  D.,  486 
Armstrong  Forest  Theater,  360 
Arrowbear,  617 
Arrowhead  Peak,  616 
Arroyo  Grande,  392 
Arroyo  Seco,  622 
Art  Colony,  Wayside,  204 
Ashford  Junction,  654 
Asilomar,  341 
Asti,  359 
Atascadero,  390 
Atherton,    Gertrude,    144-5,    275,    370, 

372,  373-4,  388,  575 
Atwater,  444 
Auburn,  483 

Auguerreberry  Point,  649 
Avalon,  424-5 
Avila  Adobe,  215 
Azusa,  619 

Badger  Pass  Ski  House,  675 

Badwater,  654 

Bagby,  499 

Bagdad,  611 

Baird,  436 

Baker,  604 

Bakersfield,  449 ;  climate  of,  14 

Balboa,  422 

Baldy  Mesa,  614 

Bale  Mill,  412 

Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe,  146 

Banner,  527 

Banning,  630 

Barstow,  612 


699 


700        INDEX 


Bartle,  501 

Bartlett,  520 

Basset  Hot  Springs,  550 

Bastanchury  Ranch,  399 

Battery  Point,  350 

Bay,  324 

Bayley  House,  484 

Bay  Meadows  Race  Track,  371 

Bays:  Bodega,  324;  Bolsa,  422; 
Drake's,  326;  Humboldt,  353;  New- 
port, 422;  Richardson,  367;  To- 
males,  325 

Beaches:  Arch  Rock,  324;  Clam,  352; 
Fan  Shell,  341;  Muir,  328;  Neptune, 
601 ;  Pebble,  333;  Salmon  Creek, 
325;  Shell,  323;  Wright's,  324 

Beacon  Station,  604 

Bearpaw  Meadow,  663 

Bear  Valley,  499 

Beaumont,  630-1 

Beckwourth,  534 

Beckwourth,  James  P.,  533 

Beckwourth  Pass,  533 

Bel  Air,  199-200 

Belden,  535 

Belmont,  371-3 

Benbow,  356 

Benicia,  574-5 

Benicia  Young  Ladies  Seminary,  575 

Ben  Lomond,  379 

Benton  City,  465 

Benton  Station,  543 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  465 

Berenda,  444 

Berkeley,   179-87 

Bernheimer  Oriental  Gardens,  417 

Berryville,  580 

Betteravia,  347 

Beverly  Hills,  623,  198-9 

Bidwell,  John,  465-6,  8,  50,  53,  509, 
512 

BidwelPs  Bar,  537 

Bieber,  550 

Big  Bar,  557 

Big  Bear  City,  618 

Big  Bear  Dam,  618 

Big  Bonanza  Mine,  497 

Big  Lagoon,  351 

Big  Oak  Flat,  442 

Big  Pine,  518 

Big  Pines  Civic  Center,  615 

Big  Sur,  344 

Big  Tree  Groves  (see  Sequoia) 

Bijou,  589 

Bishop,  517 

Bismarck,  605 

Black  Bart,  357-8 

Black  Bear  Mine,  431 

Blairsden,  534 

Blue  Lake,  558 


Blythe,  625-6 

Boca,  563-4 

Bodega,  324-5 

Bodega  y  Cuadra,  Juan  Francisco  de 

la,  324,  352 
Bodfish,  450 
Bodie,  514 
Bolinas,  327 
Bombay  Beach,  458 
Bonsall,  526 
Boonville,  320 
Booth,  Edwin,  477 
Borax,  605-6,  19,651;  Harmony  Works, 

651;    Pacific    Coast    Works,    605-6; 

"20-Mule  Teams,"  604 
Borego  P.O.,  527 
Boulder  Creek,  379 
Boulder  Park,  642 
Bowman  Lake,  480 
Box  Springs,  522 
Boyes  Springs,  361 
Bradley,  389 
Brawley,  461 
Brea,  399 
Brentwood,  582 
Brentwood  Heights,  199 
Brewer,  William  H.,  232,  434,  586,  592, 

657 

Bridge,  covered,  442 
Bridge  Gulch  Massacre,  555 
Bridgeport,  514 
Brighton,  595 
Broderick,  571 
Brown,  520 
Brown's  Resort,  428 
Brushy  Peak,  596-7 
Bryant,  Edwin,  566 
Bucks,  535 
Buellton,   392 
Bulach,  444 

Bullard's  Bar  Dam,  479 
Bullion  Bend,  593 
Bumpass  Hell,  505 
Buntingville,  511 
Burbank,  453 

Burbank  Experimental  Garden,  360 
Burbank,  Luther,  359-60,  73 
Burlingame,  370 
Burney,  551 
Burnt  Ranch,  557 
Busch  Gardens,  248 
Butte  County  Pioneer  Museum,  537 
Butterfield  Overland  Mail,  539 
Butterfly  Trees,  341 
Byron,  583 
Byron  Hot  Springs,  583 

Cabazon,  630 

Cabrillo,    Juan    Rodriguez,    41-2,    231, 
260,  263,  305,  424 


INDEX        7OI 


Cactus  Gardens,  605 

Cactus,  cholla,  610 

Cajon  Pass,  614 

Calabasas,  397 

Calaveras  skull,  492 

Caleb's  Siding,  458 

Calexico,  462 

Calico,  605 

California  Art  Club,  198 

California  Institute  for  Women,  607 

Calipatria,  459 

Calistoga,  411 

Calpella,  357 

Calpine,  506 

Camarillo,  396 

Camarillo  State  Hospital,  396 

Cambria,  346 

Cameron,  606 

Camino,  593 

Camp  Curry,  674 

Camp  Kearny,  407 

Camp  Lowe,  428 

Campo  Manzanita,  615 

Campo  Seco,  491 

Camptonville,  479 

Canby,  550 

Canby,  E.  R.  S.,  559 

Canyon  Park,  355 

Capistrano  Mission  Trading  Post,  405 

Capistrano  swallows,  404 

Capitola,  337 

Captain  Jack,  559 

Carlsbad,  406 

Carmel,  342 

Carmel  Woods,  341-2 

Carmelite  Monastery,  343 

Carpinteria,  393 

Carquinez  Bridge,  575-6 

Carrizo,  641 

Carrizo  Gorge,  642 

Carson  Hill,  494 

Carson  House,  354 

Carson,  Kit,  365,  590 

Carson  Pass,  590 

Cartago,  520 

Casa  Adobe  De  San  Rafael,  454 

Casa  De  Bandini  (San  Diego),  263 

Cascade  Range,  16 

Casey,  James,  112-3,  272 

Caspar,  319 

Cassel,  551 

Castaic,  452 

Castella,  435 

Castle  Crags,  435 

Castle  Crags  (town),  435 

Castro  Adobe,  578 

Castro  House,  384 

Castroville,  339 

Catacomb  Cavern,  560 

Cathedral  City,  628 


Cathedral  Rocks,  672 

Cayton,  502 

Cayucos,  346 

Cazadero,  361 

Cecilville,  431 

Cedarville,  510 

Cement,  Monolith  Mills,  606 

Centerville,  600 

Central  Valley,  14,  32,  66,  427,  440 

Ceres,  443 

Cerro  Gordo,  520 

Chambless,  611 

Chandlers,  452 

Chaos  Crags,  503 

Chaos  Jumbles,  503 

Cherokee,  537 

Chester,  531 

Chicken  Pharmacy,  364 

Chico,  465-6 

Chilcott,  534 

Child  Welfare,  Institute  of,  186 

Chilean  War,  491 

China  War,  556 

Chinese,  5,  59,  97,  108,  268-9,  354,  370, 
490-1,  498,  536,  581;  hospital,  282; 
Joss  House,  556;  Temple  (Los  An- 
geles), 216,  (San  Francisco)  282-3; 
theatre,  164-5,  282 

Chinese  Camp,  498 

Chino,  633 

Chinquapin  Junction,  675 

Cholame,  608 

Chowchilla,  444 

Chualar,  387 

Chula  Vista,  409 

Cinco,  545 

Claremont,  618 

Clark  Creek,  502 

Clarksville,  594 

Climate,  12-4 

Clio,  506 

Cloverdale,  359 

Clover  Field,  417 

Clovis,  445 

Coachella,  458 

Coalinga,  446 

Coast  Range,  17 

Coles  Landing,  538 

Coleville,  512 

Colfax,  568-9 

Colleges  (see  Universities  and) 

Coloma,  484 

Colorado  Desert,  18-9,  626 

Colorado  River,  636 

Colorado  River  Aqueduct,  626 

Colton,  456 

Columbia,  496-7 

Colusa,  440 

Concord,  585 

Confidence,  513 


7O2        INDEX 

Congress  Springs,  379 

Cool,  484 

Cora,  Charles,  113,  271 

Corbett-Choynski  prize  fight,  574 

Cordua,  Theodore,  467 

Corning,  438 

Corn  Springs,  626 

Corona,  632 

Coronado,  408 

Coronado,  Francisco  Vasquez  de,  636 

Coronado  Islands,  408-9 

Cotati,  364 

Cottonwood,  437 

Coulterville,  498-9 

Courtland,  581 

Couts  Adobe,  526 

Covelo,  357 

Covina,  634 

Coyote,  383 

Coyote  Wells,  642 

Crabtree,  Lotta,  161,  279,  477 

Crescent  City,  349 

Crescent  Meadow,  663 

Crescent  Mills,  506 

Crespi,  Father,  239 

Crestline,   525 

Crestline  Bowl,  617 

Crestline  Village,  617 

Crest  Summit,  617 

Crockett,  576 

Cronise  Station,  604 

Crossroads  of  the  World,  197 

Cucamonga,  618 

Cuesta  Pass,  390 

Cupertino,  379 

Cuyamaca  Junction,  643 

Cypress  Point,  341 

Daggett,  612 

Daly  City,  369 

Dana,   Richard   Henry,   230,   274,  420, 

423,  600,  631 
Dana  Point,  423 
Danby,  611 
Dante's  View,  652-3 
Danville,  586 
Dardanelle,  513 
Darwin,  520 
Date  City,  638 
Date  Palm  Beach,  458 
Davenport,  334 
Davis,  571 
Davis  Creek,  509 
Davis  Museum,  459 
Dead  Giant  (tree),  676 
Deadwood,  431 
Death  Valley  Junction,  604 
Delano,  448 
Del  Loma,  557 
Del  Mar,  407 


Del  Monte,  hotel,  340 

De  Luz,  526 

Democrat  Hot  Springs,  450 

Depot  Hill,  479 

Desert  Center,  626 

Desolation  Valley  Primitive  Area,  591, 

589 

Devastated  Area,  504 
Devil's  Gate,  514 
Devil's  Golf  Course,  653 
Devil's  Punch  Bowl,  615 
DeYoung  Memorial  Museum,  295 
Diablo,  Mount,  586 
Diamond  Springs,  487 
Dixieland,  641 
Dixon,  572 

Doe  Memorial  Library,  184-5 
Dogtown,  515 
Doheny  Park,  405 
Donahue,  Peter,  House  of,  365 
Donner  Party,  564-5,  53,  468,  469,  507, 

563 

Donner  Pass,  566 
Donner  State  Monument,  564 
Dorris,  463 
Dos  Rios,  357 

Douglas  Aircraft  Factory,  417 
Douglas  City,  555 
Douglas  Flat,  493 
Downey,  John  Gately,  398 
Downieville,  476 
Doyle,  512 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  326-7,  33,  43 
Drakesbad  Resort,  532 
Drumm  Barracks,  421 
Dry  Ice  Plant,  459 
Drytown,  488 
Duarte,  619 
Dublin,  597 
Duncan  Mills,  361 
Dunkards,  463,  619 
Dunsmuir,  434 
Durgan's  Flat,  477 
Durham,  466-7 
Dutch  Flat,  568 
Dyerville,  355 

Earlimart,  448 

Eastern  California  Museum,  519 
Echo  Creek,  590 
Eckener  Pass  Hamlet,  642 
E  Clampus  Vitus,  Order  of,  283 
Edgewood,  432 
Edison,  607 

Education,   131-8;    (see  also  Universi- 
ties and  Colleges) 
Eel  River,  355 
Egyptian  Theater,  196 
El  Cajon,  644 
El  Centro,  639-40 


El  Cerrito,  579 

El  Dorado,  487 

Elk,  320 

Elk  Grove,  441 

Elkhorn  Slough,  339 

El  Modena,  402 

El  Rio,  396 

El  Segundo,  419 

Elsinore,  524 

El  Toro,  403 

El  Verano,  361 

Emigrant  Gap,  567 

Encinitas,  407 

EPIC  movement,  63-4 

Escondido,  526-7 

Escondido  Canyon,  546 

Essex,  610 

Etna,  431 

Eucalyptus,  631 

Eureka,  353 

Fages,  Pedro,  239,  47,  451 

Fairfield,  572 

Fales  Hot  Springs,  513 

Fallbrook,  526 

Fall  River  Mills,  551 

Famosa,  449 

Fandango  Pass,  508-9 

Farallon  Islands,  297 

Felton,  379 

Fernbridge,  355 

Fetter's  Springs,  361 

Fiddletown,  486-7 

Field,  Stephen  J.,  487-8 

Fillmore,  395 

Finley  Camp,  431 

Fisherman's    Wharf:    Monterey,    236; 

San  Francisco,  285 
Fish    Hatcheries:    Baird,    436;    Marin 

County,   325;   Mount  Whitney,   518; 

Shasta,  434;  Yosemite,  674 
Flinn  Springs,  644 
Flood,  James  L.,  374 
Flores  Adobe,  249 
Floriston,  563 
Folsom,  594-5 

Folsom  State  Penitentiary,  595 
Fontana,  618 

Food  Research  Institute,  377 
Forbestown,  537 
Ford  City,  470 
Forest  City,  478 
Forest  Hill,  483 
Forest  Hill  Divide,  483 
Forest  Lawn  Memorial  Park,  454 
Forest  of  Arden,  403 
Forests,  National:  29;  Cleveland,  403, 

540,  643;  Inyo,   543;  Klamath,  430; 

Lassen,  502 ;  Modoc,  508,  549 ;  Mono, 

513;    San    Bernardino,    614;    Santa 


INDEX       703 

Barbara,  471;    Shasta,  433;   Tahoe, 

563;  Forks  of  Salmon,  431 
Fort  Bidwell,  509 
Fort  Bragg,  318 
Fort  Dick,  349 
Fort  Jones,  431 
Forts,    military    and    trading:    Baker, 

367;   Barry,   367;   Defiance,   529-30; 

Humboldt,  353;   Independence,  518; 

McArthur,  Lower  Reservation,  420; 

McArthur,  Upper  Reservation,  419; 

Ross,    322-3;    Tejon,   451;    Winfield 

Scott,  287 
Fortuna,  355 
Fosteria,  491 
Fourth  Crossing,  492 
Fowler,  445 
Freedom,  337 
Freeport,  581 
Fremont,  John   C.,   50-1,   53,  286,  287, 

306,    362,    365,    390-1,    467,    499-500, 

547,  588,  590;  Rancho  de  las  Mari- 

posas,  499-500 
Fremont  Tree,  380 
French  Camp,  596 
French  Corral,  480 
French  Gulch,  554 
Freshwater  Lagoon,  351 
Fresno,  188-91;  climate  of,  14 
Fullerton,  399-400 
Furnace  Creek,  651-2 

Gait,  441 

Garberville,  356 

Garces,  Father,  638 

Gardena,  548 

Garnet  deposits,  642 

Gaviota  Pass,  393 

Gay's  Lion  Farm,  634 

Gazelle,  432 

George,  Henry,  274 

George's  Gap,  622 

Georgetown,  484 

Geysers,  The,  359 

Geyserville,  359 

Giant,  578 

Gilman  Hot  Springs,  523 

Gilroy,  383 

Glacier  Lodge,  518 

Glacier  Point,  675 

Glass  Mountain,  561-2 

Glendale,  454 

Glendora,  619 

Glen  Ellen,  361 

Goebel  Lion  Farm,  396 

Gold,  28,  30;  discoveries,  53-4,  80,  239, 
251-2,  270-1,  312,  424,  428,  473-4, 
476-7,  478,  48.1,  483,  484,  496,  499, 
514,  516,  521,  527,  537,  547,  555,  618; 
dredging,  85,  468,  594;  hydraulic 


704        INDEX 


mining,     81,     479,     480,    556,     568; 

miner's  diet,  485;  placer  mining,  473 
Golden  Gate  Bridge,  287-8,  176,  367 
Golden  Gate  International  Exposition, 

680-3,  176 

Golden  Queen  Mine,  545 
Gold  Ridge,  478 
Gold  Run,  568 
Goldtown,  545 
Goleta,  393 
Gonzales,  387 

Goodyear's  Bar   (town),  478 
Goodyear's  Bar,  477-8 
Gorda,  345 
Gorman,  452 
Goshen  Junction,  446 
Government  Center,  673 
Governor  Mine,  546 
Governor's  Camp,  379 
Graniteville,  480 
Grant  Tree,  665-6 
Grapevine,  451 
Grass  Valley,  481 
Gray's  Well,  638 
Great  Basin,  18 
Great  Valley,  18,  n 
Greenbrae,  365 
Greenfield,   388 
Greenhorn,  430 
Greenview,  431 
Greenville,  506 
Greenwater,  652 
Greenwater  Valley,  652 
Greenwood,  484 
Greenwood,  Caleb,  566 
Gregg,  Josiah,  353,  355 
Grenada,  432 
Grizzly  Giant,  674 
Groveland,  442 
Grunion,  408 
Guadalupe,  347 
Gualala,  321 
Guasti,  455 
Guasti  Vineyard,  455 
Guatay,  643 
Guayule,  American  Rubber  Producers 

Plant,  387 
Gue.rneville,  360 
Guyman,  612 
Gypsum  Mine,  527 

Haiwee  Reservoir,  520 
Half  Dome,  673 
Half  Moon  Bay,  332 
Hamburg,  429 
Hamilton  Field,  365 
Hammonton,  468 
Hanford,  446 
Hangtown,  486 
Happy  Camp,  429 


Harmony,  346 

Harrisburg  Flats,  649 

Harte,  Bret,  25-6,   no,    143,   272,  274, 

352,  442,  474-5,  493,  495,  597 
Hat  Creek  P.  O.,  502 
Havilah,  450 
Hawes,  605 
Hawkinsville,  429 
Hayward,  598 
Healdsburg,  359 
Hearst,  George,  345,  494,  649 
Hearst,   William  Randolph,    115,    345, 

346 

Heber,  462 
Helendale,  613 
Helix,  Mount,  644 
Hemet,  523 

Hemminghoffen-Suesdorf  Brewery,  491 
Hercules,  577 
Hermosa  Beach,  419 
Herndon,  445 
Hetch  Hetchy  Falls,  676 
Hidden  Valley,  396 
Hidden  Springs,  458 
Highgrove,  522 
Hillsborough,  370 
History:  41-65;   American  period,  49- 

65;   Bear   Flag  Revolt,    362-3,    51-2, 

365,    439;    discovery,    42;    Mexican 

period,  47-9;  Spanish  period,  42 
Hobart  Mills,  507 
Hodge,  612 
Hodges  Dam,  407 
Hollywood,  192-200 
Hollywood  Beach,  415 
Hollywood-by-the-Sea,  415 
Hollywood  Park,  418 
Holtville,  639 
Hood,  581 
Hooker  Oak,  466 
Hoopa,  429 

Hoover,  Herbert  Clark,  375,  377 
Hoover  Library  on  War,  Revolution, 

and  Peace,  376-7 
Hopkins,  Mark,  281 
Hornbrook,  428 
Hornitos,  500 
Hueneme,  415 
Humbug  City,  430 
Humbug  Creek,  429 
Humbug  Mine,  498 
Hunters  Flat,  519 
Huntington,  Collis  P.,  212,  620 
Huntington  Beach,  422 
Huntington  Library  and  Art  Gallery, 

620 

Ide,  William  B.,  437 
Idyllwild,  523 
Igo,  436 


INDEX        705 


Imperial,  462 

Imperial  Beach,  409 

Imperial  Valley,  459,  n,  31,  635,  639 

"Incomparable  Confraternity,"  476 

Incopah  Gorge,  642 

Independence,  519 

Indian  Caves,  673 

Indian  Falls,  506 

Indian  Intaglios,  625 

Indian  Island,  353-4 

Indian  Paint  Pots,  459 

Indian  reservations,  39;  Agua  Cali- 
ente,  629;  Cosmit,  542;  Cuyapaipe, 
643;  Fort  Yuma,  637;  Hoopa,  429; 
Inaja,  542;  La  Posta,  643;  Mesa 
Grande,  541;  Morongo,  630;  Paiute, 
544;  Pala,  525;  Rincon,  525;  Round 
Valley,  357;  Santa  Ysabel,  541;  So- 
boba,  523 ;  Torres  Martinez,  458 ; 
Viejas,  643 

Indians,  33-40;  music,  150;  petro- 
glyphs,  543,  544;  religious  cults,  36- 
7;  wars,  3 8 

Indian  Springs,  550 

Indian  tribes:  Achomawi,  36;  Cahuil- 
la,  458,  540,  628,  629,  630;  Canalino, 
35,  306;  Chumash,  395;  Diegueno, 
540;  Hupa,  34;  Klamath,  430,  559; 
Luiseno,  540;  Maidu,  34,  466;  Mi- 
wok,  671;  Modoc,  435,  559;  Mono, 
672;  Olancha,  520;  Olhone,  299; 
Paiute,  510,  517,  672;  Pit,  510; 
Porno,  410;  Serrano,  630;  Shoshone, 
510,  652;  Shasta,  36;  Suisune,  573; 
Tamal,  269,  292;  Washo,  511;  Wen- 
toon,  555;  Yokut,  661-62,  656-7; 
Yosemite,  672,  677 

Indian  Well,  560 

Indian  Wells,  627 

Indio,  627 

Industry,  66-86;  borax,  652;  dynamite, 
577.  578;  gold  (see  Gold);  kunzite, 
525;  lumber,  589;  oil  (see  Oil); 
quartz  mining,  487;  Sugar  Refining, 
California-Hawaiian  Corporation 
Plant,  576;  tungsten,  517;  vitrox, 
545;  wine,  74;  zinc,  552 

Infernal  Caverns  Battle-Ground,  510 

Inglewood,  418 

Ingot,  552 

Inverness,  325 

Inyokern,  521 

lone,  489 

Iowa  Hill,  569 

Irrigation,  461;  Central  Valley,  32; 
East  Highland  Canal,  638;  Imperial 
Dam,  637;  Imperial  Valley,  31,  639- 
44;  Laguna  Dam,  637;  Orland  Proj- 
ect, 439;  Sacramento  Valley,  439; 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  67 


Irvington,  600 
Isabella,  450 
Isleton,  582 

Jackass  Hill,  495 

Jackson,  489-90 

Jackson,  Helen  Hunt,  39,  384 

Jacksonville,  498 

Jacumba,  642 

Jamesburg,  342 

Jamestown,  498 

Janesville,  511 

Japanese,  60-1,  108,  231,  409,  581;  agi- 
tation against,  62;  Buddhist  temple, 
191;  theatre,  165-6,  216 

Japanese  Fishing  Village,  421 

Japanese  Gardens  (Hollywood),  196 

Java,  610 

Jayhawkers,  648 

Jenner-by-the-Sea,  323 

Jepson  Laurel,  330 

Jersey  Flat,  476-7 

Johannesburg,  521 

Johnson,  Hiram,  62 

Johnson,  Lt.  Hugh  S.,  660 

Johnstonville,  511 

Jolon,  388 

Joshua  tree,  24 

Joubert  Hydraulic  Mine,  479 

Juarez  Adobes,  413 

Julian,  542 

Junction  City,  557 

Juniper  Lake  Resort,  531 

Kane  Springs,  461 

Kaweah  Co-operative  Commonwealth 
Colony,  447,  657 

Keane  Wonder  Mine,  651 

Kearney  Park,  445 

Keddie,  535 

Keeler,  520 

Kelley  Hot  Springs,  549 

Kellogg  Institute  of  Animal  Hus- 
bandry, 634 

Kelseyville,  410 

Kennet,  436 

Kern  River  Canyon,  450 

Kernville,  450 

Kingsburg,  446 

King  City,  389 

Kings  Creek  Falls,  504 

Kings  Creek  Meadows,  504 

Kirkville,  538 

Klamath,  351-2 

Knight's  Ferry,  442 

Knights  Landing,  538 

Kramer,  605 

Kramer  Junction,  522 

Kruse  Rhododendron  Reserve,  321-2 

Kyburz,  592 


706        INDEX 


La  Brea  Pits,  19-20,  225 

La  Habra,  399 

La  Honda,  330 

La  Jolla,  408 

La  Mesa,  644 

La  Panza,  390 

La  Porte,  53^ 

La  Verne,  619 

Labor,  95-108;  McNamara  case,  100-1, 
63;  Westwood  strike,  531;  Working- 
men's  Party,  58-9,  97-8,  273,  447  (see 
also  Migratory  Workers) 

Ladybug  Canyon,  622 

Lafayette,  586-7 

Laguna  Beach,  423 

Laguna  Junction,  643 

Laguna  Post  Office,  643 

Lakeport,  410 

Lakeside,  588 

Lakes:  Almanor,  506;  Arrowbear,  617; 
Arrowhead,  617;  Blue,  410;  Bristol 
Dry,  611;  Britton,  502;  Castaic,  451; 
Castle,  434;  Clear,  410;  Convict, 
516;  Gold,  475;  Henshaw,  541; 
Huntington,  445  ;  Ivanpah,  603  ;  Lit- 
tle, 520;  Ludlow  Dry,  612;  Malibu, 
397;  Mammouth,  516;  Manzanita, 
503;  Mirror,  673;  Muroc  Dry,  606; 
Reflection,  503;  Sabrina,  517;  Sher- 
wood, 396;  South,  517;  Tahoe,  16, 
588;  Tenaya,  677;  Troy  Dry,  612; 
Weber,  507 ;  Yosemite,  444 

Lakeview  Station,  603 

Lancaster,  546 

Las  Cruces,  393 

Las  Flores,  405 

Las  Plumas,  536 

Lassen  Camp,  532 

Lassen  Peak,  504-5 

Lassen,  Peter,  465,  504,  529 ;  grave  of, 

53i 

Last  Chance,  566-7 
Lawndale,  369 
Laws  (P.O.),  544 
Laytonville,  357 
Lea,  Homer,  377 
Lebec,  451 
Leevining,  515 

Leland  Stanford  Junior  Museum,  376 
Lemoore,  446 
Lenwood,  612 
Lick  Observatory,  381 
Likely,  510 
Lincoln,  469 
Lincoln  Mine,  488-9 
Lindsay,  448 
Little  Rock,  568 
Live  Oak,  467 
Livermore,  597 
Livingston,  443 


Lodi,  441 

Loleta,  354 

Lompoc,  347 

Lompoc  Valley,  347 

London,  Jack,  147,  242,  274,  361,  584 

Lone  Pine,  519 

Longbarn,  513 

Long  Beach,  201-5 

Longville,  535 

Lookout  Point,  351 

Loomis,  569-70 

Los  Alamos,  392 

Los  Altos,  378 

Los  Angeles,  206-29,  13;  Airport,  418; 

Harbor,  420 
Los  Angeles  Aqueduct,  452,   518,   544, 

606 

Los  Angeles  County  Fair  Grounds,  633 
Los  Gatos,  382 
Los  Molinos,  465 
Los  Nietos,  398 
Lost  Hills,  607 
Lower  Lake,  411 
Loyalton,  475 
Lucia,  345 
Ludlow,  611 
Lugo  House,  215 
Lyon  Pony  Express  Museum,  620 

Me  Arthur,  550 

McCloud,  501 

McCloud  Ice  Caves,  501 

Macdoel,  463 

McFarland,  448 

McPherson,  Aimee  Semple,  213 

Madeline,  511 

Madera,  444 

Madrone,  383 

Mahogany  Flats,  649 

Malaga,  445 

Malibu,  415 

Mammoth  Cave,  558 

Mammoth  Post  Office,  516 

Manchester,  321 

Manhattan  Beach,  419 

Manteca,  441 

Manzanar,  519 

Marble  Mountain  Primitive  Area,  428 

March  Field,  522-3 

Mare  Island  Navy  Yard,  414 

Maricopa,  471 

Marine  Stadium,  205 

Mariposa,  444 

Markham,  Edwin,  302 

Markleville,  494 

Marsh,  John,  582-3 

Marshall,  James  W.,  484-5,  53-4,  251, 

270,  472,  481 
Martel,  489 
Martin,  Samuel,  573-4 


INDEX        7O7 


Martinez,  585 

Marysville,  467 

Maxwell,  439 

May  Loomis  Memorial  Museum,  503 

Meadow  Valley,  535 

Mecca,  458 

Meloland,  639 

Melones,  494-5 

Mendocino,  319 

Menlo  Park,  374-5 

Merced,  444 

Merced  River,  443 

Meyers,  589-90 

Micheltorena,  Manuel,  49 

Michigan  Bluff,  484 

Middletown,  411 

Midway,  605 

Migratory  Workers,  69,  358,  441,  461- 
2,  640 

Milford,  512 

Millbrae,  369 

Miller,  Henry,  383-4 

Miller,  Joaquin,  144,  243 

Millers  Corner,  614 

Mills  House,  Darius  Ogden,  369-70 

Mill  Valley,  366 

Millville,  503 

Milpitas,  600 

Mineral,    532 

Mineral  Bar,  569 

Mineral  King,  447 

Mining  towns,  474 

Mira  Loma,  632 

Miranda,  356 

Mission  Beach,  408 

Missions:  45,  69,  79,  131,  155;  archi- 
tecture, 167-8;  Dolores,  291-2,  270; 
Indian  resentment  against,  37;  Nu- 
estra  Senora  de  la  Soledad,  388; 
Purisima  Concepcion,  347-8;  636-7; 
Royal  Presidio  Chapel  (Monterey), 
233 ;  San  Antonio  de  Padua,  388- 
9;  San  Buenaventura,  394;  San 
Carlos,  343 ;  San  Carlos  de  Mon- 
terey, 232;  San  Diego  de  Al- 
cala,  528,  44;  San  Emigdio,  451 ;  San 
Fernando  Rey  de  Espana,  453 ;  San 
Francisco  de  Asis,  362;  San  Fran- 
cisco de  Solano,  363,  362;  San  Ga- 
briel Arcangel,  621,  398,  457;  San 
Jose,  598-9;  San  Juan  Bautista,  38'^; 
San  Juan  Capistrano,  404;  San  Luis 
Obispo  De  Tolosa,  391 ;  San  Luis 
Rey,  406;  San  Miguel  Arcangel,  389; 
San  Rafael  Arcangel,  365,  362;  San- 
ta Barbara,  308-9;  Santa  Clara  de 
Asis,  380-1;  Santa  Ynez,  392;  secu- 
larization, 37-8,  46-7;  Yuma  Indian, 
637 

Mission  San  Jose  (town),  598-9 


Mitchell's  Caverns,  610 

Modesto,  443 

Modoc  War,  559-60 

Moffett  Field,  369 

Mohawk,  534 

Mojave,  545 

Mojave  Desert,  602,  n,  19,  609-10 

Mojave  Water  Camp,  612 

Mokelumne  Hill,  490 

Mono  Craters,  516 

Mono  Lake,  515 

Monogram  Village,   546 

Monolith,  606 

Monoville,  515 

Monrovia,  619 

Montalvo,  396 

Montara,  332 

Montebello,  398 

Monteciot,  393 

Monterey,   230-36;   capture  of,   338-9; 

climate  of,  13  ;  Presidio  of,  231 
Monterey  Park,  634 
Monte  Rio,  361 

Montez,  Lola,  482,  161,  477,  507 
Montezuma  Mine,  487 
Montgomery  Creek,  552 
Mooney,  Thomas,   102-3,  63,  115,  274, 

276 

Morena  Resort,  643 
Moreno  Badlands,  631 
Morettis,  541 

Morgan,  616-17,  270,  595,  602,  615 
Morgan  Hill,  383 
Morgan  Mine,  494 
Morgan  Springs,  532 
Morro,  346 
Morro  Rock,  346 
Morrow  Cove,  414 
Mosaic  Canyon,  650 
Moss  Beach,  332 
Moss  Brae  Falls,  434 
Moss  Landing,  339 
Mother  Lode,  473-74,  484 
Motion  Picture  Studios,  198 
Mountain  House,  596 
Mountain  Theater,  367 
Mountain  View,  378 
Mount  Bullion,  500 
Mount  Ecclesia,  406 
Mount  Eden,   599 
Mount  Hermon,  379 
Mount  Ophir,  500 
Mount  Shasta,  432 
Mount  Shasta  City,  432 
Mount  Tamalpais,  366 
Mount  Wilson,  623 
Mount  Wilson  Observatory,  623 
Mountain  Springs,  610 
Mountain  Springs  Gas  Station,  642 
Movies,  120-30;  on  location,  613 


708        INDEX 


Mud  Creek,  501 

Mud  Pots,  459 

Muir,  John,  585,  24,  434,  464,  676 

Murphy  party,  383,  566 

Murphys,  493 

Murray  Dam  and  Lake,  644 

Murrieta  Hot  Springs,  524 

Murrieta,   Joaquin,   446-7,   312-3,   491, 

493 
Mussell  Slough  Feud,  446 

Napa,  413-4 

Natividad,  387 

Natoma,  595 

Navarro,  320 

Needles,  609 

Nelson,  467 

Nevada  City,  480-1 

New  Almaden,  382-3 

New  River,  641 

Newberry,  612 

Newbury  Park,  396 

Newcastle,   569 

Newhall,  547 

Newport  Beach,  422 

Newspapers,  109-16 

Nick's  Cove,  325 

Nicolaus,  538 

Niland,  459 

Niles,  598 

Nipomo,  392 

Noble's  Pass,  529 

Nordhoff,  Charles,  471 

Norris,  Frank,  146,  274-5,  446;  Brass, 

572 

North  Bloomfield,  480 
North  Columbia,  480 
North  Sacramento,  570 
North  San  Juan,  479 
Norton,  Joshua  A.,  284 
Norwalk  State  Hospital,  399 
Novato,  365 
Noyo,  319 
Nubieber,  550 

Oak  Grove  Stage  Station,  540 

Oak  of  Golden  Legend,  546-7 

Oakdale,  441 

Oakland,  237-44 

Oakville,  412 

Oasis,  460 

Observatory,     International     Latitude, 

358 

Ocean  Beach,  408 
Oceano,  346-7 
Oceanside,  406 
Oceanside  Junction,  526 
Ogilby,  638 
Oil,  30,  81,  83,  84,  205,  398,  422,  449, 

547-8.  577-9;  drilling  laws,  30;  first 


well,  452;  Ventura  Field,  472;  West 

Side  Field,  470 
Ojai,  471-2 
Olancha,  520 
Old  Elk  Grove,  441 
Old  Plank  Road,  638 
Old  Village,  674 
Olema,  327 
Oleum,  577 
Olivas  Adobe,  395 
Olive  View  Sanatorium,  453 
Olympic  Fields  Nudist  Colony,  524 
Ono,  436 
Ontario,  455 
Ophir,  569 
Opid's  Resort,  622 
Orange,  400 

Orange  Show    (San  Bernardino),  616 
Orcutt,  347 
Orick,  351 
Orland,  438 
Orleans,  429 
Orogrande,  613 
Oroville,  536 
O'Shaughnessy  Dam,  676 
Osuna  Adobe,  407 
Owens  Valley,  518 
Oxnard,  415 

Pacheco,  585 

Pacific  Beach,  408 

Pacific  Grove,  341 

Pacific  Lumber  Co.  Mill,  355 

Pagan  Hill,  385 

Paicines,  385 

Painted  Canyon,  458 

Painted  Gorge,  642 

Painted  Rock,  390 

Paiute  Monument,  519 

Pala,  525 

Palisades  Glacier,  518 

Palmdale,  546 

Palm  Springs,  628-629 

Palms,  Washingtonia,  527;  fan,  628 

Palo  Alto,  375 

Palo  Alto  (tree),  375 

Palomar  Observatory,  525 

Palos  Verdes,  419 

Panama,  469 

Panorama  Gate,  367 

Papaya,  Paxton's  Conservatories,  406 

Paradise  Valley,  349 

Paraiso  Hot  Springs,  388 

Paramount  Motion  Picture  Sets,  397 

Parkhurst,  "Cock-eyed  Charlie,"  337 

Parks  and  Monuments,  National: 
Death  Valley,  645-54,  J4;  Devil's 
Post  Pile,  516;  General  Grant,  655- 
66,  445 ;  Lassen  Volcanic,  502-3 ; 
Lava  Beds,  558-9;  Muir  Woods, 


INDEX        7O9 


366;  Pinnacles,  385;  Sequoia,  655- 
66;  Yosemite,  667-79 

Parks,  state  and  other:  Alamitos,  204- 
5;  Alum  Rock,  381;  Ash  Mountain, 
661 ;  Balboa  (San  Diego),  261;  Ban- 
ning, 421;  Big  Lagoon,  351-2;  Big 
Pines,  615;  Big  Stone,  528;  Bodega- 
Sonoma  Coast,  323 ;  Borego,  527 ; 
Cabrillo  Beach,  420;  California  Red- 
wood, 379;  Carlsbad  Beach,  406; 
Carpinteria  Beach,  393 ;  Castle 
Crags,  434;  Coolidge  Redwood,  357; 
Cuyamaca,  542;  Del  Norte  Coast, 
350;  Dimmick,  320;  Fremont  Peak 
State,  385;  Griffith,  223;  Hiouchi, 
349;  Humboldt,  355;  Islam  Shrine, 
330;  Kern  River,  450;  Lilley  Red- 
wood, 356;  Little  River  Beach,  352; 
Live  Oak,  525;  McArthur-Burney 
Falls,  502;  Manhattan  Beach,  419; 
Marshall  Monument,  485;  Morro 
Beach,  346;  Mount  Diablo,  586; 
Mount  Madonna  County,  383 ;  New 
Brighton,  337;  Palomar,  525;  Pfeif- 
fer  Redwood,  344;  Point  Fermin, 
420;  Point  Lobos,  343;  Prairie 
Creek,  351;  Richardson  Grove,  356; 
Rubicon  Point,  589;  Russian  Gulch, 
319;  San  Clemente,  405;  San  Dimas 
Canyon,  619;  San  Mateo  County 
Redwood,  330;  Santa  Cruz  Big 
Trees,  380;  Seacliff,  337;  Silver 
Strand,  409;  Sunset  Beach,  336;  Van 
Damme,  320;  Zoological  (State), 
470 

Pasadena,  245-9 

Paso  Alto,  603 

Paso  Robles,  389-90 

Paxton,  535 

Pebble  Beach,  341 

Pelton  water  wheel,  479 

Penryn,  569 

Perkins,  595 

Perris,  523 

Pescadero,  333 

Petaluma,  364 

Pet  Cemetery,  Los  Angeles,  397 

Petrified  Forest  (Calistoga),  411; 
Roaring  Ridge,  544 

Phelan's  Villa  Montalvo,  379 

Pick-Aw-Ish  Camp,  429 

Piedras  Blancas  Lighthouse,  345 

Pigeon  Point  Lighthouse,  333 

Pilgrimage  Play  Amphitheater,  196 

Pillar  Point,  332 

Pine  Creek,   508 

Pine  Grove,  590 

Pine  Hills  Resort,  541 

Pine  Knot  Village,  618 

Pine  Valley,  643 


Pinole,  577 

Pismo  Beach,  392 

Pit  Power  House  No.  i,  551 

Pittsburg,  584 

Pixley,  448 

Placerville,  485-6 

Planada,  444 

Plant  Introduction  Station,  466 

Plaster  City,  642 

Pleasanton,  597 

Pluto's  Cave,  464 

Plymouth,  487 

Point  Arena,   321 

Point  Joe,  341 

Point  Lobos  Reserve,  343 

Point  Pinos,  341 

Point  Reyes,  326 

Point  Reyes  Station,  325 

Point  St.  George,  349 

Point  San  Pedro,  365 

Point  Sur,  344 

Point  Vicente  Lighthouse,  419 

Pollock,  436 

Pomona,  633 

Port  Costa,  585 

Portola,  534 

Portola,  Caspar  de,  44,  232,  260,  269, 
328-9,  331,  339-40,  391,  534 

Portuguese,  599 

Pozo,  390 

Presidio:  Monterey,  235;  San  Fran- 
cisco, 287 

Preston  Industrial  School,  489 

Priest's  Station,  442 

Priest  Valley,  446 

Prison  for  First  Offenders,  63  3 

Pulga,  536 

Puhta  Del  Ano  Nuevo,  333 

Purisima,  332-3 

Quadruped  Tree,  356 
Quincy,  535 

Rackerby,  535 

Radio  Corporation  of  America,  station, 

325-6,  327 
Railroad,    Crookedest    in    the    World, 

366-7 

Rainbow,  525 
Rainbow  Falls,  516 
Ralston,  William  C.,  370,  372-3 
Ramona,  527 
Ramona,  395,  263,  384 
Ramona  Bowl,  523,  163 
Rancho  Santa  Ana  Botanical  Gardens, 

400 

Rancho  Santa  Fe,  407 
Randsburg,  521 
Ravendale,  511 
Rawhide  Mine,  495 


7IO        INDEX 


Reading  Adobe,  P.  B.,  437 

Reading,  Pierson  B.,  467 

Reading's  Bar,  437-8 

Red  Bluff,  437 

Red  Box  Divide,   622 

Redding,  436 

Red  Dog,  568 

Red  Hill,  403 

Red  Mountain,  521 

Redlands,  456 

Redondo  Beach,  419 

Redwood  City,  373 

Redwood  groves   (see  Sequoias) 

Republic  Studio,  397 

Requa,  350 

Rialto,  618 

Ricardo,  545 

Richardson  Springs,  465 

Richmond,  578-9 

Richvale,  467 

Rincon  Cape,  393 

Rindge  Mansion,  416 

Rio  Vista,  582 

Ripon,  442 

Riverside,  631 

Riverton,  593 

Rockaway  Beach,  331 

Rocklin,  570 

Rock  Maze,  609 

Rockport,   318 

Rockville,  573 

Rodeo,     Victorville     Non-professional, 

614 

Rome  Shady  Brook,  403 
Roop,  Isaac,  530 
Rosamond,  545 
Rose  Bowl,  176,  248 
Roseclip  Mine,  514 
Roseville,  469,   570 
Rosicrucians:    Fellowship,    406;    Ojai, 

472 ;  Order,  302 
Ross  Corner,  637 
Rough  and  Ready,  482 
Round  Mountain,  552 
Routier,  595 
Royal  Arches,  673 

Ruef-Schmitz  political  machine,  273-4 
Russian  River,  360 
Russians,  46,  71,  322,  324,  362 
Rutherford,  412 
Ryde,  581 

Sacramento,  250-7 

Sacramento  Valley,  438 

Sacred  Heart  Novitiate,  382 

Sagebrush  War,  530 

St.  Francis  Dam,  break  of,  452 

St.  Helena,  412 

St.  Helena,  Mount,  411 

St.  Vibiana,  Cathedral  of,  216 


Salida,  443 

Salinas,  386-7 

Salinas  Rodeo  Field,  386 

Salmon-Trinity  Alps  Primitive  Region, 

43i,  556 

Salton  Beach,  458 
Salton  Sea,  458-60 
Salyer,  557 
Samoa,   352 
San  Andreas,  492 
San  Andreas  Rift,  614-5 
San  Antonio    de   Pala,    Asistencia    de, 

525 

San  Ardo,  389 
San  Bernardino,  616 
San  Bernardino  Asistencia,  457 
San  Bruno,  369 
San  Carlos,  373 
Sanchez  Adobe,  331 
San  Clemente,  405 
San  Clemente  Dam,  342 
San  Diego,  258-64,  13 
San    Diego    County    Fairgrounds    and 

Race  Track,  407 
San  Fernando,  453 
San  Francisco,  265-97;  climate,  13; 

earthquake,.  273 
San    Francisco-Oakland    Bay    Bridge, 

176,  276 

San  Gabriel,  621 
San  Gabriel,  battle  of,  398 
Sanger,  445 

San  Gorgonio  Pass,  629-30 
San  Gregorio,  333 
San  Jacinto,  523 
San  Joaquin  River,  596 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  67 
San  Jose,  298-303 
San  Juan,  384 
San  Juan  Capistrano,  404 
San  Juan  Hot  Springs,  405 
San  Juan  Ridge,  480 
San  Leandro,  599 
San  Lorenzo,  599 
San  Lucas,  389 
San  Luis  Obispo,  391 
San  Marcos,  526 
San  Marino,  620 
San  Martin,  383 
San  Mateo,  371 
San  Miguel,  389 
San  Pablo,  578 
San  Pasqual  Battlefield,  527 
San  Pedro,  420 
San  Pedro  Point,  331 
San  Quentin  Prison,  365-6 
San  Ramon,  586 
San  Simeon,  345 
Santa  Ana,  403 
Santa  Anita  Race  Track,  620 


INDEX        711 


Santa  Barbara,  304-10 

Santa  Catalina  Island,  423-7 

Santa  Clara,  380 

Santa  Clara  Valley,  395 

Santa  Cruz,  334-6 

Santa  Fe  Springs,  398 

Santa  Isabel,  527 

Santa  Margarita,  390 

Santa  Margarita,  Asistencia  de,  390 

Santa  Margarita  Rancho,  405-6 

Santa  Maria,  392 

Santa  Monica,  417 

Santa  Paula,  395 

Santa  Rosa,  359 

Santa  Ysabel,  541 

Santa  Ysabel  Chapel,  541 

Santiago  Reservoir  and  Dam,  402 

San  Ysidro,  409 

Saratoga,  379 

Saticoy,  395 

Sattley,  475 

Saugus,  546 

Sausalito,  367 

Save-the-Redwoods  League,  355 

Sawyer's  Bar,  431 

Schenley  Distillery,  442 

Scissors  Crossing,  527 

Scotia,  355 

Scott  Bar,  428 

Scott  Valley,  431 

Scotty's  Castle,  650 

Scripps    Institution    of    Oceanography, 

407 

Seal  Beach,  422 
Second  Garrote,  442 
Seeley,  641 
Seeley  Camp,  617 
Seiad  Valley,  429 
Selby,  577 
Selma,  446 
Sequoias,  26-7,  355-6,  656,  663;  groves: 

Armstrong  Woods,   360;   Bohemian, 

361;  Calaveras,  494;  Founders,  355; 

General  Grant,  665;  Mariposa,  670, 

674;     Stout    Memorial,    350;     Tuo- 

lumne,  676;  Webber,  349 
Serra,  Junipero,  44,  167,  232,  233,  270, 

306,  388,  391,  404,  632 
Shakers,  351 
Shandon,  608 
Sharp  Park,  330-1 
Shasta,  553 
Shasta  Dam,  436 
Shasta,  Mount,  433 
Shasta  Retreat,  434 
Shasta  Springs,  434 
Shaver  Lake,  445 
Shaws  Flat,  495-6 
Sheep  Ranch,  493-4 
Sheep  Rock,  464 


Shellville,  364 

Sheridan,  469 

Sherman  Indian  Institute,  632 

Sherman  Tree,  664 

Sherwood  Forest,  396 

Shi-Lo-Ah  Mineral  Springs,  435 

Shingle  Springs,  594 

Shingletown,  503 

Shoestring  Strip,  547 

Shoshone,  604 

Sierra  City,  475 

Sierra  Madre,  621 

Sierra  Nevada,  15 

Sierraville,  475 

Sikh  Temple   (Stockton),  313 

Silver  Strand,  409,  415 

Sinclair,  Upton,  148 

Skaggs  Springs,  359 

Skull  Cave,  560 

Skyline  Methuselah  Redwood,  330 

Sleeping  Beauty,  6n 

Sloat,  535 

Smith,  Jedediah  S.,  349,  512,  598 

Smith  River,  349 

Smith's  Flat,  593 

Smithsonian  Institution  Solar  Observa- 
tory, 615 

Snelling,  444 

Snow  Tent,  480 

Snowman  Hill,  501 

Soboba  Hot  Springs,  523 

Soda  Lake,  604 

Soda  Springs,  566,  677 

Solana  Beach,  407 

Solano,  Francisco,  573 

Soldiers'  Gulch,  591 

Soledad,  387-8 

Soledad  Gorge,  546 

Somes  Bar,  429 

Sonoma,  352-3 

Sonoma  State  Home,  361 

Sonora,  497-8 

Soquel,  336 

Soulsbyville,  513 

South  Pass,  610 

South  San  Francisco,  368 

Southampton  Bay,  574 

Southwest  Museum,  220 

Spadra,  633-4 

Spanish  Galleon  Myth,  461 

Sphinx  Rock,  617 

Spreckels,  Claus,  387,  539 

Spreckels,   387 

Spreckels  Sugar  Factory,  538-9 

Spring  Garden,  535 

Standish,  511 

Stanford,  Leland,  375,  465,  488-9 

Steel,  Columbia  Co.  Plant,  419,  584 

Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  3-4,  91,  146, 
232,  284,  341,  343,  4ii 


712        INDEX 


Stewart's  Point,  321 

Stillwater  Cove,  341 

Stinson  Beach,  328 

Stockton,  311-4 

Stone  Lagoon,  351 

Stoy  Junction,  512 

Strawberry,  513 

Strawberry  House,  592 

Strawberry  Valley,  535 

Stubblefield  Gulch,  471 

Stump  House,  354 

Subway  Cave,  502 

Suisun  City,  572-3 

Sulphur  Works,  505 

Summerland,  393 

Summit,  611 

Sunnyvale,  378 

Sunol,  598 

Sunset  Beach,  422 

Sunset  Rock  Campground,  664 

Susanville,  529 

Sutter  Creek,  488 

Sutter,  John  Augustus,  51,  70,  79,  251, 

257,  322-3,  488,  595 
Sutler's  Fort,  256-7 
Sutler's  Sawmill,  484 
Sutterville,  257 
Sylmar,  452 

Table  Bluff  Radio  Station,  354 

Table  Mountain,  495 

Taft,  470 

Tagus  Ranch,  448 

Tahoe  City,  589 

Tahquitz  Bowl,  628 

Tamalpais,  Mount,  366 

Tamarisks,  627 

Tanforan  Race  Track,  369 

Tarzana,  397 

Tassajara  Springs,  342 

Tehachapi,  606-7 

Tehachapi  Pass,  606 

Tehama,  465 

Temecula,  524-5 

Terminal  Island,  421 

Terraces,  The,  358 

Terry-Broderick  duel,  329-30 

Tharp,  Hale,  663 

Theater,  First  American  in  California, 

235 

Thermal,  458 
Thermalito,  537 
Thousand  Oaks,  396 
Three  Arches,  423 
Three  Rivers,  447 
Tinemaha  Reservoir,  518 
Tioga  Pass,  677 
Tipton,  448 
Tobin,  536 
Tokopah  Falls,  664 


Toll  House  Flat,  591 

Tomales,  325 

Topanga  Springs,  416 

Torrance,  419 

Torrey  Pines  Mesa,  407 

Tower  House,  554 

Tracy,  596 

Transportation,  87-94;  Butterfield 
Overland  Mail,  89,  451,  635,  641; 
camel  trains,  90,  451,  630;  carts,  89; 
Central  Pacific,  90,  252,  563,  568; 
freight  wagons,  555;  mule  teams, 
456,  486,  545;  ox  teams,  562-3;  Pony 
Express,  590,  89-90,  256,  588;  river 
traffic,  88-9,  92-3,  438,  440,  571,  581; 
railroads,  90;  Santa  Fe,  211;  stage- 
coaches, 552-3,  625;  Southern  Pacific, 
91,  92,  211,  447,  470;  wagon  trains, 
588 

Tres  Pinos,  385 

Trinidad,  352 

Trinidad  Head,  352 

Trinity  Alps  Camp,  556 

Trinity  Corner,  663 

Trona,  650 

Truckee,  564 

Tudor,  538 

Tulare,  448 

Tulare  Valley  and  Giant  Forest  Rail- 
road Company,  657 

Tumco,  638 

Tunitas  Glen,  333 

Tuolumne,  513 

Tuolumne  Meadows,  677 

Turlock,  443 

Tustin,  403 

Tuttletown,  495 

Twain,  Mark,  no,  143,  272,  372,  473, 
492,  495,  515,  588;  Jumping  Frog, 
493 

Tyler,  480 

Ukiah,  358 

United  States  Marine  Rifle  Range,  407 

Universal  City,  397 

Universities  and  Colleges,  133-4;  Cali- 
fornia, 181-7,  292-3;  California, 
Davis  Branch  of,  571-2;  California 
College  of  Agriculture,  Experi- 
mental Station,  639;  California  at 
Los  Angeles,  226-7;  California  Col- 
lege of  Arts  and  Crafts,  243 ;  Cali- 
fornia Institute  of  Technology,  248- 
9;  California  School  of  Fine  Arts, 
285;  Chico,  466;  College  of  the  Pa- 
cific, 314;  Fresno,  191;  Humboldt 
State  Teachers,  352;  La  Verne,  619; 
Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  375-7;  Loyola, 
215,  418;  Mills,  243-4;  Pacific  School 
of  Religion,  187;  Pacific  Union,  412; 


INDEX        713 


Pomona,  618-9;  Redlands,  456;  San 
Diego,  644;  San  Francisco  (Col- 
lege), 291;  San  Francisco  College 
for  Women,  290;  San  Francisco 
University,  290-1;  San  Jose,  301-2; 
Santa  Ana,  403 ;  Santa  Barbara, 
308;  Santa  Clara,  380;  Scripps,  619; 
Southern  California,  228;  Stanford, 
Hopkins  Marine  Station,  340-1; 
Whittier,  399 

Upland,  618 

Upper  Lake,  410 

Vacaville,  572 

Valdez,  Capt.  Juan,  638 

Vallecito,  641 

Vallejo,  413-4 

Vallejo,  Casa  Grande,  364-5 

Vallejo  Casa  Materna,  338 

Vallejo  Home  State  Monument,  364 

Vallejo  Home   (Sonama),  363 

Vallejo,  Mariano,  413-4,  49,  131,  324, 

362,  363,  364,  573,  574 
Valley  Ford,  325 
Vallicito,  493 
Valyermo,  615 
Vasquez  Caves,  546 
Vasquez,  Tiburcio,  385,  235 
Venice,  417-8 
Ventura,  394 
Veterans'       Administration       Facility, 

453 

Vichy  Springs,  358 
Victorville,  613-4 

Vigilantes,  55,  107,  112-3,  27I'2>  35^ 
Vina,  465 

Virginia  Lake  Junction,  515 
Visalia,  447 
Vista,  526 
Vizcaino,  Sebastian,  305-6,  4,  43,  231, 

260,  343 
Volcano,  590-1 

Walker,  Joseph,  450,  512,  661,  670-1, 

676 

Walker  Pass,  450 
Walnut  Creek,  585 
Walnut  Grove,  581 
Warm  Springs,  600 
Warner  Bros.  Studios,  453 
Warner  Hot  Springs,  541 
Warner  Valley,  531 
Warner's  Ranch,   540 
Wasco,  607 

Watchorn  Lincoln  Memorial,  457 
Watsonville,  337-8 
Wawona,  675 
Wawona  Point,  675 


Wawona  Tunnel,  675 

Weather  Bureau  Observatory,  566 

Weaverville,  555-6 

Weber,  Charles  M.,  312 

Weberville,  487 

Weed,  432 

Weitchpec,  429 

Welton  Stanford  Art  Gallery,  376 

Weott,  356 

Westmoreland,  461 

Westport,  318 

Westwood,  199-200,  531 

Whaling  Station,  Monterey,  235 

Wheatland,  468-9 

Wheaton  Springs,  603 

Whiskey  Town,  554 

White  Rock,  594 

White,  Stewart  Edward,  275 

White  Water,  629 

Whitney,  Mount,  519 

Whittier,  399 

Wild  Rose  Springs,  650 

Wild  Rose  Station,  650 

Williams,  439 

Willits,  357 

Willows,  439 

Wilmington,  421 

Winchester  Mystery  House,  382 

Windmill  Station,  603 

Winebarrel  Church,  359 

Winterhaven,  637 

Witch  Creek,  527 

Wolfskill,  William,  614 

Woodford,  607 

Woodfords,  590 

Woodland,  440 

Woodside  Store,  330 

Workingmen's  Association  (see  Labor) 

Workman's  Bar,  536 

World's  Tallest  Tree,  355 

Wrightwood,  615 

Wrigley,  William,  Jr.,  424 

Wynola,  541 

Yankee  Jim's,  483 

Yerba  Buena  Island,  278 

Yermo,  605 

Yolo,  440 

Yolo  Bypass,  571 

Yosemite  Falls,  672-3 

Yosemite  Museum,  673 

You  Bet,  568 

Yountville,  412 

Yreka,  430 

Yuba  City,  467 

Yuba  Pass,  475 

Yuha  Badlands,  641 

Yucca  Grove,  603-4